81 Inch First Build (and first post)

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Good questions Joey,
I should have clarified in the earlier post, that number is for dough balls..I only make 12 oz balls and use one for my 12" pie and marry two together for my 16"...I use a half dough ball for my flat bread sandwich. We are in a very rural area, but right next to a major highway, so I get a mix of locals, travelers and repeat long distance customers. Weekends are indeed busier.
I run the shop mon-thur, 4pm to 10pm, fri 11am to 11pm and sat 4pm to 11pm...so we have one lunch per week and that seems to work good for us.
I used to bank a fire all night in the oven, now I simply restart each morning at 9am and that seems to get the oven up to temp (700f on dome) by opening.
I do make my dough the day before and use the cold proof method.
I get my mozz and provelone in block, blending them with my Hobart shredder head. That and the high gluten "remarkable" flour come from a local wholesaler. I tried one batch of pre-shredded mozz/prov blend when I was short of my regular cheese, but it is too dry and mixed with "celulose" so it browned too quickly in the higher heat of the WFO.
Do you plan to use a WFO? Have you built it yet?
Good luck to you. If you use good ingredients, pay attention, be consistant and love what you do, you will put out a pizza that will draw the customer and lead to your success.
I plan to go to the 120 qt spiral, because I can use a whole 50lb bag of flour at once and that will save on measuring time.

[JoeyVelderrain]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

First of all AWESOME job on the build! very impressive.

Secondly, I am doing the legwork in preparation of opening up my pizza joint here in North Louisiana. Would like to pick your brain if I could...

1. 10,000pies in 7 months comes out to about 48 to 50 pies a day, does that sound about what you are seeing on a day to day or are weekends busier?

2. what are your hours of operation and what time do you arrive to start preparing for business?

3. Do you mix the dough the night before and let it proof overnight?

4. Where are you buying your mozz? flour?

Thanks for making this thread!
5. What size spiral Dough mixer are you switching to?

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Thanks Travis, always rewarding hearing good feedback from our pizza friends, especially those who go out of their way to get here.

[tubehead]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Hi, my name is Travis, I thought I would put my first post in here since I meet Roger a few weeks ago. I am really impressed with his pies. So far I've been down several times a week. I'll post a few pictures I have taken while there.



Some very tasty breadsticks


Ham & Cheese


A little deep dish action

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Yeah, sounds like alot when you sum it all up...but remember, things happen little bits at a time. Just like when I think back to laying 1,000 bricks in that oven, it was spread out over several months and didn't seem so intimidating.
I let the dough set in the cooler overnight to rise properly (cool rise method).

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Wow, Roger. Quite impressive! 10,000 pies. Must take a bit of scheduling and process control to handle that much dough throughput, not to mention pizza box storage. Generally, how long do you let the dough rest prior to baking?

[PizzaPolice]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

My god, son! 10,000! Whoa!
We get down to Curdsville every every year (Just out of Owensboro). Where are you? We gotta see the Mammoth Cave of pizza ovens.

[BrickStoneOven]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Any new pictures of the oven? Would love to see some pizza to.

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Update to all;
today marks 7 months open and just under 10,000 pies baked. Oven still doing well and we are building a very loyal customer base with new faces everyday. I had to put in more seating (originally no inside dining) due to so many "out of towners" stopping in to try the pizza and view the oven.
Wood consumption has lowered and leveled out to about 3 pickup loads a month; roughly $150 worth.
I still haven't connected the buried thermocouples to a gauge...we use a handheld pyrometer to read temps and have gotten used to how she bakes/heats.
Next updates will be; to retire the Hobart 60 qt mixer and go with a spiral mixer able to do a 50 lb bag at a time and to add a dough press to the back line for higher/faster production. Right now everything is hand tossed.
Roger

[eprante]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Nice job Roger on the whole project. If you are enjoying making Pizza half as much as you enjoyed building the oven, then you are onto a great second career.
Good luck in the New Year
Eric

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

I forgot to mention that if I did it over, I would not have the slabs extend out through the arch...they conduct heat right out into the room. I may still yet slice them with a diamond saw to stop that...my original thought was to provide a "joint-free" path to slide in the pizza, but that is really not needed at the arch opening.

And, I would have placed "crushable" insulation behind the outer arch, where it attaches/ touches the inner dome, which expands and "pushes" the outer arch supports and brickwork ever so slightly, but enough to crack it.
thanks!
Rog

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Given that we only use 50 to 60% of the floor space (the rest is ash and fire)..we can comfortably manage 6 to 8 pies...more than that is a test and cant be left alone at all.
the Soapstone is awsome..the 300mm by 1000mm slabs I useds reduce the number of open seams in the floor, it puts out heat like no body's business...we do not have to find new "hot" spots in the floor, even on the busiest nights...the thermal mass, heat absorption and steady release fits the pizza baking perfectly.
I have not tried too many hearth breads on it yet, but those I have tried needed a very cool...300 - 350 f oven to keep the bottom from getting ahead of the loaf.
cheers!

[lwood]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

How many pies can you do at once?

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Roger,

Thank you for taking the time to share your entire project with us. Your build has been most impressively completed and its wonderful to see it operational. If you have a minute, I would love to know your overall assessment of the soapstone performance.
John

[windage]

Re: 81 Inch First Build (and first post)

Well, we have been open over 4 months now and business has been good. I would not have done anything different and really enjoy the benefits of the larger size. I am losing heat out the sides due to my perlcrete mix being too dense (too much water) as I was thinking that pouring it in, vs troweling it on, would be easier. The cure; trowel on a layer over the entire oven in spring.
As it is now, I lose heat out that side area unless I keep a healthy layer of ash piled around the perimeter of the oven....not too hard to do.
Consumption is around a pick-up load of hardwoods a week...mostly green, $50 per load.
Bake time for our thicker crust pizza with loads of toppings; 8 minutes or so. We build the pie on a pan first, then slip the pan out halfway through the bake to crisp the bottom. Corn meal provides the "lube".
Ideal temps in our oven for these typically thicker "American" pies; dome..700 to 800f, floor...500 to 600f.
Occasionally I will make a very thin, scantily topped pie and go from peel to hearth for a thin, crunchy pie and bake time shrinks down to 5 minutes.
thanks everyone for making this thread one of the most viewed!
Rog