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For the love of pizza
New Food gains insight into one of the world’s favourite pizza brands and the innovative process behind its doughs.
Currently serving its famed products in 110 countries and almost 18,000 restaurants, attention to detail is critical for the Pizza Hut team – whether it’s delivering to regulations or expectations. Bethan Grylls hears from Ana Maria Rodriguez, Chief Food Innovation and Quality Officer at Pizza Hut International, and Keith Griffiths, Head of Food, Innovation & Technology UK & Europe, YUM! (the company that operates the Pizza Hut restaurants, KFC and Taco Bell) to learn more about the pizza originally created by the Carney brothers.
Dough it the right way
Known for its variety of bases, including the renowned deep pan, Pizza Hut’s method of dough making is very important to the brand.
“Good flour is key,” noted Griffiths. “As with anything, if you put good in, you get good out.
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In this issue of our Food Safety In-depth Focus, we hear from Dr Martin Wiedmann, Dr Xiangyu Deng and Dr Gilbert Lamothe as they offer their insights into lowering the risk of microbial contamination in a comprehensive roundtable. We also hear from a Professor of Science Policy at the University of Sussex on how food safety has been influenced following the UK’s exit from the European Union in 2020.
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“Each base has its own characteristic, which is modified through the formulation. But it all starts with that base – if the flour isn’t right, nothing will be.”
Each formula and procedure differs slightly to attain the individual taste and textural enjoyment of the brand’s range. The San Francisco pizza is “a careful balance of only natural ingredients prepared in a totally unique way to achieve the artisan look and taste experience”. The final piece of the puzzle comes together in the restaurant, with the way in which the dough is proof, stretched and baked.
The thinner doughs are stretched by hand, but the pan pizza is shaped in a specially designed pan (hence the name) and left to proof and raise in that container.
“The deep dish pan was developed to manage the dough weight and the number of toppings that were created when we first launched pan pizza,” explained Rodriguez. “It took more than two years of R&D work.
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Precise training, the Pizza Hut way
There is a huge focus on training; particularly in the development of the restaurant general manager who is responsible for teaching the staff at their restaurant how to deliver the Pizza Hut pizza.
“A lot of what Keith, myself, and our amazing culinary experts around the world do is ensure that the teams have the correct equipment and ingredients, and that standards are met to facilitate and make it easier for employees to execute the perfect pizza with passion and care, regardless of the type of crust.”
“We don’t only teach staff how to make good pizza, we also demonstrate what can go wrong if the directions aren’t followed. This means the restaurant general manager can troubleshoot if they have a new team member and identify where in the proces they may have made an error, demonstrating how they can make it better,” added Griffiths. “Passion is key – and we try and put love and passion into the entire process.”
What many people don’t know is that Pizza Hut has two models when it comes to making dough – one whereby the dough is made fresh in store and one where it is supplied frozen as a raw dough piece. “Both work and deliver the same great quality of pizza, but the equipment and training is totally different.”
Pizza Hut’s ‘Supreme’, prepped and ready for the oven
Typically, it takes more than 20 hours of work with frozen dough and around four with fresh dough before a pizza is served to a consumer. With various bases on the Pizza Hut menu, Rodriguez said the main challenge was developing recipes that could all be baked in the same oven and remain consistent and “great out of the oven and during delivery”. To avoid mistakes, each oven is pre-set, with certain times and temperatures that cannot be changed.
“Our ovens are actually pretty standard; it’s the dough and design of the pizza where the magic lies,” she said. “So our work in culinary innovation is to make sure that thick or thin – or in the middle – stuffed or not stuffed, all our pizzas bake perfectly.”
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The specifications also help team members to “worry less”, Rodriguez said. “The ingredients, the toppings, the dough, the flour, the amount of water, yeast, oil: everything that we use has to be of the best quality and identical in spec.”
The doughs also have a good shelf life, which helps ensure each restaurant will have sufficient supply for its customers.
“The restaurant general managers look at week ago sales and year ago sales and examine what is actually happening within the environment in the area; for example, a football game or a special season or day.
“Our recipe also means that the more you ferment the dough and proof it, the better it becomes. So even if you forecast more than you need, you can easily carry that dough over and retain the great quality.”