Diced or Shredded??

[system]

Big cheese question here for everybody…

We currently use a “feather shredded” cheese for our pizza’s, but I have been told by a few people including one of our major suppliers, that going with diced cheese can save us about 20% on our cheese costs because it is easier to weigh and portion control. Just wondered if you all have any thoughts on this.

Thanks
Bruno

 

[Daddio]

I don’t understand how diced is easier to weigh???
I shred my cheese using a 3/32 disc. Weighing and portion controll is no different then when I used the 1/8 disc. Thestaff think they are putting more cheese on by looking at the coverage but the weight is the same.

 

[system]

Bruno:

Big cheese question here for everybody…

We currently use a “feather shredded” cheese for our pizza’s, but I have been told by a few people including one of our major suppliers, that going with diced cheese can save us about 20% on our cheese costs because it is easier to weigh and portion control. Just wondered if you all have any thoughts on this.

Thanks
Bruno

I think shredded cheese looks like more cheese than diced for the same weght. After melting, same difference.
Take n Bakes, even in the grocery store, use shredded cheese just because it looks better and it looks like there is more cheese than diced.

Daddio,
What do you shred your cheese with ? I am looking for a shredder for Grande whole milk mozzerella.

Otis

 

[snowman]

Diced is easier to apply. Shredded certainly looks prettier on an uncooked pizza. In the end, once it’s melted, it all looks the same . Diced cheese also doesn’t tend to clump the way shredded will. As such, you can get better coverage from less cheese.

 

[Daddio]

Otis
I have a #12 hub on my mixer that I use to shred the cheese.

 

[system]

We recently switched to a “plant shred” from a diced. Plant shred is a short shred- we like the portioning and the bake compared to dice.

 

[system]

Bruno:

Big cheese question here for everybody…

We currently use a “feather shredded” cheese for our pizza’s, but I have been told by a few people including one of our major suppliers, that going with diced cheese can save us about 20% on our cheese costs because it is easier to weigh and portion control. Just wondered if you all have any thoughts on this.

Thanks
Bruno

Any of you out there shred your own cheese have any thoughts about shredders and doing a variety of shreds. Is the plantetary attachment shredder offer some variety in blades ?
As much as we work on differentiating our pizzas, seems like making different cheese blends would be beneficial. Also, save a little money on the loaves ? Do loaves store better ?
…hope to see you at the show nexr week where I will be looking for some of these answers,
Otis

 

[system]

Blends (was Diced or Shredded??)

Since Otis hijacked the thread…

Certainly a blend is one way to change the taste of your pie, to differentiate from another. There are many shred blends available, one idea would be to get something from your purveyor and experiment.

Common blends are mozz/prov 50-50, mozz/prov/cheddar 80-10-10, and someone does still make a 80-20 mozz/prov (can’t find it firsthand, but I know it’s out there. Stella, maybe??) Another factor is whole milk vs part skim.
But, making your own blend will really make your own identity. We make our own 80-20 mozz prov, simply because that’s what we started with and want to keep it after 20 years. Oh, only wm mozz. We also use the Honey Creek blend, prov/swiss/cheddar, and cut it 75-25 with mozz, but I have no idea of the proportions of that. (think the trademarked Provel ™ of Imo’s) We also make 75-25 mozz/cheddar.
(I say “make”, we get most of the cheeses shredded, mix in a bus tub. A lot less labor intensive, and worth the money at our volume.)

We add asiago, pepper jack, goat cheese, feta, american, gorgonzola, cream cheese, parmesan, ricotta, almost anything on request. (PH now has that lasagna pizza thing, be ready to have requests for ricotta.) I want to try a mozz/asiago/gorg mixture, it won’t really be a blend but would be a unique flavor profile.
Especially if you’re starting a new place, or if you just want to add some pizzazz to your existing place, experiment with the cheeses. Watch out for costs, though!

 

[Tom_R]

Otis, Eupher,
We shred our own, mozz part skim, monterey jack 50/50. As far as pricing goes, $1.70 to $2lb. we chop 40lb blocks down to 2.5 lbs, run one each through the mixer attatchment (shredder) together and “presto” it’s all mixed. I don’t know how great af a blend it is from everyone elses standpoint, but it’s what I was taught when my mom bought her shop in '81, and the customers love it. Not that I wouldn’t like to try other mixes someday, but it’s been one of those aint broke, don’t fix it things. Won’t be at the show, maybe next year.
Tom R

 

[wa_dave]

Tom R:

Otis, Eupher,
We shred our own, mozz part skim, monterey jack 50/50. As far as pricing goes, $1.70 to $2lb. we chop 40lb blocks down to 2.5 lbs, run one each through the mixer attatchment (shredder) together and “presto” it’s all mixed. I don’t know how great af a blend it is from everyone elses standpoint, but it’s what I was taught when my mom bought her shop in '81, and the customers love it. Not that I wouldn’t like to try other mixes someday, but it’s been one of those aint broke, don’t fix it things. Won’t be at the show, maybe next year.
Tom R

Tom R - we do the same in our shop here in Perth West Australia.

We use 50% New Zealand Mozz and 50% New Zealand Cheddarwhich we get in 20kg (44lb) blocks. We cut the blocks into 24 strips each about 830gm (1.8lb) strips and put 1 of each through our shredder and like yours comes out mixed.

It works really well for us. The main thing this way is we have a consistent mix all yaer round. If it is stuffed up it is because we haven’t done it right.

Dave

 

[system]

I really like the Jack idea! I left it off the list that we add as requested. But we only use WM mozz, it’s just that much better IMO.

We had about a double requests for Ricotta this weekend…Is that a widespread PH campaign, or are they localizing it for tests?

 

[Tom_R]

Dave,
The funny thing is, the whole time I was growing up we grated one 5lb block at a time and mixed it by hand as we went. I was just a kid doing what I was told. It wasn’t till I opened my own shop that I realized there was a better way (little older, little wiser). Man, what a time saver!

Tom R

 

[Tom_R]

Funny you mentioned WM verses Skim. I’ve been thinking about trying that.
Tom R

 

[pizzaguy]

Bruno:

Big cheese question here for everybody…

We currently use a “feather shredded” cheese for our pizza’s, but I have been told by a few people including one of our major suppliers, that going with diced cheese can save us about 20% on our cheese costs because it is easier to weigh and portion control. Just wondered if you all have any thoughts on this.

Thanks
Bruno

We blend a Full fat mozza and a Part skim mozza together by shredding them and then we use a portion cup to measure. If you are going with a portion cup you will find a difference between diced and shredded, the diced will take up more room in the cup because of the size and therefore you will use less cheese but you will get less coverage but if you weigh it makes no difference. I dont think you would want to use the same size cup for your diced cheeses unless you want to cut back on the amount of cheese you want on your pizza.

 

[system]

we shred our cheese (prov/part skim mozz) on an attachment to the hobart mixer using a 3/16" blade.

We blend a Full fat mozza and a Part skim mozza together by shredding them and then we use a portion cup to measure. If you are going with a portion cup you will find a difference between diced and shredded, the diced will take up more room in the cup because of the size and therefore you will use less cheese but you will get less coverage but if you weigh it makes no difference. I dont think you would want to use the same size cup for your diced cheeses unless you want to cut back on the amount of cheese you want on your pizza.

using a portion cup for shredded cheese without weighing isn’t accurate. when i shred cheese, it is more or less coarse, depending on how hard i push it through. pushing not so hard makes the cheese finer (or using a blade with smaller holes, but i couldn’t find a smaller one than the 3/16") and is easier to cover the pizza. but i always weigh my cheese.

 

[pizzaguy]

pizzaqueen:

we shred our cheese (prov/part skim mozz) on an attachment to the hobart mixer using a 3/16" blade.

We blend a Full fat mozza and a Part skim mozza together by shredding them and then we use a portion cup to measure. If you are going with a portion cup you will find a difference between diced and shredded, the diced will take up more room in the cup because of the size and therefore you will use less cheese but you will get less coverage but if you weigh it makes no difference. I dont think you would want to use the same size cup for your diced cheeses unless you want to cut back on the amount of cheese you want on your pizza.

using a portion cup for shredded cheese without weighing isn’t accurate. when i shred cheese, it is more or less coarse, depending on how hard i push it through. pushing not so hard makes the cheese finer (or using a blade with smaller holes, but i couldn’t find a smaller one than the 3/16") and is easier to cover the pizza. but i always weigh my cheese.

I agree weight is always the best but portion cups are better then free hand and with only 3 different people that shred our cheese it is very consistant with how it comes out. I wouldnt say its not accurate it is not exact every single time but within a few ounces. usually on the side of caution.

 

[system]

If a shop sells an average of 100 pies a day and the employees average an extra 1 oz of cheese per pizza, that shop owner is giving away over a ton of cheese per year. Whether the labor costs of the extra step offset the savings in food costs is another issue.