I know this subject has probly been beat into the ground…but the search in here does not bring up much… We have been open for about 4 months…business is good. But…we’re on our 2nd cheese, and we’re still not loving anything we’ve tried, we thought we were getting a superior cheese when we switched this last time, but we’re having issues with it. I would LOVE to use Grande…but we just can’t see paying such a huge difference in price right now…grande is about 55-65 cents more per pound than what we’re using right now.
So what I would LOVE to know from you great folks…is
1.what brand do you use? and why do you love it?
2.Do you buy pre-shredded and have you had any issues with the anti-caking stuff they use?
We use WM…mozz…and its pre-shredded…and one of the issues we’re having with the stuff we’re using now is too much of the anti caking and it doesn’t always melt good. I want to find a really nice cheese and stick with it…I hate not having the perfect cheese!
we use 50/50 grande best i ever used taste is awesome,melts beautifully,no grease,customers love it use it on every product 2.14 lb diced .i compared the .50 cheaper products the vendors brought me block after block nothing compared except polly-o part skim was 1.90 lb block had to shred .diced is the best way to go.we were using about 180lbs a week we just opened in feb.
We use only Grande so far as is possible. Sure, the cost / pound is more, but you have to look beyond that. The whole milk moz covers evenly, and less is required per pizza. We have found that it also retains heat better, extending our keep times. And the taste/texture is what one would expect to find in a gourmet pizza.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that even with the cost of Grande and the best possible other ingredients, our prices come in competitive with the local chains.
Ask them for a sample, try it. Put a Grande Pizza in a box, put your current pizza in another, and check the temps after 10 min, 15 min.
We panic if we get even close to low on Grande, as we feel our customers will notice the difference. We certainly do.
Based on a 7oz serving which is about average for a 16" pizza, $0.65 a pound to high works out to $0.284 a pie. Your reputation isn’t worth $0.29 a pie??? This is why I use Grande, my reputation is worth the extra money. I used to use Polly-O but something changed about 18 months ago and the product doesn’t have the stretch it used to have.
we’re using 350 to 400 lbs a week thats almost $1000 a month more for cheese, 12000 a year, now I would love to use grande but seriously not at that price, we’re succesful with what we’re using now and I think it taste great and so does everybody else, but the melt is not consistent…sometimes its great sometimes its not. I would love to find a company like grande that is a little more competitive in there pricing but still makes a great consistent cheese. I think if we shredded our own we probly would have a better time finding something. Cant do that right now though. thanks for the reponses!
I buy the best cheese I was able to find here in Canada and have the same issues with consistancey that you seem to have. I have talked at length with the dairy experts from my various suppliers and they all say that there are a number of factors that take part in the problem. What the cows are eating (grazing on fresh hay or eating bailed hay) seems to have the most effect. The length of time since the cheese was made is also a major factor. If it is too soon after is is made or too long after it is made the cheese tends to be softer and has a different melt characteristic. These are the things the experts tell me.
I have noticed one thing over the few years that I have been in business. The cheese is always the worst when I have been the busiest. Last week we had major trouble with the cheese and it was the last week of school here so we did multiple school orders every day.
Try Lugano or Dragone whole milk Mozzarella. They are made by Saputo. A few years ago I switched from Grande to Lugano. I did blind taste tests with my employees and a few customers and they couldn’t tell the difference. I also use the same amount that I did with the Grande cheese and it spreads the same. Grande is not the end all, be all of cheese! Don’t get me wrong, it is a great cheese but it’s very expensive. There are other cheeses out there that compare in quality that are less expensive.
I am only a farmer’s market pizza stand operator. I use Grande cheese. My customers love it. I am now paying 2.07 a pound. I get in in block and grate it. It seems superior to other mozzarella cheeses I have tried. I am only using 6 oz. on a 16" pizza and get no complaints from customers. Customers that buy whole pies and heat up the next day say the cheese still tastes great.
Norma
[quote=“Laura”]
we’re using 350 to 400 lbs a week thats almost $1000 a month more for cheese, 12000 a year, . quote]
What are your sales? That’s a hell of a lot of cheese. If you have only been going for 4 months and doing that amount of cheese you must have a DECENT SIZE turnover store. We only go through just over 200lb (96kg) and have a pretty good sales figure - 700 - 800 pizzas a week at an average pizza sale of $14.50 + side orders.
If you aren’t doing 1000 16" pizzas a week on the useage of cheese quoted you must really look at how much you are using. Then you may find that the extra cost of using a better cheese is cost negative for a better product.
I guess Grande is the Australian equivalent of Caboolture Mozz. It costs a fair bit more but useage is less. We went from mozz and cheddar block which we shredded at an average of $6.50kg to Cabollture mozz shredded at $8.50kg and end cost is the same as we use less cheese per pizza, quality and consistentcy is better, coverage is more even and better looking, no oily tops, no clagging and less work in shredding the block.
we use 7oz of grande 50/50 for 16" how much are u using with the cheaper cheese for 16".we use one case for 65 pies.and at 2.14 lb its diced and is 50% provolone. i think diced covers and uses less then shredded. one thing people forget is labor to shred cheese.start from getting the box from cooler to machine then how long to shred, washing attachment to cleaning containers its stored in,didnt shred enough take out shreder again rewash. grande diced 2 cheese in vacum bags cut open bag on pizza 2.14lb. it does drop to 2.07 alot.also is there waste from shredding your own cheese container left open,need to use it by a certian time? the grande bags are packed 6 5lb bags per case.
We use a low moisture part skim block. Pricing is better when you buy block and shred or grind yourself and you avoid the anti-caking stuff altogether.
Why can’t you grind your own cheese? The same machine that makes your dough will handle it. If you are not making your own dough, go buy a machine and get started. The combined savings from grinding cheese from block and making dough (even after labor expense) will be about 50 cents per pizza. If you are doing the volume your cheese usage would indicate, you will pay for the machine in a short time indeed!
Glad to see the Grande crowd is still following the forum. How many of you are Grande reps? We have taste-tested Grande a few times over the years. I never found that I would be able to use less. Cheese is not paint. “Coverage” is not the point. I also did not care for how it sets up as it cools… not a good thing for a delivery pie. I would not swich to it if the price was the same and it sure isn’t.
The quoted $2.07 a pound for Grande is about 70 cents more than we are paying right now. You have to give those guys credit for the ability to charge high prices! 70 cents a pound would have cost me about 30K last year, for a product that I do not regard as being as good. No thanks.
If you are doing 1000 16" pizzas with only 350-400 lbs of cheese a week I would be amazed…that your customers would buy pizzas with so little cheese. 350lbsx16oz. =5600 oz. of cheese. That would be an AVERAGE of 5.6 oz. /16" pizza. A lot of pies get extra cheese. Thus your regular portion would have to be 4-5 ounces for a 16" pizza. Not even the AMAZING Grande could pull this off. I would expect someone selling 1000 pizzas/week to use 800 lbs. or more per week.
Also, is Della Vita a “house brand”?..We have seen discussions on house brands in the past where suppliers source their product from multiple sources…This can lead to some inconsistency between batches…It might be worth asking yopur supplier what efforts they take to control the consistency…