Questions on Ovens, Sheeter, Big Holler, and Fryers. George M?

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
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I am getting closer to my dream of getting back into the pizza bizz after 20 years away from it. I am picking up my ovens Monday. I landed a double stack of Blodgett 1000’s for $700 They were in use and location has changed from pizza to a Korean BBQ. They are in the middle of nowhere which is good for me thats why so cheap . So Oven Question the guy said he thought one needs a thermostat because it seems to burn pizzas. ( he worked for previous owner) George in the Picture I noticed they have them set directly on top of each other like a stack of bakers pride y-600s but every 1000 stack I have even seen has about a 2 inch spacer in between. could that be the issue? other than standard vents not set ect.

Sheeter Question There is a pizza place in town that runs their dough through a sheeter and it puts out a long run of dough. they dust it with flour fold it in half and repeat I think they run it through 3 or 4 times they then use giant cookie cutters and a knife to cut out various sizes. I have been looking at Doyon dough sheeters and summerset they both show in online videos the dough going in as a single serve dough ball. I really want the multi layered effect of folding a sheet in half and running it again. Also the Doyon website says not recommended for dough with less than 50% water. What is everyone here doing for their thin crust? if you are doing it as described above what are you using for a sheeter?

Big Holler Question. those of you who use them on a scale of 1-10 how would you rate them and their fees? Their website is pretty bland makes me wonder why if they are in the online ordering bizz, why don’t they have a better webpage.

Fryers>>>>>>>>>>>>> This is a big one. the hood system for fryers is so expensive. plus the install. but I think its a way to offer something the big chains don’t. plus beat them in the wing market I can get fresh never frozen wings for far less than the precooked wings the chains use. I will season them bake them in the oven with a little water to retard shrinkage. them pre portion them . When an order comes in its 3 minutes in the fryer sauce and go. Who here has fryers, and what are you selling lots of that you would not have if you didn’t have them?

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the Blodgett 1000 oven takes air in from the bottom of the oven and requires a stacking ring between the lower and upper oven.

Our clients put dough balls through the sheeter.

We have lots of clients that run par fried wings through the conveyor oven, none that bake them from raw.

George Mills

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We used fresh wings for about two years and baked them. Our process was to season them and bake for prep and then sauce and run through the oven again when sold.

Eventually we decided that the extra effort was not worth the savings, not to mention to added food safety issues dealing with raw poultry like that.

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Thanks Guys, George the stacking ring does it make an air gap between the ovens of noticeable size or is it like a trim piece for looks with opening in the back?

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At first we had a lot of issues with big holler as far as error messages and format spacing. After about 4 months we were able to get all of the bugs figured out and we love it now. We do roughly 50% of our orders online and it saves us so much time in the kitchen. I highly recommend taking your time while setting it up and check every single item on your menu to make sure it matches how your POS system is set up. Once we did that it runs so smoothly now.

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Thanks a bunch. I am stunned that a local place does 50% of their bizz online. That speaks volumes about the interface. What do you do to push online? Is it as simple as putting your website on all your print?

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It took us just short of a year to get that volume. We advertised on our menus and on our sign on the building. We also did giveaways for instance, (Order online to enter yourself a change to win a Amazon fire tablet).