I’ve been in the pizza business for over 20 years and i’ll admit way back when , when take and bake first started up i said it would never last . guess i was wrong! and now owning a small pizza place in a small country town i find myself more intrigued with adding take and bake to the menu with the theroy being all the other small towns in the surrounding area would be able to pick up pizzas when they are in town and cook them at there own convience. heres the problem although i have aquired alot of info and experience over the years on pizza and pretty much know pizza inside and out i’m at a loss on take and bake so any info anyone could help with would be greatly appreciated , anything from recipes to baking instructions & packaging or even just general info on how to get this started. thanks, andrew
check with your vendor about pkg material nad make sure you test cook at home and several feinds homes to get your bake time and temp i.e. gas oven 475 for 18 mins or elec oven 450 for 2o mins and so on
pactiv plates are a little expensive but worth it
Take and bake takes a long time to establish so first thing you need is patience.
Test your product and how it tastes going from being stored in a cooler or freezer to driving home and baking.
We parbake our dough. Cool it. Add all the toppings and freeze it. That is what worked for us because we could only make take and bake twice a week and our dough recipe is unique to our shop.
Experiment.
Search online for the right baking trays.
Experiment more.
Test in as many different home ovens as you can.
I print my baking instructions with coupons that expire at different intervals so I know the product is properly rotated in the shop.
PM if you want to see a label.
dough boy
I had similiar questions to yourself on take and bake , my post is a couple of lines down, some good information ,
I will be keen to know how you get on as I am also interested in setting up take and bake , as a matter of interest what type of crust do you do , and will you be using the same crust for take and bake and regular sales,
You can begin with your regular dough with a couple changes; Increase the sugar content to 5% of the flour weight, manage the dough in your normal manner, but on the second day (day after mixing) open the dough balls up to the desired size and place onto screens in the cooler (uncovered) on a wire tree rack, then after about 30-minutes, cover the rack with a plastic bag. To use for a t&b order, remove one of the refrigerated dough skins, place onto a lightly oiled Pactive or M-Press ovenable paperboard tray, and fit to the tray. Lightly brush with olive oil, and dress to the order. As all doughs are different, you will need to do some home work on defining the baking parameters for YOUR pizzas. Be sure to label with DO NOT FREEZE, REMOVE OVERWRAP
BEFORE BAKING, and also include a use by date as well as a production date, one more thing KEEP REFRIGERATED is good to have on the package too. Sounds silly, but trust me, you do need it. If you want to see some specialized dough formulas for a T&B pizza, I’ve got at least three different ones posted in the RECIPE BANK.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
thanks for all the help everyone and thanks for the info tom i’ve already got your recipies and spoke with mpress and they were great and are sending me some free samples to play around with now its just a matter of mixing up some dough and doing some trials i’m going to go with your t&b dough
tom i’ve always had great results and lerned all i’ve ever needed to know by reading all your articles tom and also alot more than i needed to know but everything i’ve learned over the years about pizza dough i’ve learned from you and considering everyone in town says we have the best dough and sauce i have to say thanks to you for that tom ( yes i belive i have every pizza today mag since 1987 my wife has tried many times to get rid) PIZZA DUDE i stick with just a standard hand tossed dough although i’m working on adding a deep dish to the menu in the near future - 2 days ago i didn’t know the first thing about take and bake but i’ve spoken with a ton of people and have done alot of research on the subject and i think i’ve almost got my game plan ready for kicking this off if you would like the info i have on the subject pm me and i’d be happy to send it to you
Lets also note the possible use of raw meats? Your sausage, ground beef, etc… are they precooked or go on raw. With raw you are open too a whole new list of requirements and info to put on the packaging for resale. Anyone here that sells t&b and uses raw meats want to add a take on this please.
The best thing you can do is call your food inspector. State laws are very difficult to understand. The food inspector knows the food code better than anyone.