Big_Ted, You might lookhere for more info about opening/operating a pizza business and here for more info about deciding which pizza you want to make. Good luck with your venture. pb

Sweet sauce is definitely gross. To me, sweet sauce is one of the hallmarks of bad pizza.

I do agree with DavyDD though, you need to have a passion for the type of pizza you make; because many have forced out of the business by the chains, which have taken pizza down into the fast food category, quality wise.

My wife often uses Don Pepino as a base for her pizza sauce when she is not making it from scratch. Sometimes she will blend her own crushed tomato sauce with Don Pepino.

You probably know, you won’t out cheap them; you can’t out coupon them.. if you can figure out how to get people to pay for good pizza , you will be successful.

God luck Ted! Please keep us posted.

I love all kinds of Pizza! I must agree w/ Vick though, a tooo sweet sauce is not my fav. And, the sig sauce is most important.

Here is a weird idea that may not work everywhere but… I add some pickled jalapeno juice ( I hate wasting that delicious juice ) to whatever kinda sauce Im making. I call it "Texas Style" pizza. I do the same for pasta dishes. Oh, LaCostena is my fav brand. There is a big difference in the taste of jalapeno juice by the way.
Joe

I’ve only worked for mom and pop shops in the past. Crust can be round or square IMHO, it all tastes the same, but alot of traditionalists and purists prefer the round.. I’d do the regular pie slice cutting also, but offer the party cut (square) for those that request it. The sauce will be your signature, and don’t sign it with some sugar loaded crap.. One of the reasons I have a hard time finding a decent pizza around here is that most all the sauces taste like Prego.. If I wanted a sugar buzz, I’d drink a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew. Start out with some crushed tomatoes and make your own.

If you don’t have firm convictions and passion about what kind of pizza you want to make I’d be leery of jumping into the pizza business. It’s a tough business for independents and you cannot win against the national chains if you try to compete with them on their standards, quality and types of pizza. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the populace is just fine with Pizza Hut and Dominos. So surveying will most likely drive you right into those standards, and if you have to ask, you may not know your business well enough yet. Even if you make a great pie there is no guarantee of success. I once worked for a guy who made absolute quality pizzas but he did not survive. I hope you develop a good business plan and come up with something that will bring customers in.

I prefer to see bubbles in the dough with a slight browning on top. Someone here used the term ‘leoparding’ to describe it. I like the yeasty burst of hot air as you bite into it. If the air bubbles are browned, so should the cheese. This is the tough one, as it takes seconds for it to become overcooked and too dark for some people.
I live in Ct. and thin crust does rule, but when I lived in CA., if that could be accomplished, then that was fine with their thicker crust. The prevelence of white pies still leads to the fact that the crust is a very big part of what makes it delicious.

Sauce is essential to the flavor. I learned how to make a great sauce from scratch and that is very important. Basil, oregeno and other spices are needed to make it pop. A smidgen of sugar is okay just to cut some of the acidity.
My test of a great pie is the sausage. It must have a good flavor with a combination of fennel and black pepper. I prefer crumbled, but I constantly argue with my brother who wants his to be sliced. (He is wrong… [;)])
Above all, do not use canned mushrooms. Even out here, some of the big three in New Haven use canned mushrooms and this is wrong.

My advice is to see what the other guys are doing and figure out how you can do it better. Do not go into this business with the idea that your pie is as good as the the next. Make it so you can claim that your pizza is the best.

What type of oven are you going to use?

mark

Thanks Porkbeaks,
We had a pizzaria in beautiful town town Point Pleasant who made his Pizzas in the wood oven and belonged to the VPN. Expensive, but superb. Unfortunately,he moved to New York City, where his superior pizza was featured in the New York Papers. I wonder how many pizza places belong to the VPN association.
leethebard

Personally, I believe, if you make great pizza, thick or thin, as long as it’s great tasting pizza, they will come.

Unless one is attempting to make a true Neapolitan pizza, one that would be approved by the VPN (Verace Pizza Napoletana) association, a small amount of sugar in the dough to "feed" the yeast is totally acceptable. The amount used is not enough to produce what would be considered a sweet dough. It also promotes a bit more browning of the crust, which is helpful if you are using a home oven and reaching a high temp is a problem. For more info about the VPN checkhere. pb

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard
…a pizza maker is an artist!!!!!

Leethebard,
Man, you aren’t just whistling "Dixie!"
Another consideration to "what makes good pizza" is something a lot of folks might not think of… soft tap water! Think of this… New Haven, New York City, and New Jersey (except maybe for the Shore) have soft tap water from a granitic source… say, 50-100 ppm of dissolved solids or less. (Philadelphia, too, falls in here. So do Baltimore and D. C. and Richmond.) This is one reason that Atlanta (and Athens) can have good pizza: the water is conducive to the making of a perfect crust.
Try making that perfect crust with water from a hard source, such as coming off limestone… or heavily mineral-laden… or, worst yet, desalinated! Gneesh! A pizzamaker would have to be like a brewer here; they’d have to do a decoction to be able to produce decent dough!
I mentioned this to the guys who run Little Italy (our local five-star pizzaria) and they said "Yeah, Athens water is like New York City’s… it’s real soft." So it is a consideration. They’d never thought of it that way before.
I’ve rambled enough. By the way, I really enjoyed your message. Keep up the good posts.
Unslicingly, Thinner Crusted Ort. Carlton in Amazing Athens, Georgia.

leethebard… You hit it right on the nose! LOVE! Love and Passion will make or break your business. You can serve a mediocre product and make some money, or you can take the same product, introduce love into it, and have a far more superior product. I like it when the Sterns use the term "Culinary Artists", speaks true in every sense.

quote:

Originally posted by Frankman

Sausage…sliced.

Big Ted, sliced sausage is a New York or eastern style thing. It is commonplace there. But if you are two hours outside of Chicago, you would be laughed out of town if that is what you’d represent as sausage to midwesterners. Thick pieces or clumps of fresh sausage is what Chicago pizza eaters want. It is the number one ingredient requested on pizzas in the Chicago area. Slices of pepperoni are number two in the area, but number one nationwide.

Hi bigted,
After over sixty years of eating pizza around the world,as an Italian proud of his culinary heritage…I’d say the major ingredient is LOVE…I second the idea that pizza is made with passion. Also correct….NO Sugar in any part of the pie!! Buffalo milk cheese….and sauce with lots of basil leaves….if possible a wood buring oven designed for very hot heat and quick cooking….then serve it with pride and a smile…a pizza maker is an artist!!!!!
leethebard