pizza cheese

[Piff]

We use cups I know its $$$ and consistency when you dont use some form of measuring but I just can visualize using a scale during the peak hours.

The scale worries me too. but I’m gonna give it a shot

 

[pizzapiratespp]

We don’t use anything. Every pizza is free thrown. But its not that we don’t watch it though. We do a cheese inventory every day and match the ideal to actual. If we come up short for a day or two eyebrow’s are raised. We do some over the shoulder peering and spot weigh a pizza here and there. That has always worked for us. Its not always too much cheese though. Sometimes we have an issue with too little cheese. I would say that we have to do some cheese adjustment talks about twice a year or maybe less. So I obviously would vote for no scale. Not that I have not tried scales and cups. I done both and have found them to be cumbersome.

 

[d9phoenix]

I work like pizzapiratespp. We count cheese every night, and we are almost dead on every day in ideal/actual.

From time to time i will make someone weight something, but generally we eyeball everything.

 

[Georgiascp]

I would love to eyeball everything but not everyone is good at this and then you have the ones that are unsure of themselves every time they top a pizza. I’m also working on instructional pictures and planning on putting these up over the make line. Hoping that this will help with consistency in the look of the pizza as well.

 

[GotRocks]

Is anyone doing sliced??
I considered doing sliced, that way the portioning is done at the time of slicing by the thickness of the slice. Slices can be counted for each size pie, and less spillage

 

[Home_Town_Pizza]

Is anyone doing sliced??
I considered doing sliced, that way the portioning is done at the time of slicing by the thickness of the slice. Slices can be counted for each size pie, and less spillage

I tried it on our breadsticks because we always have so much cheese falling off the side that I felt some got wasted, as in it couldn’t really be eaten by the customer. I wasn’t happy with how it looked when it came out. It looked plastic and didn’t melt as appealingly to my eye. It’s different when it’s in the middle of a sandwich or underneath everything like Chicago deep dish style. But I didn’t like it on top.

 

[Home_Town_Pizza]

I also wonder what the attraction of diced cheese is. I saw people mention it so I picked up a bag to try it, but it seemed harder to spread on the pizza and seemed to roll off the pizza and get everywhere more than the shreds did. But some of you swear by it. What is it you like about it?

 

[bodegahwy]

Our scale sits on the dough table between the sauce bucket and the makeline right next to the cheese bin. It is zeroed for the cup so the weight shown is the cheese. Pizza maker scoops cheese into the cup by eye, sits it on the scale for about a second and adds a bit or dumps a bit as needed. One adjustment. The whole thing takes about 4 seconds.

what do we like about diced? (or chopped in a VCM)

Even coverage and speed. I have worked in 6 different pizza operations (two of which I owned) over the years not counting locations of Dominos and Green Mill. Dominos used diced, three others used shredded and the I own started with diced and switched to chopped in a VCM when we got the machine. I am convinced that once you are used to them, shredded is the slowest and hardest to get pizza makers to control portions with. Obviously we have a choice. I like it the way we do it. I think it saves me money and time.

 

[VAScotty]

We use cups I know its $$$ and consistency when you dont use some form of measuring but I just can visualize using a scale during the peak hours.

It really isn’t that difficult. I honestly can’t imagine not doing it. You’re grabbing a handful a cheese anyway, we’re just grabbing it with a cup and we set it down for a second before throwing it on the pizza. We aren’t using those scales at the doctor’s office.

I put 10.5 oz on a large pizza, and I would imagine that in 100 cups, I’m between 9.5-11.5, so it’s only one adjustment (if any) once the cup hits the scale.

It’s far and away your biggest COGS, why not control it as much as possible?

 

[GotRocks]

I also wonder what the attraction of diced cheese is. I saw people mention it so I picked up a bag to try it, but it seemed harder to spread on the pizza and seemed to roll off the pizza and get everywhere more than the shreds did. But some of you swear by it. What is it you like about it?

I like it because the stuff scales so consistently in the cups, we have a raised edge on our pies, (Hand stretched/tossed) so it doesn’t go anywhere when launched into the oven off a peel.
We also use maybe 6 -7 cheeses here, Romano hits almost every pie besides a few specialty pies where it may throw the flavor off from what we want.
So, we have Mozz (Whole Milk diced) grated romano, smoked gouda, cream cheese, Swiss, Blue, a process white cheddar loaf that we melt for a dipping sauce & white cheddar curds.

We offer classic pies, but venturing into some more artisanal pies to be able to cross over ingredients from both ends of the line (BBQ & Pizza)
We already use cheddar curds for our Poutine, so I tossed some on a pizza one day with our smoked beef Brisket and some bacon, and that is now a very popular pie here. They melted out nicely.
Last night I did an Alfredo sauced pie test, but just did grated romano on the dough and drizzled heavy cream over it, then topped it. it baked up very nicely with some smoked chicken & bacon on there too.
If I find Provel cheese, I may play with that too. Struck out on my first 3 phone calls with the stuff, and living in Wisconsin, that surprised me.

 

[Georgiascp]

It really isn’t that difficult. I honestly can’t imagine not doing it. You’re grabbing a handful a cheese anyway, we’re just grabbing it with a cup and we set it down for a second before throwing it on the pizza. We aren’t using those scales at the doctor’s office.

I put 10.5 oz on a large pizza, and I would imagine that in 100 cups, I’m between 9.5-11.5, so it’s only one adjustment (if any) once the cup hits the scale.

It’s far and away your biggest COGS, why not control it as much as possible?

We grab it with the cup as well we use 2 cups on a large which is about 10oz by weight its not to the T but it gets pretty close. I guess I would need to see it in action it just seems like it would really slow things down.

 

[Home_Town_Pizza]

That would explain it. Our crust edge is flat. I could see the raised edge solving the problems I ran into with it. And it would definitely make measuring easier.

Man, you’re making me hungry GotRocks! One of the things I want to add when we get the fryer is poutine. I’m sure the name will throw people off around here, but what is more down home food than fries, cheese and gravy? I brought home some pulled pork the other night and we put some on a pizza, similar to our bbq chicken, and it was great. I’m considering teaming with the local bbq place to partner on supplying pulled pork for a pizza.

 

[Georgiascp]

I also wonder what the attraction of diced cheese is. I saw people mention it so I picked up a bag to try it, but it seemed harder to spread on the pizza and seemed to roll off the pizza and get everywhere more than the shreds did. But some of you swear by it. What is it you like about it?

We started off shredding our cheese in the hobart but the thing is such a pain to clean and takes forever to shred. We were lucky enough to inherit a vcm with the place and after about 3 months decided to put the thing back in service for just cheese cutting. it takes a minute to dice a case of cheese its easy to clean and the cheese spreads way easier than the shredded it doesnt clump together like shredded does and like gotrocks mentioned its easier to get in the cup for more consistent measuring

 

[Georgiascp]

We offer classic pies, but venturing into some more artisanal pies to be able to cross over ingredients from both ends of the line (BBQ & Pizza)
We already use cheddar curds for our Poutine, so I tossed some on a pizza one day with our smoked beef Brisket and some bacon, and that is now a very popular pie here. They melted out nicely.
Last night I did an Alfredo sauced pie test, but just did grated romano on the dough and drizzled heavy cream over it, then topped it. it baked up very nicely with some smoked chicken & bacon on there too.
If I find Provel cheese, I may play with that too. Struck out on my first 3 phone calls with the stuff, and living in Wisconsin, that surprised me.

Mmmm all of these sound good i really like your alfredo sauce method we get tons of request for white sauce but just dont have a way to cook it we only have the pizza oven. I really dont want to do a premade sauce either. Im gonna give your method a try.

 

[GotRocks]

That would explain it. Our crust edge is flat. I could see the raised edge solving the problems I ran into with it. And it would definitely make measuring easier.

Man, you’re making me hungry GotRocks! One of the things I want to add when we get the fryer is poutine. I’m sure the name will throw people off around here, but what is more down home food than fries, cheese and gravy? I brought home some pulled pork the other night and we put some on a pizza, similar to our bbq chicken, and it was great. I’m considering teaming with the local bbq place to partner on supplying pulled pork for a pizza.

I’m not a fan of making up sauce ahead of time either, too difficult to spread when the proper amount of cheese is in it, and how much to make? So I took a shot with it the way I did, and it is on our menu now. We have heavy cream here all the time, so why not…
Pulled pork on a pizza is popular with the summer tourists here, locals not so much.

Be careful trying to get prepared meats from another restaurant, lots of regulations involved if not done under the radar. (stay on the radar to avoid issues) The HD will need an “EST” number, an onsite inspector, HACCP plan filed with local HD & Maybe state, and they cannot be open to the public when preparing pork for you. (Wanna know how I know this?)
Maybe look to “Curly’s” >> Linky http://www.johnmorrellfoodgroup.com/foodservice-page for a sauceless pulled pork that you can get through a distributor,
Or, get an inexpensive electric smoker by “Masterbuilt” and do a few Boston-Butts inhouse for it. If you need help, I’ll guide you through. It’s easy enough

 

[Home_Town_Pizza]

GotRocks. Thanks, I actually never considered that. I’ll check with the health inspector before I do anything. I just thought it would be a good idea for a collaboration between the only 2 local places. That’s about as far as the idea has gone. No idea if they would even be interested or if it’s in our best interest. But that is something to consider before I try to do anything. Thanks.

 

[December]

When i first used diced cheese i thought it looked so weird. Then I got used to it and realized its benefits

1. More consistent weight in cups
2. Spreds more evenly
3. Stays off the crust.
4. Kind of stupid but I swear shredded cheese attracts the crew to walk by and grab a handful and snack on it

 

[OSV]

Is anyone doing sliced??
I considered doing sliced, that way the portioning is done at the time of slicing by the thickness of the slice. Slices can be counted for each size pie, and less spillage

Slicers tend to have set-point drift, especially with something like mozzarella, which has quite a bit of drag while slicing, and therefore needs quite a bit of pressure to slice. Take a slice of cheese and try to glide it across a stainless steel table and you’ll see what I mean.

As the cheese builds up on the blade and the blade cover plate, you’ll find it gets much harder to slice, and you’ll lose more than you’d think from getting gummed up on the blade and shredded into dust, which partially melts due to the friction from the blade and makes a mess. This is not an issue if you’re only slicing a few pounds at a time. When you’re slicing enough to get through the day, it becomes an issue. One that gets exponentially worse as you go.

Each block of cheese is slightly different in size and shape both from one block to the next and at different cross sections of the same block, so even if each slice is exactly the same thickness, it won’t be the same weight.

Trying to calibrate to accommodate for shape and size variants is just not practical.

If the cheese starts to turn at a slight angle while slicing rather than staying at an exact 90° angle to the blade (which it will), then the slices will get progressively larger at the same time that they’re getting progressively thicker. The idea of getting each slice the same weight is out of the question. It’s just not going to happen.

When cheese is being sliced in a deli, it doesn’t matter how much each slice weighs. The cheese isn’t being priced by the slice. It’s priced by the pound. It doesn’t matter if that pound is made up of 16 one-ounce slices or 32 half-ounce slices. It will still cost the same.

If you’re using the weight of the slice as a portioning tool, it does matter how much each slice weighs. It matters a lot. Keep in mind that if you’re slicing 1/16" thick, a variance of a little over 1/100 of an inch represents close to 20% in cost ( a 0.0125 inch variance would represent a 20% increase).

Slicing is labor-intensive, slices take much longer to put on the pizza, and the slices tend to stick together and slow things up even further.

If you’re trying to put square slices on a round pizza, it’s hard to get up to the edge of the pie without having un-cheesed triangles around the edge.

There are lots of down sides to sliced cheese, and no real up sides.

 

[OSV]

I like it because the stuff scales so consistently in the cups, we have a raised edge on our pies, (Hand stretched/tossed) so it doesn’t go anywhere when launched into the oven off a peel.

^^^This.

We already use cheddar curds for our Poutine, so I tossed some on a pizza one day with our smoked beef Brisket and some bacon, and that is now a very popular pie here. They melted out nicely.

That sounds spectacular.

 

[zippsphotos.com]

Is anyone doing sliced??
I considered doing sliced, that way the portioning is done at the time of slicing by the thickness of the slice. Slices can be counted for each size pie, and less spillage

I no I am late in looking and replying.
Since opening in May 2012 we shredded. Tried different sizes of shred plates. Even tried the meat grinder thing.
We started doing sliced in December. EVERYONE hates shredded now in the kitchen. No mess now. No cheese wasted on the floor or make table board. No more measuring. Less mess on the pie and over into the oven. We do shred what won’t slice and can’t wait to get it used when we have it. We tried cups to measure, we used scales. This slicing takes a bit more time but less waste makes up for it in my opinion and gotta have a person there anyway so when not busy they are sclicing.
Even though you can set slicer on a certain number, still have to watch it for thickness and we overlap each slice a bit on the pie.
But so much cleaner. We probably save quite a bit per night in waste. Don’t judge. lol.