Pizza Hut (Back in the day)

[Chicago Bob]

Before about '84-85 Pizza Hut fell into the "American Cracker" category along with many including Village Inn, and even Shakey's. 

Do you have a recollection of what pre-'84 PH T&C pizza was like before it "fell" into "American Cracker"....please try to expound mykall. Thanks

[mykall]

Do you have a recollection of what pre-'84 PH T&C pizza was like before it "fell" into "American Cracker"....please try to expound mykall. Thanks

Pre 1980-4 Pizza Hut WAS definitely cracker!  It did *NOT*  "fall" into this after this date.  Let's get this straight!   Somewhere between 80-83  is when the big thick PAN PIZZAS w/ buffalo mozzi  put PH on the map.  This continued to about the late-eighties until the company lost itself again.

[Chicago Bob]

Pre 1980-4 Pizza Hut WAS definitely cracker!  It did *NOT*  "fall" into this after this date.  Let's get this straight!   Somewhere between 80-83  is when the big thick PAN PIZZAS w/ buffalo mozzi  put PH on the map.  This continued to about the late-eighties until the company lost itself again.

I'm sorry, I got a 'lil backward there with my understanding of what you said....you're absolutely correct, mykall, pre-84 T&C was absolutely the best! No bout a doubt it !!!

[dokpm0]

I read here that they switched over to using frozen dough...anybody know when that was?

I worked at Pizza Hut off and on from the late '80s to the late '90s.  I forget when the hand tossed crust came out.  It was the first frozen dough, at least at the Hut I worked at - number 312079 in Liberty, TX.  I think it was the same dough that was used for stuffed crust when that came out.  I'd forgotten about frozen personal pan dough until someone mentioned that.  I think I vaguely remember switching to that before I left.  When I left, I think it was '96 or '97, thin dough and pan dough for small, medium, and large pans were still made fresh. 

To add a little to the Thin 'N Crispy discussion - when I worked there we started making dough at 08:00.  We opened at 11:00, so the thin dough would start being used three hours or less after it was mixed.  In a pinch there were times when we ran out and resorted to mixing a batch and using it almost immediately after mixing.  I also remember that the mixing time for thin dough was three minutes.

[rpmfla]

To add a little to the Thin 'N Crispy discussion - when I worked there we started making dough at 08:00.  We opened at 11:00, so the thin dough would start being used three hours or less after it was mixed.  In a pinch there were times when we ran out and resorted to mixing a batch and using it almost immediately after mixing.  I also remember that the mixing time for thin dough was three minutes.

I'm sure we went in earlier than that but I don't recall the exact time, but yes, I remember the 3 minute mix and that the thin dough was useable almost immediately. I also remember the thin dough being extremely easy to use and almost totally lacking elasticity.

[dokpm0]

I'm sure we went in earlier than that but I don't recall the exact time

I remember one time I went in really early, around 17:00 the day before.     I was scheduled to close one day and open the next day.  I ended up saying in between and cleaning the oven.  I don't miss those kind of hours. 

[ctimmer]

I remember one time I went in really early, around 17:00 the day before.     I was scheduled to close one day and open the next day.  I ended up saying in between and cleaning the oven.  I don't miss those kind of hours. 

As long as we are confessing... When customers would stay too long after closing, we would mop the floors with at mixture of clorox and ammonia cleaner. As most customers didn't have a gas mask handy, this was very effective at clearing out the dining area.

Curt

[Giggliato]

This is an informative post. I'm currently on a thin and crispy quest in a commercial space. Like others I too worked as a dough master for Pizza Hut, but this was only back in 2001. I am curious about the PHTAC that was made in the 1970's as I will be using a deck oven as it seems PH did at that time.

I remember making thin dough, and putting it in a trash can, and I remember how it smelled 

I'm pretty sure we panned out some crisps after some time in the trash can, I could be wrong but I think it was left in there for a long time, a day perhaps. and then the  pans were placed in the walkin. Grabbing a chunk of dough at room temperature sounds interesting but I wonder about the waste involved, if the dough wasn't used was it thrown out?

[Aimless Ryan]

At the Pizza Huts where I worked, all unused dough was thrown out at the end of each night. I didn't know this at the time, but their dough management scheme was quite inefficient.

[GANGGREEN]

At the Pizza Huts where I worked, all unused dough was thrown out at the end of each night. I didn't know this at the time, but their dough management scheme was quite inefficient.

Ha!  Sorry to pick such an old topic for my first post (other than my introduction in the new member's forum) but this thread brought back lots of memories.  First of all, when I was in high school in the late 70s/early 80s, a good friend of mine had a brother who would bring pizza dough home frequently from his job at Pizza Hut.  We'd bake pies and watch Kung Fu movies and had the time of our lives.

More on topic, I'd like to say that I LOVED the original thin and crispy crust at Pizza Hut, just absolutely loved it.  I grew up in a rural area and because we had a large family and were pretty blue collar, I didn't often get the opportunity to eat out.  I still recall the first time ever eating in a Pizza Hut.  I was probably 8 years old and was on the way home from a church trip to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates.  We stopped at Pizza Hut, I had the thin crust pizza and thought I had died and gone to heaven.

I still live in a rural area and still don't eat out a lot but I'm glad to see others suggest that the thin and crispy at Pizza Hut today is nowhere near as good as it was "back in the day".  I had thought that perhaps it seemed so different to me because of romantic memories from my childhood and I'm glad to know that I'm not crazy.

Carry on.......

[rpmfla]

I see that this thread hasn't been added to in a long time, but I'm making a cracker style this weekend and looked here to see if anyone had come up with "the" Pizza Hut Thin n' Crispy dough formulation/technique. Oh well, I guess I'll just use one of the old one's I tried years ago.

Not that it is adding much to what we all pieced together back when this thread was in more use, but one other thing came to mind as I was thinking about my time at Pizza Hut...when grabbing a chunk of the thin dough out of the container to run through the sheeter (wish I had a sheeter), pulling on the dough to get a piece, the dough did not stretch much at all before breaking off from the mass...very little elasticity, and it was very "airy" with sort of a sponge like consistency. Not sure if that helps in figuring out the recipe, but doesn't salt content have a lot to do with elasticity? I remember once that I forgot to add salt to my usual NY Style recipe and the resulting dough had almost zero "pull back" when stretching...basically drooping down to the counter when I picked it up.

[Mako13]

I'm interested in their cracker style pizza crust too, and would like to know how your pizza(s) turned out, and/or any recommendations for the best, Pizza Hut-style, cracker crust clone(s) out there.

[dwg]

I'm interested in their cracker style pizza crust too, and would like to know how your pizza(s) turned out, and/or any recommendations for the best, Pizza Hut-style, cracker crust clone(s) out there.

The recipe is given in the first post of this thread. Have you tried to replicate it? If not, try it and post the results somewhere and you will get some feedback.