Opening soon, Donaldo's Casa de Pizza

[hammettjr]

Wonderful! Nice going Don!

[Ev]

That's great, Don. So glad to see it's going well!

[jever4321]

Thanks for the entertaining thread. I keep popping in to see how things are going for you. I'm rooting for your continued success!

[RobynB]

Okay, Don, we need an update!  Did you get it all nailed down?  How's business?  Pictures?  Stories?  C'mon!   

[tinroofrusted]

I second Robyn's request. I don't know exactly why but I find this thread very intriguing.  I guess it is just me living vicariously, enjoying the romance (and the challenges!) of opening a pizzeria in Mexico.  I'm sure Don is up to his ears with the business right now, but hopefully at some point he will be able to post some photos and tell us more about how it's going down there. 

Viva El Hogar de Pizza de Donaldo! 

Regards,

TinRoof

[buceriasdon]

Hi everyone, I have to admit I was reluctant to have to say my oven went down for a few days but that's what happened. the pilot would only burn for so long then go out. So Saturday night I had to keep relighting the pilot. Not fun. Sunday the burners would not come on at all. So Monday I called the vendor, sorry the serviceman is out of town until Wednesday. Tuesday is Labor Day here in Mexico and my oven choose this time to act up.  He did come this afternoon and changed the thermocoupler, we ran it up to temp with no problems. I went back this afternoon and fired it up again and it operated fine. In the down time I changed some things in the kitchen in the hope that it streamlines some of the workflow. Back open Thursday.
Don

[tinroofrusted]

Thanks for the update. As your motto says, "poco a poco".  Hopefully everything will start working better over time. I guess that is one advantage of a wood burning oven: it's a time tested technology and you don't have to worry about pilot lights!

Regards,

TinRoof

[Tscarborough]

Pics or it didn't happen.

[Don K]

Might not be a bad idea to have a spare thermocouple on hand. They are not that expensive and fairly easy to install.

[buceriasdon]

Don, I have one on order, I have a friend who has the same oven as I and he also has had to change the thermocoupler. One thing I did notice was how much easier the pilot is to light now.
Don

[pizzaneer]

Congrats on getting it all going...

But SERIUOSLY, please keep us updated- for those of who dream of opening a pizzeria, your experience is priceless!

[buceriasdon]

Update: My oven went down again but I was able to find a gentleman that located what the problem was with the pilot and the oven appears to be working again. I gave up on the vendor solving the problem. In the down time I added an inner shelf made from angle iron and a tile ceiling inside the oven to lower the height. I'll find out this afternoon if it was worth it or not. If it works as hoped I'll post a pic. I've gone back to using round plastic containers for dough balls over baggies, I think it will help with some issues I was having with the dough balls needing to be placed back in the reefer from time to time in order they don't overferment being out for too long. I also may have to speak to another iron fab shop for the hood over the oven, the guy I've been talking to, who does do good work,  just doesn't seem to show up. I'm giving him one more chance today.
Don

[SquirrelFlight]

Haven't seen anything new in here for a while.... some of us are curious   

[pizzaneer]

+1, BUMP!

[Cdragon]

I'm glad to have read the whole story. When does the movie come out?

Hope you're still up and running!