{"id":3991,"date":"2012-11-22T06:00:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-22T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allandouglas.com\/blog\/?p=3991"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:41","slug":"pizza-dude-the-itemizer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/pizza-dude-the-itemizer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Pizza Dude: The Itemizer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"home<\/a>
Home made pizza using thin-sliced tomatoes instead of sauce.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the title of this story may sound like that of some hip new TV crime drama, it is in fact the name of the latest addition to my Adventures of Pizza Dude<\/em> series where I reminisce over one of the jobs I held long ago.\u00a0 Past episodes include Road Warrior<\/a>, Phone Person<\/a>, and Skin Flinger<\/a>, feel free to check them out if you enjoy this one and haven’t read the others before.<\/p>\n

After the Skin Flinger does his or her thing, the pizza in-process comes down the make line to have sauce, cheese and toppings added.\u00a0 Our make line was a large, refrigerated, stainless steel affair with a rack made of steel tubes along the front edge for the pizza (on a steel mesh baking screen) to slide along and an array of bins or tubs behind that contained the makings.\u00a0 Trays under the rack would catch the off-falls and could be pulled out for periodic emptying (recovery or disposal) and cleaning.<\/p>\n

The first stop is the sauce & cheese station.\u00a0 On busy nights one person did just sauce and cheese while the other added toppings.\u00a0 On really slow nights one pizza maker would do everything from dough-ball to box & route.\u00a0 We used a large stainless steel spoon to put the proper amount of sauce on the pizza crust and spread it, using the back of the spoon in circular motions.\u00a0 The idea here is to get the proper amount of sauce applied evenly to the pizza for best flavor and prevent burning (bald spots will overheat and burn).<\/p>\n

Then the pizza maker reaches into a tub of grated cheese, grabs a double-handful and sprinkles it over the sauce.\u00a0 This was actually accomplished with a quick, circular flip of each wrist, letting the cheese flow between your fingers for an even spread.\u00a0 It took some artistry to get this right, and of course the cheese had to be kept cold or it would clump up and make this neigh impossible.<\/p>\n

The final step for this position was to run your fingers around the circumference of the pizza, under the dough to flip any cheese bits that are on the un-sauced rim of the pizza inward so they don\u2019t burn.\u00a0 We want to leave a rim of just crust so it will rise a little more than the rest and form a convenient \u201chandle\u201d for the pizza aficionado as he or she enjoys the results of our labor.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s step aside for a moment and look at portion control.\u00a0 Obviously, any food service industry must find the sweet-spot where cost effectiveness is balanced with quality of product.\u00a0 Skimp on ingredients and the pizza will be a disappointment to the customer, (habitually) over-itemize and the company\u2019s profit margin plunges.<\/p>\n

As I was searching for videos that illustrate the processes I am describing here, I noticed that most have gone to measuring scoops and measured quantities.\u00a0 Some vids show the use of a cheesing machine, where a scoop of cheese is poured in the top and a button pushed to distribute the cheese across the skin.\u00a0 In my day, this whole process was far more artistic, we judged by eye and feel if the portions were correct.\u00a0 Usage was tracked daily by management who used mathematical formulas (actually they used tables based on mathematical formulas) to determine if our usage of each ingredient was in line with the number of pizzas served. Excessive portioning was reason enough to hold a pizza maker back when handing out raises and promotions, so aside from personal pride in our work, we had added incentive to do well.<\/p>\n

When adding toppings to a pizza, the itemizer must first consider what will go onto the pizza, for certain things need to go in certain layers.\u00a0 Pre-cooked meats like ham, bacon bits and pepperoni need only to get hot, they could be eaten as they are; further cooking was not required.\u00a0 These could go on the bottom and be just fine.\u00a0 Vegetables go next (this would include pineapple, which is not a vegetable but we\u2019ll just ignore that fact for now, OK?).\u00a0 On top, exposed to the greatest heat, we want our raw meat products like sausage and ground beef.\u00a0 If extra cheese was ordered, a half-portion of cheese was sprinkled over the top of all. Double cheese was, of course, a double portion, which tended to get pretty sloppy.<\/p>\n

Most of these things were sliced, diced or bits and application was a matter of reaching into the bin, grabbing a handful and quickly arranging them on the pie.\u00a0 Sausage and ground beef were different.\u00a0 Some places (Pizza Hut used to do this, maybe still does) will cook their sausage and ground beef and apply the resulting crumbly bits to the pizza.\u00a0 Most pizza places offer \u201cballs\u201d of sausage and beef.\u00a0 Achieving this was a little tricky.<\/p>\n

In your left hand, you grab a hand-full of the sausage, how much you grab depends on the size of your hand and how practiced you are at this.\u00a0 The process is to wrap your fingers around this gooey ball of raw ground meat and squeeze from the bottom up to extrude a little meat above your curled index finger, then pinch off the ball with your thumb by sliding it back along your index finger.\u00a0 With your right hand you snatch the sausage ball, and fling it into position on the pizza.\u00a0 Proper portion control was paramount, but you also wanted to achieve meat balls of consistent size, and that size was to be one where the meat would not dry out and burn but neither would it be uncooked in the middle.\u00a0 The size of a regular marble was about right.\u00a0 Then of course you want to achieve an even distribution of the sausage balls so your customers won\u2019t be fighting over the one slice with three sausage balls when all the rest have only one.\u00a0 You definitely don\u2019t want to be the instigator of sausage related homicide!<\/p>\n

This raw meat was sticky, especially the sausage, and the pizza maker had to clean his hands after each application (or at least periodically on a really busy night).\u00a0 There was no sink in the pizza making area, so we used those large, heavy terry cloth towels, wetted with soapy water for this.\u00a0 One would be kept clipped to the make counter at the end of the make line and changed out as needed.\u00a0 At the end of a busy night we\u2019d have a whole bag of these grungy, nasty, meat encrusted towels to send off to the laundry service \u2013 I can only imagine what they thought of those!<\/p>\n

Itemizing a pizza was the most \u201cartistic\u201d aspect of this job.\u00a0 I had to balance speed against appearance and portion control.\u00a0 We could sauce and cheese a skin every 5 seconds (or less) and produce a normal pizza (sauce to finish with 5 toppings or so) every 30 seconds.\u00a0 And we took great pride in the appearance of these pizzas, so we could not get away with a toss & run technique, the manager saw to that.<\/p>\n

\"\"I have not done production pizza work in several decades, but Marie and I like to make our own pizza using fresh ingredients, mostly vegetables from our garden.\u00a0 We find that our home made pizzas are much more flavorful than commercial pizza.\u00a0 Others I know \u2013 like Melinda from Finding the Humor \u2013 agree; she says even if her crusts come out lumpy and misshapen, her family appreciates her efforts and enjoys the freshly made product.\u00a0 Even if you\u2019re not up to making pizza dough from scratch, you can try your hand by starting with a pre-made crust.\u00a0 Boboli makes a great whole grain crust if you like thick pizza, several companies offer frozen crusts that are made with minimal \u201cbad stuff\u201d and in a variety of dough types for regular crusts.\u00a0 Most can be placed right on the center rack of your oven for baking, but I suggest laying a cookie sheet or piece of aluminum foil on the rack below to catch any drips.\u00a0 With a little practice you too can be a Pizza Dude (or Dudette) and impressing your family and friends with fresh-made pizza.\u00a0 Give it a try!<\/p>\n

The video I was using as a good example got taken down, so this is kinda close.\u00a0 The make line is similar, the technique is similar, but he only does single ingredient pizzas.
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