As I noted previously, Buddy's added Nutrition information for its pizzas to its website, at
http://www.buddyspizza.com/nutrition.asp?Category=3. At the time, I got excited but that excitement abated almost immediately when I discovered that there was no weight information given for their pizzas. That made it very difficult to use the Nutrition information for reverse engineering and cloning purposes. However, I decided to revisit the Buddy's Nutrition information again today as a result of my assisting Norma with her attempt at a Buddy's clone pizza. What she has been doing in this regard is set forth in the thread at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,21559.msg217567.html#msg217567.
In revisiting the Buddy's Nutrition information today, I was puzzled by the recitation of a "Slice" as the serving size. The reason I was puzzled is that I had been previously told that Buddy's uses an 8" x 10" pan for their 4-square pizza and a 10" x 14" pan for their 8-square pizza. I had previously reported on this at Reply 126 at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,3783.msg81436/topicseen.html#msg81436. What I couldn't tell is whether the "Slice" was a slice from a 4-square pizza or from an 8-square pizza. So, I decided to send an email to Buddy's to get clarification. That led to the following exchanges between me and Buddy's, which also included an exchange on the amount of cheese that Buddy's uses on its pizzas:
Me: I have been looking at the Nutrition Facts for your pizzas at your website. Can you tell me if a "Slice" refers to a slice from the larger pan or the smaller pan? As best I can tell, the two slices would have different weights. Also, as one who is watching his weight, can you tell me how much cheese is used on the two sizes of pizzas (I think you call them four-squares and eight-squares)?
Buddy's:
The slices are the same size in a 4-square pizza as in an 8-square pizza. The only difference is the number of slices offered.
We use almost 1 lb. (16 oz.) of cheese on an 8-squre pizza. This works out to approximately 2 oz. per slice.Me: Thank you very much for your reply. However, I am still a bit confused. I was told by a friend that the 4-square pizzas are baked in an 8" x 10" pan and that the 8-square pizzas are baked in a 10" x 14" pan. Since the larger pan is not twice the size as the smaller pan, wouldn't the sizes of the slices be different for the two pans?
Buddy's:
All our pizzas are hand-made and toppings (to include cheese) are hand applied. The nutritional values on our website are approximations because of this. The quantity of dough used in our 4-square pizza and the amount of cheese hand-applied is half of what we use/apply on our 8-square pizza. Please also note that our pizzas are hand-cut. Each slice therefore, is not necessarily the same size every time.The above exchange adds a bit more about their pizzas than we were previously able to divine from all of our research. As previously noted at Reply 126 referenced above, Buddy's reportedly uses 15 ounces of cheese on its 8-square pizzas. So, for the 4-square pizzas, one would use half of that, or 7.5 ounces. We also now know that the 4-square pizza uses half the amount of dough as the 8-square pizza. I think I have a rough idea of dough ball weights but I need to do more work to see if I am correct.
Unfortunately, I was unable to confirm the use of 15 ounces of brick cheese for the 8-square pizza in the Buddy's Nutrition information. As was noted in the EDIT of 12/11/10 to Reply 126 referenced above, Buddy's reportedly turned to Foremost Farms for its brick cheese. At one point, Buddy's even so noted that on their menus. That is no longer the case. However, if Buddy's is still using Foremost, the only brick cheese offering that I could find at the foodservice part of Foremost's website is the one described at
http://www.foremostfarms.com/Commercial/pdfs/Nutritional%20Information/NDS_Brick.pdf. Unfortunately, the Nutritional information for that cheese, and notably the cholesterol content, does not line up with Buddy's Nutrition information. Norma plans to use another brand of brick cheese for her Buddy's clones, from Great Lakes. The specifications for the Great Lakes brick cheese can be seen at Reply 72 at
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,21559.msg220464.html#msg220464. If one compares the two brands of brick cheese, it will be seen that they are quite similar. My level of discomfit with the Buddy's Nutrition information is such that I do not think that such information is reliable and may even be incorrect or inaccurate.
Peter
