Caking of self-shredded cheese

[pizzafanatic]

Hi all,
I’ve been shredding my cheese for the past 6 months or so. It saves me a lot of $$$. I guess I should have asked this question a few months ago when it started getting very warm. Is there something that you use or know of that can be mixed into freshly shredded cheese to keep it from caking? Because it’s so warm in the kitchen these days, the cheese gets soft quickly and when it’s place back into the frig, it tends to stick together pretty badly. It’s easy to break back up again, but it’s a little chunkier than I’d like.

I know the big manufacturers often use rice or potato starch to prevent caking, but can it be done in smaller scale? I just want to make sure that whatever I use does not change the flavor or baking characteristics of the cheese. Hence, no one should know I’m even using it except for my kitchen staff. Is there such a product?

 

[The_Fat_Boy]

i usually put a small amount of flour in the bin to absorb moisture

 

[boatnut]

We use the Hobart to shred our blend of New Zealand Edam and Saputo Mozz.After shredding into a large “tupperware” type bin we divide into five stainless bins that fit the make table. No problem with clumping.
Yeah we have to mix it up by hand a little, part of serving a quality product is how we view it! . Trust me, your customers can tell the difference between in house shredded 100% REAL cheese and that crap that comes in a bag. We are in a small enough town that there used to be three pizzerias, now only two. The other guy does the three for one, free pop for pickup, Monday special, Tuesday special thing, etc etc… God help him when a franchise store comes to town. We use only high end ingredients, charge more, NEVER offer a discounted special and are getting busier by the month. 537 sq ft with avg sales of in excess of $1,000 a day. No liquer, no sit down. Every time I increase the price we get busier. Bottom line, live with the slight inconvenience and be amazed how the customers respond. If they wanted crap they would order from one of the large chains that specialize in producing crap. Long live the independant!!! Yeah I’ve had a few…

 

[Integraoligist]

hows that hang-over feelin today? /\ /\ /\ :lol:

 

[Charles]

LOL.

Hey boatnut, how the hack do you have a pizzeria in 537 sf! That is amazing!

 

[royster13]

I was wondering he does with all that extra space…I had a place that was 12’w x 24’l x 12’h …The front entrance was a 4 x 4 space with a door at each end…The inside of the 2 doors opened on top and that was our pickup window…And we used the top 4’ of ceiling height very well…

 

[boatnut]

That hangover hurt. How in such a small space? Lots and lots of shelves, all prep done before opening, very strict about tidyness and only have staff that get along. Sorry about the rant. As an aside, we just got our new oven ( Doyon Piz6 ) and it has helped drop our out the door time to 18m on a $1800 Friday ( 4PM-10PM). This oven has a higher production capacity than their F-2 conveyor!! Could not be happier.

 

[creampuff]

boatnut:

We use the Hobart to shred our blend of New Zealand Edam and Saputo Mozz.After shredding into a large “tupperware” type bin we divide into five stainless bins that fit the make table. No problem with clumping.
Yeah we have to mix it up by hand a little, part of serving a quality product is how we view it! . Trust me, your customers can tell the difference between in house shredded 100% REAL cheese and that crap that comes in a bag. We are in a small enough town that there used to be three pizzerias, now only two. The other guy does the three for one, free pop for pickup, Monday special, Tuesday special thing, etc etc… God help him when a franchise store comes to town. We use only high end ingredients, charge more, NEVER offer a discounted special and are getting busier by the month. 537 sq ft with avg sales of in excess of $1,000 a day. No liquer, no sit down. Every time I increase the price we get busier. Bottom line, live with the slight inconvenience and be amazed how the customers respond. If they wanted crap they would order from one of the large chains that specialize in producing crap. Long live the independant!!! Yeah I’ve had a few…

BRAVO!!!