Author Topic: Building a Mobile wood fired oven (Read 17156 times)

thezaman · « **Reply #60 on:** December 05, 2009, 01:29:01 PM »

can anyone give me a line on a trailer similar to the one above .looks like 4x6 or 5x7 ?

thezaman · « **Reply #61 on:** December 07, 2009, 04:48:45 PM »

i just purchased a finished oven from forno bravo the Tuscana [ spelling is probably wrong] . they are using their new engine the casa g2 and bulking up the insulation . it is going to our local joint vocation school so they can build the trailer. i will document the build with pictures. the oven is going to be delivered january 4th.

jeff v · « **Reply #62 on:** December 07, 2009, 05:36:11 PM »

Quote from: thezaman on December 07, 2009, 04:48:45 PM

i just purchased a finished oven from forno bravo the Tuscana [ spelling is probably wrong] . they are using their new engine the casa g2 and bulking up the insulation . it is going to our local joint vocation school so they can build the trailer. i will document the build with pictures. the oven is going to be delivered january 4th.

Very cool-looking forward to following along.

thezaman · « **Reply #63 on:** December 09, 2009, 12:35:37 PM »

i got my first potential job ,it would be for 200 people on may 30th. i am open for suggestions how to cook for that many people in a timely period.i want to do a ricotta spread with ciabatta ,that and salad would buy 30 minutes of time. i think i am going to need 75 to 100 pizzas . any thoughts?this is graduation weekend for oberlin college . the 200 people represent the class of 1985.

SELES · « **Reply #64 on:** December 09, 2009, 08:33:35 PM »

Quote from: thezaman on December 09, 2009, 12:35:37 PM

i got my first potential job ,it would be for 200 people on may 30th.

Congrats! Thats really great, best of luck.

Those ovens look really nice.

norma427 · « **Reply #65 on:** December 09, 2009, 09:10:34 PM »

thezaman,
Congratulations on your new venture! Opening your own business certainly is a mark of distinction.
Best of luck.

Norma

thezaman · « **Reply #66 on:** December 09, 2009, 09:36:37 PM »

norma, i am already in the pizza business. this will be an extension of my current business. i feel comfortable handling small events at wineries and farm markets ,but 200 plus in one seating is a lot for someone new to wfo cooking. i am thinking a bringing in someone with experience to help me.

widespreadpizza · « **Reply #67 on:** December 09, 2009, 09:51:14 PM »

Zaman, the problem might actually be the at one seating part. It can't be done well. No one you bring in could do it right either, I don't think. 2 pies per minute = 100 over 50 minutes. best you could hope for? Somehow you have to break it up into groups or something. Don't serve a lacluster product to satisfy the format. Fix the format? -marc

norma427 · « **Reply #68 on:** December 09, 2009, 09:56:36 PM »

thezaman,
Sorry, I didn't know you did small events. I wish you luck in your coming adventure.
Norma

jjerrier2450 · « **Reply #69 on:** December 09, 2009, 09:59:20 PM »

200 at once is a tough putt. You will need to do some stuff beforehand otherwise you will have everyone hovering and you won't be able to keep up at all. I would suggest a 3 man team - 1 person shapes the dough, 1 person tops, 1 oven man...then you will need someone cutting too. I'm assuming you are doing neapolitan style in a WFO?? If not, you can consider par-baking crusts - but IMO that really compromises the product. I've done thousands of pizzas now in our mobile oven - and I can do 5 at a time, but it is incredibly stressful. I would suggest some breads and salads beforehand for sure - and maybe do some pepperoni rolls and garlic knots and keep them in warming trays to let people get started. But you will definitely get slammed...there's no way around it, unless they eat shifts of 50 or so...

thezaman · « **Reply #70 on:** December 09, 2009, 10:37:21 PM »

jay, thanks for your input. i will be using a 40 inch casa oven can i get 4 pizzas in it? i can use my restaurant for appetizers salad and other sides. being that this will be my first big outing i think i am going to bring in a friend to run the oven , he has a lot of wfo experience.

jjerrier2450 · « **Reply #71 on:** December 10, 2009, 12:04:15 AM »

with the fire in the oven i think it will be tough to do 4 at a time...i wouldn't go larger than 250g doughballs. You might also have some baked pasta dishes and finish them off in the oven before the start of the event...that way pizza is a component of a meal, just not the whole meal. Good luck!! I once did a party for 175 people where we just did pizza - but they had some other appetizers too.

thezaman · « **Reply #72 on:** December 10, 2009, 07:29:57 AM »

jay, how many pizza did you bake for 175 people?

UnConundrum · « **Reply #73 on:** December 10, 2009, 08:25:33 AM »

How you sit everyone counts too... If you sit 8 at a table, you have 25 tables. If you cut your pizzas into 8 slices, you can do a pie a table. If you can shape and top 2 a minute, with an oven man, you should get a pizza on each table within 15 minutes, and be ready for the 2nd round.

thezaman · « **Reply #74 on:** December 10, 2009, 08:45:57 AM »

thanks that is a suggestion i can make to the college set up group.i have to commit to this job in january.

SELES · « **Reply #75 on:** December 10, 2009, 10:34:43 AM »

What about serving buffet style?
Seems like there could be a few advantages this way time wise:
(to the experienced, correct me if I'm wrong)

3-4 different lines,
in this context people expect to wait a little, though with multiple lines they'd have to wait a shorter time. 1 line would make the trickle too slow for people to stay happy, 4-5 lines could make it a little too fast so maybe the happy medium is 2-3. You could always have a table on standby to set up for serving.
no food runners
you wouldn't need any food runners for the pizza but you could set salad and sticks at the tables until it's tim to "come and get it"
people can pick the slice they want,
if you plunk down a cheese when half the table wants pepperoni or whatever it might be too long to wait for another slice, that—hopefully—is a flavor they'll like.
less variation
not a byproduct of the buffet but it could help you out. Maybe do 1 marg, 4cheese, pepperoni, and *pierogi;) pizza at each buffet table.

Just thought, worth about 2 cents on a good trading day.

*have you been to the melt in Lakewood and tried the Parmageddon? It's a really good sandwich.

from the menu:
"2 potato & cheese pierogi, fresh napa vodka kraut, grilled onions, sharp cheddar'

(http://www.seriouseats.com/images/20081007-parmageddon.jpg)

The gears are turnin'

thezaman · « **Reply #76 on:** December 10, 2009, 12:15:29 PM »

i had the Thanksgiving melt , turkey, dressing, and i don't remember what else. unless you want to tip the scales in the 500 lb range you can't eat their to often. i don't give up on food ,i must clean my plate. are you from that area? five guys is going across the street.

Mo · « **Reply #77 on:** December 10, 2009, 01:45:55 PM »

Quote from: Hank Trefethen on December 10, 2009, 10:34:43 AM

What about serving buffet style?
Seems like there could be a few advantages this way time wise:
(to the experienced, correct me if I'm wrong)
3-4 different lines,
in this context people expect to wait a little, though with multiple lines they'd have to wait a shorter time. 1 line would make the trickle too slow for people to stay happy, 4-5 lines could make it a little too fast so maybe the happy medium is 2-3. You could always have a table on standby to set up for serving.

no food runners
you wouldn't need any food runners for the pizza but you could set salad and sticks at the tables until it's tim to "come and get it"
people can pick the slice they want,
if you plunk down a cheese when half the table wants pepperoni or whatever it might be too long to wait for another slice, that—hopefully—is a flavor they'll like.
less variation
not a byproduct of the buffet but it could help you out. Maybe do 1 marg, 4cheese, pepperoni, and *pierogi;) pizza at each buffet table.

Just thought, worth about 2 cents on a good trading day.

*have you been to the melt in Lakewood and tried the Parmageddon? It's a really good sandwich.

from the menu:
"2 potato & cheese pierogi, fresh napa vodka kraut, grilled onions, sharp cheddar'

(http://www.seriouseats.com/images/20081007-parmageddon.jpg)

The gears are turnin'

buffet with other entree choices is your only hope of avoiding total destruction. Serving an 8-top one 10 inch pizza is also a recipe for disaster. That could only work as an app, certainly not main course. I think if you had two lines (double-sided) with 2-3 entrees, 2-3 salads, 2-3 sides THEN pizza, you would still be slammed, but you could do it. I have served many thousands of people (over the years) in every kind of banquet set-up and have seen what works and what doesn't. That doesn't mean you have to listen to me, I'd just hate to see you get smoked and still have a couple hundred hungry, disappointed gradutes standing in front of you at the end of the event...whatever you decide, good luck...

SELES · « **Reply #78 on:** December 10, 2009, 11:09:49 PM »

Quote from: thezaman on December 10, 2009, 12:15:29 PM

i had the Thanksgiving melt , turkey, dressing, and i don't remember what else. unless you want to tip the scales in the 500 lb range you can't eat their to often. i don't give up on food ,i must clean my plate. are you from that area? five guys is going across the street.

Jeeze you could say that again! Cleaning your plate at the Melt is a serious undertaking! I'm not from Cleveland, but my wife and I used to live in Lakewood, my wife is from Sheffield Lake. We've been living in Atlanta now for a few years but we're thinking seriously about getting back up there. NEO seems like a good place to set up a WFO pizza catering outfit and I've been considering it for the past couple months myself, but it looks like you beat me to it! Maybe there's room for the both of us

thezaman · « **Reply #79 on:** December 11, 2009, 10:27:21 AM »

i own a pizzeria in oberlin ohio. lorenzos pizzeria , i have been at it since 1982 . the wfo will be an extension of my restaurant . i want to do a wfo restaurant and will someday, but fortunately i am busting at the seams. this is a side business that i can grow at a slow rate . next time you are in the area stop buy you can make your own pizzas .