Exploring Different Pizza Crust Types: Finding the Perfect Base for Your Frozen Pizza
Besides cheese, the crust is everything in pizza. It sets the stage for the whole flavor profile of the meal. Thick, thin, deep-dish, and flatbread are just some of the pizza crust types that brands rely on to build their unique products. Each brings its own texture to a pizza and helps customers decide which to choose. It’s safe to say that the crust forms the important foundation of any pizza.
Nevertheless, the equipment chosen to assemble frozen pizza is equally as important as the ingredients themselves. The right equipment ensures quality and consistency, all while improving productivity. In this article, we’ll explore different pizza crust types, in addition to which pizza equipment can assemble tasty pizzas for your customers. A great pizza starts with both a crust and reliable pizza equipment.
Crust Types and Using Automatic Pizza Equipment
Making pizza with unique pizza crust types and toppings can set your recipes apart from competitors. Because pizza offers so many ways to innovate new combinations and flavor profiles, brands can create something one-of-a-kind that represents their label. Now, it’s just a matter of finding the right automatic pizza equipment to streamline the process. Here are a couple of pizza crust types and how automatic pizza equipment can help your brand diversify its product line.
New York-Style
New York-style crust is thin and somewhat chewy, but still strong enough to hold a lot of different toppings. New York-style pizza is popular and guaranteed to be loved by many.
Chicago-Style
Chicago-style pizza crust types are very buttery and thick, which is very different from the New York style of crust. It also differs from the deep-dish style of crust, which is lighter than Chicago-style crust. Both pizza crust types are fan favorites and are certain to be preferred by a wide customer base.
Flatbread
Flatbread is definitely unique compared to other crusts. Flatbread crusts are brittle and flaky, more like a cracker, and they’re usually baked in long rectangles. Flatbread pizza crust types are certainly more different than other traditional crusts, and present a fun opportunity to build something new!
California-Style
Similar to flatbread crusts, California-style crusts are also crispy and thin. However, California-style pizzas are much more varied in their toppings, including ingredients such as artichokes and goat cheese. Representative of the state they were created in, these pizzas can be very unique and can allow brands to try less common toppings.
Greek-Style
Greek pizza is characterized by a thicker crust that’s also chewy. Greek pizza is usually topped with Mediterranean ingredients like feta cheese, olives, and tomatoes. Pizza brands can create their own renditions of Greek-style pizza to diversify their product lines.
Now that we’ve offered different pizza crust types to incorporate into a product line, let’s focus on finding automatic pizza equipment that can build great meals for your customers. Automated pizza equipment can improve team productivity while also increasing quality and consistency between products. Quantum equipment works with many types of pizza crusts. Let’s take a look at finding the right pizza equipment.
Finding the Right Pizza Equipment
Of course, the right pizza equipment will depend on your brand’s production requirements. Production rate, number of lanes, and other specifications all differ between frozen pizza labels. Still, there are two characteristics of equipment that we strongly recommend you to consider: versatility and adaptability. Together, they help pizza manufacturers achieve success.
Versatility
Versatility in pizza equipment is crucial for making unique pizzas and saving on overhead costs. Instead of needing multiple different topping applicators for each ingredient, it’s best to employ pizza equipment that can apply many different types of toppings. This streamlines production and allows a pizza brand to try new recipes easily. Redundant equipment is expensive, whereas using versatile machinery cuts costs while improving productivity. Take our Quantum sauce applicators for example. While they’re primarily used to apply red sauce, labels can use them to dispense other sauce toppings like buffalo sauce and ranch dressing for added product diversity. Versatility provides numerous opportunities to expand product lines and connect with new customers.
Adaptability
Adaptability is the other key characteristic of the right pizza equipment. The frozen food industry is subject to major and unforeseen changes right at the last minute. Demand can fluctuate, the supply chain can experience delays, or new trends can emerge. In any of these cases, having adaptable equipment can help your brand withstand, and even thrive in these changes.
Lowered demand can lead to wasted products, and brands might miss out on capitalizing on increased demand if their pizza equipment isn’t adaptable. Quantum equipment can change production rates and conserve ingredient use, which grants manufacturers the ability to prepare for changes in demand. These features are also helpful in the face of supply chain delays, especially when brands have to make the most out of limited ingredients. With reclaim and target application capabilities, brands can conserve ingredients, which saves money and prepares them for supply chain issues. Fast-evolving trends can also disrupt plans, but having adaptable and versatile equipment can allow brands to develop their take on trends and capitalize on the trend’s popularity.
While timing is important in making the most out of the bottom line, versatile and adaptable equipment certainly makes overcoming these challenges easier. But what equipment for pizza is available to improve the versatility and adaptability of a pizza assembly line? At Quantum, your brand will find a range of equipment types, each designed to bring pizza manufacturing into the future.
Equipment for Pizza Crusts
Equipment for pizza manufacturing can make or break your production line’s success. At Quantum, we know just how critical it is for equipment to work for you and not against you. When the crust forms the foundation of each pizza, your brand would want equipment that can build the pizza your brand imagines. At Quantum, we offer many different types of equipment for pizza crusts, including automated circle placers, infeed orientation systems, and a range of topping applicators.
Circle Placers
Quantum Circle Placers can place round, square, or rectangle corrugated cardboard pieces onto conveyors, allowing brands to create their New York-, Chicago-, and flatbread-style pizzas. Using circle placers is important in the pizza assembly process, because the cardboard forms a sturdy base for the pizza throughout assembly. The cardboard also protects the pizza during freezing, transportation, and its shelf life.
Infeed Orientation Systems
Quantum infeed orientation systems ensure that each pizza is correctly aligned before progressing to the rest of the assembly line. Our technology also allows brands to see production data, such as number of pizzas made, missed opportunities, and production efficiency. We’ve designed our orientation systems to streamline operations and lower the number of products failing quality control.
Topping Applicators
At Quantum, we offer numerous types of topping applicators, each a vital part of pizza production. From sauce applicators and cheese/topping applicators to meat/pepperoni slicers and dry/granular ingredient applicators, pizza labels can create the assembly line they need or upgrade to state-of-the-art technology. Our equipment is easily added to any assembly line, allowing brands to instantly improve efficiency and productivity while applying a full range of different toppings.
Diversify Your Product Line With Quantum
Quantum Technical Services is the industry innovator– we set the standard for food manufacturing technology. We at Quantum understand the importance of creating unique recipes because it’s what sets your label apart from others. We’re proud to design versatile equipment to help brands diversify their product lines. Contact our team today to learn which of our automated food manufacturing equipment can transform your assembly line.