I need a little bit of help. I manage an all you can eat pizza buffet, a concept similar to CiCis. We have a basic dough formulation, using sugar salt and oil. We use a divider rounder to form the balls…then we let them rise for a few hours before using them on the buffet.
On the pizza line end we are using the 12oz balls with our somerset dough press. Pies are made either to let sit on the racks in preperation for a rush or made and then put in the oven depending on business volume. We are using impinger ovens.
The problem we are having, not a problem really but something we are looking to improve is the crispness of our final product. We notice that the bottoms of the pies are soggy very quickly. I’ve tried a higher hydration dough but that makes it difficult to use int ehdivider. We have and are currently attempting cornmeal but that is just making the pizza make time longer.
Our ovens are at 500* at 5 minutes. We’ve attempted a slower bake time at a cooler temperature but was wondering what oither ideas you may have for our high volume place.
What are you putting the pizza on at the buffet? I got a sample from Pizza Expo that has amazed me when it comes to keeping the pizza fresh and crisp. They are called Pizza Pleezers here is the link http://www.hsfoodservers.com/pizza.html
I have used the metal trays and plastic trays before but nothing compares to these.
Thanks for the replys. We use metal pans on the buffet I think slowing the oven down is part of it. It is an older oven…
Our dough is proofed sometimes overnightbut sometimes used within 4-5 hours. Some in my company prefer to use cold dough but - think that is detremental. Thanks for your feedback.
I also run a pizza buffet concept similar to CiCis. The metal plates you put your pizzas on are what is making your pizzas soggy. A little trick we use is to place a pizza screen between the pizza and the metal plate. This may sound crazy but it works and you do not have to buy any extra equipment. We bought a single pizza pleezer tray and it worked, but no better than the pizza screen method.