We plan to open additional express outlets in our city 2010.
We will centralize prep and distribute to these outlets. I would like to ‘fresh freeze’ our dough, meats and vegetables and need to ensure quality is not affected.
First has anyone done this successfully? And what materials and storage methods were used?
Why?
Get a small refer box truck…
Dough/meats etc will last several days under cool temps…
Freezing dough (successfully) requires a hefty investment, plus you’ll need extra freezer space @ each location…
A system can be in place far less costly & deliver better results…
Or the competition catches wind of your operation & markets an ad campaign “they use frozen, not fresh products like our operation…” a costly marketing mistake
The bigger you grow, the easier it is to stay/keep fresh
so if we stay fresh we would vacuum seal the bags?
One advantage of the outlets is the size of pizza will be limited, likely 12" and 14" so dough inventory is manageable.
Aves99,
The few times I’ve frozen dough (in prep for potential 10K+ days) - I also bagged additional ice. When wrapped straight from balling and placed into freezer, I’ve noticed no degradation of product. Allow additional time to proof when thawed.
I don’t really understand what you mean by ‘express outlet?’ A box with an oven and telephone? A delivery distribution point? Doable - see Dominoes.
Forecast your delivery method, daily, 2-days, week, etc… Then ensure you have sufficient destination cooling space on-hand. If the distance isn’t too great, you should be able to transport unfrozen - but look at codes for commercial (this might put a kink in your idea) food transport. Should work (without freezing), but you’re going to have to babysit the process to ensure the kinks are worked out.
Refrigeration is the only way to go. If you freeze, both the dough as wel as your vegetable toppings will suffer from anything less than blast or cryogenic freezing, both of which are costly as well as require quite a bit of space. You can get away with static freezing your doug for up to about ten days, but the vegetable toppingd will become soft and mushy with the first exposure to freezing temperatures. Just pop a few of your toppings into the freezer, then thaw then to see how the texture is affected. They will also water out during baking, making for a lovely “swamp” pizza.
My advice is to refrigerate, don’t freeze.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor