I am trying to figure out the most cost effective way to quickly & efficiently (being the key words here) package our Take-N-Bake pizzas.
Right now we put them on parchment paper (a large rectangle cut down to the size of the pizza), lay it on a cake circle and then wrap it with film wrap. this is tedious at best, especially trying to wrap a square piece of parchment paper over a round cake circle with the film wrap.
I was looking for round parchment paper, but I need it in 10", 14" and 16" sizes and I can only find it economically if I order like 3500 sheets (far more than I would use in a year).
Ideally, I would like to find some rigid paper product that can go directly in the oven that doesn’t require me to raise my prices (<.50 cents per package) and I wouldn’t even need to use parchment paper.
So do you just prepare them on the tray and wrap it in film wrap? Are the trays strong enough to go out like that? Or do you also have to put them in a box?
I’m just trying to calculate all costs associated with making Take-N-Bakes.
We put them in one of those old-fashioned paper pizza bags - like these.
We found that some people were nervous about carrying out a pizza that they could “see” and would ask for a pizza box to put it in. The bag give them a sense of… I’m really not sure to be honest.
Because the pizza isn’t baked, the stretch wrap helps to hold the toppings all together. The ovenable trays work great, but I would suggest giving them a light spray of oil just before you put the dough onto the tray. There is not a sticking problem if the pizza is baked reasonably soon (a day or two) after purchase, but if it is allowed to set in the fridge much longer most doughs will tend t stick to the trays after baking. This is completely eliminated with a quick oil spray. By the way, the lighter colored trays actually bake better than the darker colored (black) trays. I believe this is due to the greater reflective surface of the black colored trays (which cost more). To speed up packaging look into a Pizza Capper (Shield Manufacturing, Oklahoma City, OK 405-677-6222). I am sure that there are others out there like this, but this just happens to be the one that we have.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
One caveat: the only thing I don’t like about the ovenable trays is that they can give off a slight (silicone?) odor as they bake. I’ve never had a complaint, but both Kris and I have noticed it when we’ve used the product in our own homes.
If you found really inexpensive cardboard circles, you could always get around the “corner hanging over” problem by using a circle that is larger than the pizza/paper set on it.
I received some samples today from MPress and I’m not too “I’MPressed”. I am pretty skeptical that these would hold the weight of one of our works pizzas without folding and creating a disaster. They are really not much more than a large paper plate with some sort of non-stick coating on one side.
I was thinking, for the price they charge, they would be more like Chinette or something similar. Guess I’ll have to keep on looking…
Their specs say that they are oven safe only up to 375F. This might work for reheating the pizza as we typically reheat pizzas of this type at 325 to 350F. Temperatures much higher than that will only serve to burn the toppings without sufficiently reheating the inside of the pizza to a minimum temperature of 165F.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
[quote=“brad randall”]
One caveat: the only thing I don’t like about the ovenable trays is that they can give off a slight (silicone?) odor as they bake.quote]
The only question I would have regarding any off flavors from an ovenable container would be to question if the container was placed into an oven hotter than the temperature range recommended by the manufacturer. For example, if the trays were placed into an oven at, say 500F, but the trays were only rated for 375F, then I would expect less than desirable results. Possible a Google search for (high temperature, ovenable, rigid food containers) might bring something up. One trick I’ve used more than once is to cruise down the frozen food isle of my local supermarket looking for a product that might have a requirement similar to what I’m looking for, then buy it and evaluate it for its potential to work in my specific application. Once I know its out there, it is just a matter of finding out who makes it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
OK, I did that quick Google search and came up with <www.plasticcontainercity.com> Tel: 877-258-6700
Their web site shows that they have a rigid paper container rated for temperatures up to 450F. They show them in diameters of 6.75 to 9.5-inches (1.75-inches deep) or 7.75 and 9 5/8-inches diameter and 2.75-inches deep. By the way, these are “fill and bake” type containers, maening that they are designed to both bake and the product and also serve as a packaging conrainer. At 450F the temperature range could work for you. It looks like there are any number of options out there to explore.
Good luck,
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I talked further with my food supplier and he said EkoTherm was just their in-house name for the product. Turns out it is pressware ovenable paper trays, which is what Papa Murphys uses.
Looks like the same flimsy stuff that MPress makes. Just not sturdy enough for a 3+ lb large works pizza in my opinon, but again, The big chain uses it.
Maybe with 2 layers of film wrap, it gets sturdier and the wrap helps hold the whole assembly together better. I dunno…
I sold some of those when I worked wholesale. They are good, as you said they are much more solid when wrapped. It would add cost, but putting a circle underneath the tray, and wrapping it, would certainly help.
Excuse me for asking, but a 16-inch Chicago style deep-dish pizza? That will feed a small army! Those puppies are mostly sold in 9 to 14-inch formats.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
I’m not sure where deep dish came into the discussion, as we only do a thin crust (well maybe more a hand-tossed thickness). But once I add all the toppings for one of our works pizzas, yeah it will come into the 3+ lb range (dough, sauce, cheese, onions, mushrooms, ham, pepperoni, sausage, green peppers and black olives) for a 16" pie.
