Trying to start out - how to bake pizza en masse?

[PizzaTruck]

Hello!

I am trying to figure out the costs and logistics of opening a pizza truck. The biggest thing I am struggling with is taking a home-scale pizza recipe to a large-scale operation. I have read up on the recipe method of using flour as 100% and going from there, and I'm comfortable with that, but I have questions about sauce and about forming the dough.

The one thing I really don't understand is how to make and store the amount of sauce needed to operate all day. Can anyone share with me just HOW they make so much sauce? I would like to start with a very simple base, as simple as possible, that I can add my own herbs and spices to. What will I need - a huge pot and a commercial range? An enormous blender? I really have no idea. I assume that most people make a batch of sauce as big as possible and then store it. What do you use for long-term and short-term storage?Basically, if someone could post their start-to-finish sauce-making and sauce-distributing plan, that would really help me with planning.

Also, I am trying to keep this as small as possible to start - just me making pizzas in the afternoon and then selling them for the lunch rush the next morning. I want to have all the pizzas pre-made and refridgerated, and then I will just pull them out as a pizza, in a pan, with sauce and cheese already on it and slide it in the oven when I need it. Is it realistic to believe that if I mix and knead the dough in a commercial mixer, that I will be able to separate the dough and mold the pizzas myself? Or do I need to buy one of those pizza presses? I will be selling by the slice so I will be making 16" pizzas only.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[pizzaneer]

Premade pizzas? And you're worried about sauce?

You should either think about finding a cheap source of premade frozen pizzas, or learn what goes into making a pizza.  Believe me, the sauce is NOT the hardest thing to deal with.

[PizzaTruck]

Hi Pizzaneer -
 
You've misunderstood me.

I am of course making the pizzas and the sauce myself from scratch, but seeming as I'll be selling them out of the back of a truck, I don't really have room or time to throw and form them as I need them, so I will be making the pizzas beforehand and refrigerating them on the truck to cook as needed. When I said "I want to have all the pizzas premade and refrigerated", what I meant was "I want to make all my own pizzas the morning/night before I sell them and load them into my truck to bake.

You can't fit a Hobart, prep table, oven, and ingredient storage on a truck. The best you can do is storage for the pizzas you made at the kitchen beforehand and the oven. Hope that clears it up.

[buceriasdon]

I doubt you will have a sellable product assembling pizzas the day before and then baking them as needed. Soggy mess will be the result. Since you must have a reefer in any case, I would form my skins, top and bake as needed. Also, have you spoke to your local health department? Many locations do not allow products to be prepared in a home situation to be sold to the public. I would start with health regulations and codes first regarding your proposed operation before concerning myself with how much sauce to make.
Don

[PizzaTruck]

I doubt you will have a sellable product assembling pizzas the day before and then baking them as needed. Soggy mess will be the result. Since you must have a reefer in any case, I would form my skins, top and bake as needed. Also, have you spoke to your local health department? Many locations do not allow products to be prepared in a home situation to be sold to the public. I would start with health regulations and codes first regarding your proposed operation before concerning myself with how much sauce to make.
Don

The pizzas will be made at a commercial catering kitchen, not in a home. I will be splitting use of a kitchen with a few other catering trucks. All health dept. regulations for a Class D food vendor will be met. Health board and the city have already been consulted.

Making just the skins and doing the toppings and sauce in the van is do-able. Do the pre-formed skins do better refrigerated or frozen for short-term (less than 24 hours) storage?

So does anyone have information to share about the questions actually posed?   

[Chicago Bob]

Your original post is confusing and contradicting....you need to be a lil more organized if you really want some good help.

You want to "cook" your sauce??

You say you'll be selling by the slice.....can you not just par-bake at the canteen and call it a day. Have your ready to reheat pies refrigerated on the truck, leave a couple sitting out ready to work with?

Bob

[buceriasdon]

I maintain anything other than fresh baked is too much of a compromise when it comes to slices. A well setup prep table with your toppings at hand and it doesn't have to take up that much space, will give you a better product. Sheesh, it won't take but ten to fifteen minutes tops to have a pie ready to go. Sauce, cheese, a few different toppings, and some refriderated dough balls allowed to come to room temp and your good to go.
Don

[Chicago Bob]

I know that you have very high standards,Don, and you make some of the most beautiful pizza as seen on this site.
Now I haven't been to a heck of a lot of slice joints, buy the ones around here all reheat. Most simply have a pepperoni and a cheese pie sitting out and you can order some extra toppings to go on either one if that's what you like...then it is reheated. Not fresh...but not too bad.
PizzaTruck wants to just do slices at lunch time out of the back of a truck and it sounds like he doesn't have much experience yet so I thought I'd keep it simple....heck,those hungry workers will appreciate that it's not a Tombstone!!      Well, unless he ends up cooking his sauce...

Bob

[buceriasdon]

lol Bob, And I agree, he doesn't need a huge inventory of toppings, pepperoni, some Italian sausage, mushrooms maybe some sliced green pepper and  sliced black olives. My suggestion to start with a fresh bake is based on exactly the issue of reheating, I believe if your start is better then at the time of sale the slice will be better and if you think about it, the same amount of time is expended whether a day before bake or just before opening the truck, in fact he will have to bake twice. How is that saving time? Since he may be using a oven that will bake only one pie at a time due to space restrictions, by using a screen he can be prepping another pizza while the other is baking. I just not convinced any time will be saved going with prebakes which in my mind is inferior.
Don

[Chicago Bob]

I just not convinced any time will be saved going with prebakes which in my mind is inferior.
Don

Yes, definitely inferior.I was jus going with ease of operation and convienience, especially in this particular situation...and if he's already at the canteen why not jus cook em off. Prolly be able to get away with a much le$$ oven then in that truck.I wasn't considering any "time" factor...doesn't sound like he would be either while first just getting this thing going.
He probably should just hire you for a weekend and it would then all be a done deal.....I imagine you'd be pretty expensive though now a days!      Hope the new restaurant is doing well, Don.

Bob

[scarboni]

Is there a picture of this Pizzatruck that we can see? what kind of oven?

I mean, you can probably do whatever you want for so long as you can get away with it, but do you think you can really build a business with premade pizzas?

I know a guy in upstate NY that deals with the colleges. What he does is "press" his doughs out, top them with sauce and cheese, put them on pizza screens and then racks them in the cooler for the evening rush. It's a "system" but nevertheless far inferior to hand tossing pies on the spot and still requires some kind of refridgeration (which if you are going to use, you might as well use it to store toppings, dough and just hand toss the pies)

Of course, if everyone here who is advising you to go "fresh" is just a little too much for you and not what you want; then the answer to your question is buy a case of 6/10# cans of "heavy" pizza sauce from costco or restaurant depot, add a bunch of sexy spices, store it in a large enough container for as long as your nose will tell you it's good and BAM...you'll be just like everyone else that wants to get into the pizza business. =P

[PizzaTruck]

I maintain anything other than fresh baked is too much of a compromise when it comes to slices. A well setup prep table with your toppings at hand and it doesn't have to take up that much space, will give you a better product. Sheesh, it won't take but ten to fifteen minutes tops to have a pie ready to go. Sauce, cheese, a few different toppings, and some refriderated dough balls allowed to come to room temp and your good to go.
Don

Hi,
  10-15 minutes when you're making pizzas in a truck and people are standing on the sidewalk is 10-15 minutes too long. I will need to have pizzas baking while I am serving what's in the warmer, ready to go as soon as the previous pie is done. Lunch/food trucks operate basically only during the lunch rush. I can swing 45 seconds to spread sauce and toppings on a premade skin, but anything else is beyond the scope of making pizzas in a van. It sucks that I might not be able to have the thrill of shaping pies infront of the public, but on the bright side neither does any other slice place in the city.

[scott123]

I can swing 45 seconds to spread sauce and toppings on a premade skin, but anything else is beyond the scope of making pizzas in a van.

With a little practice, you can stretch a skin and top it in 45 seconds.

[PizzaTruck]

Is there a picture of this Pizzatruck that we can see? what kind of oven?

I mean, you can probably do whatever you want for so long as you can get away with it, but do you think you can really build a business with premade pizzas?

I know a guy in upstate NY that deals with the colleges. What he does is "press" his doughs out, top them with sauce and cheese, put them on pizza screens and then racks them in the cooler for the evening rush. It's a "system" but nevertheless far inferior to hand tossing pies on the spot and still requires some kind of refridgeration (which if you are going to use, you might as well use it to store toppings, dough and just hand toss the pies)

Of course, if everyone here who is advising you to go "fresh" is just a little too much for you and not what you want; then the answer to your question is buy a case of 6/10# cans of "heavy" pizza sauce from costco or restaurant depot, add a bunch of sexy spices, store it in a large enough container for as long as your nose will tell you it's good and BAM...you'll be just like everyone else that wants to get into the pizza business. =P

Once I figure out my workflow, the truck will be built out to my specification.  The oven will probably be a Baker's Pride deck oven of some variety.

So, my options are
-form everything from dough balls in the truck (can't do this because of time)
-prepare everything ahead of time and refrigerate (can't do because of sogginess)
-prepare the skins, top and cook as needed (this sounds doable and a good compromise on practicality and freshness)
-parbake and then bake as needed. This is something I hadn't considered and didn know about. Will this result in a fresher or less fresh tasting pie than the prepare skin/top and cook method?

Also I apologize for the confusion re: cooking sauces. I have done a lot of searching and reading and now have a good idea of how to 'do' sauces, although I would still appreciate any input on how to store and what equipment people use to mill the tomatoes (processor, mixer, drill and bucket?)

[scarboni]

Once I figure out my workflow, the truck will be built out to my specification.  The oven will probably be a Baker's Pride deck oven of some variety.

So, my options are
-form everything from dough balls in the truck (can't do this because of time)
-prepare everything ahead of time and refrigerate (can't do because of sogginess)
-prepare the skins, top and cook as needed (this sounds doable and a good compromise on practicality and freshness)
-parbake and then bake as needed. This is something I hadn't considered and didn know about. Will this result in a fresher or less fresh tasting pie than the prepare skin/top and cook method?

Also I apologize for the confusion re: cooking sauces. I have done a lot of searching and reading and now have a good idea of how to 'do' sauces, although I would still appreciate any input on how to store and what equipment people use to mill the tomatoes (processor, mixer, drill and bucket?)

I know a lot of Pizzerias in Manhattan that, on their busiest day, will make X amount of pizzas ahead of time to keep up with the rush. For example, if they know they are going to get 10 5whole pies order between 11 and 12, they will make X number of house pies between 10 and 11 to make up for it. Having been on both sides of the counter, the general public either can't really tell the  difference  or just aren't troubled by the difference between the two.

If you are saying no one in town makes pies fresh for the "lunch crowd", would it make a difference to have one guy guy tossing pies during the rush, while another guy does thes slices and cash? It might give you a different appeal over the next pie....and even if you have to make 15 pies before you even open the door, it might still put you at an advantage over the next guy.

As far as the actual sauce, you can probably do well with an immersion mixer and/or just go with a basic food mill. Some places will even just buy ground tomatoes to skip that whole process. I had a buddy who argued as to why "ground" tomatoes are better than whole ones, saying that they are riper tomatoes (which may or may not be true). In terms of storage, you can either go with Lexar Pans, Stainless or the round Bain Maries to store the sauce (which most old school pizzerias use).

[weemis]

As for sauce, I've been using stanislaus 7/11 ground tomatoes in #10 cans and adding my own blend of spices to that. everyone loves it and it goes a long way. piece of cake... er pie

[Chicago Bob]

If you are saying no one in town makes pies fresh for the "lunch crowd", would it make a difference to have one guy guy tossing pies during the rush, while another guy does thes slices and cash? It might give you a different appeal over the next pie....and even if you have to make 15 pies before you even open the door, it might still put you at an advantage over the next guy.

I sure like that idea....get a kid in there spinn'in an toss'in dough for two hours, heck, he could even just keep using the same skin!    Copperfield would be impressed with your "illusion". In between tossing have the kid run the oven...freeing you up for more important things like operating a $oda dispenser, keeping the line moving fast, chatting up your "homemade" deserts, etc.

Get an account where you can buy cases of ground Escalon or Stanislaus products and stop trying to make things hard on yourself....

[scarboni]

he could even just keep using the same skin!    Copperfield would be impressed with your "illusion".

Get an account where you can buy cases of ground Escalon or Stanislaus products and stop trying to make things hard on yourself....

THROW DOUGH! =P

[PizzaTruck]

I sure like that idea....get a kid in there spinn'in an toss'in dough for two hours, heck, he could even just keep using the same skin!    Copperfield would be impressed with your "illusion". In between tossing have the kid run the oven...freeing you up for more important things like operating a $oda dispenser, keeping the line moving fast, chatting up your "homemade" deserts, etc.

Get an account where you can buy cases of ground Escalon or Stanislaus products and stop trying to make things hard on yourself....

As for sauce, I've been using stanislaus 7/11 ground tomatoes in #10 cans and adding my own blend of spices to that. everyone loves it and it goes a long way. piece of cake... er pie

I am trying to get some samples of a few Stanislaus products as well as 6-in-1 (harder to do here in Canada) and then I will set up a supplier. I've read a lot about, and agree with, the idea that the best sauce is the simplest sauce. I think I will start with either 7/11 or 6-in-1 with a pinch of salt and basil, and then fresh oregano when it comes out of the oven.

I have been trying to minimize the cost of selling old-style 20oz glass bottle Coke products imported from Mexico, where they use cane sugar instead of chemical sweetner. If it doesn't prove to be a money maker, I will see about installing a dispenser in the truck. So far I've only seen one food truck with a soda dispenser mounted on it, so I think it might be hard to keep them calibrated with the bumpiness. My first choice is glass bottles for the novelty, but only if there is profit potential.

[Chicago Bob]

THROW DOUGH! =P

The man prolly already has a name for his truck, but he may want to reconsider now....