Holding cabinets that do not have humidity control tend to give the pizza a waxy appearance after a while in the box. Operators who use these like them because they don’t soften the crust as much as the humidified boxes do. They get around the appearance by using only a portion of the cheese on the pizza, then when a slice is ordered they put the remainder of cheese onto the slice and put it back into the oven (countertop conveyors are great for this application because they can be sey to give the majority of heat to the top of the slice where it is needed to melt the cheese. The humidified boxes also work well for a slice operation, but the humidity softens the crust while keeping the toppings looking a lot more attractive. In this application you can use a full compliment of cheese on the pizza and just pop a slice into the oven (deck ovens work well here as you are really trying to crisp up the crust portion) when it is sold. I’ve seen a lot of thick crust slices sold right out of the heated and humidified cabinets too. Not the way I would do it, but they were doing it successfully so I can’t say too much more about the practice. I’ve personally used the Hatco Boxes with good success, but there are other good holding boxes out there too. Take your pick.
BTW: I wrote an article on this very topic some time ago but can’t remember if it was for PMQ or Pizza Today, a quick check of the archived articles will find it.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
