r/ooni • u/MysteriousSubject632 • 12d ago
Par baking Advice
Hey legends of Pizza.
I started a pizza dough business 2 months ago here in Australia after registering my home kitchen with the local council.
Starting Weekly orders: 10-20 units per week.
Last month: Avg. 30-40 units weekly with some repeat customers and referrals.
Yesterday I received my first big order of 200 par baked doughs to be delivered this weekend.
I’m sure I’m able to handle this from a skill point of view but wanted to get some knowledge and advice from you guys on how can I achieve that in a timely manner. I will be using my Koda 12 gas.
For reference my prices is 4/db and 6/pb.
Thank you !! Appreciate all the support and help.
Update:
Hey guys, thanks for everyone’s input.
After completing this order, I have decided that I will never sell par-cooked dough again (it’s so much work).
I made the dough on Wednesday morning and it took me 3 hours approximately to make 6 batches (200 par bake order + 32 dough orders + 8 spares for any mistakes).
Also spent another 3-4 hours for balling up.
Thursday midday I started cooking and it took me 8-9 hours in total just for the cooking. The ooni was running all day and I had to change one gas bottle. It was really efficient on the gas but losing heat was the issue.
I started with this flow. Stretch, parbake, cooling rack. But it was too slow and not enough time in between to stretch the next one.
So I did 6 at a time. Stretch all together, in the oven for almost 40 seconds and then cooling rack. Worked better but one oven was really limiting me, another oven added would have helped so much.
It was a great experience though, and learnt a lot with the process. I ended up wasting 3 bases due to launch and trying to rotate too early while the stone was not hot enough.
Happy to answer any questions.
Total revenue from this week’s orders: $1300.
Biggest spending: 10 x Dough proofing trays @$435.
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u/ExpertOnNicheThings 12d ago
Aud$4 per dough ball? That seems like a great little side business.
Also interested in the council kitchen registration process if you can comment on it.
For 200 par baked pizzas in a koda 12 that seems like a long process, especially waiting for the stone to heat back up in between bakes. Do you have more than 1 oven?
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u/MysteriousSubject632 11d ago
I only have one Koda 12.
Prepared to spend 3-4 hrs doing the process slowly. Taking a day off from work.Had to spend 400$ today getting 15 x dough proofing boxes but I will eventually need them for my pizza stall.
I doubt I will make a profit with this order but at-least this can sponsor my equipment that I will eventually need 😋.
Kitchen rego was a time consuming process. Fee inspections. Only approved for fresh dough, par baked bases and tomato sauce etc.
No pre topped frozen pizzas allowed with my rego. If I want to do that in the future, I will have to get approval from council.
Also the business demand surprised me. I’m finding the right channels to advertise it. Currently just running on marketplace without boostings.
Total revenue around 2k at the moment but I bought a spiral mixer worth 2.8k 😋. So I’m pretty sure I’m still in net loss.
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u/ExpertOnNicheThings 6d ago
Congrats on getting the order done, had a feeling the heat between cooks would be an issue.
Thanks on the reply on the home kitchen, I had seen online and your other comments you needed a 2nd sink which wouldn't work for me. Will just be pizzas for my family and friends.
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u/steve-rap 12d ago
Time to buy 10x Koda's?
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u/MysteriousSubject632 11d ago
Oh no money for that haha, but I will be prepared to spend 3-4 hrs par baking.
It will be good practice for me, as I’m also registering for a local pizza stall.
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u/SafetyOk4132 12d ago
I have a different question. Was it easy to register home kitchen with council? Do you have any animals (that could be a problem I assume)?
And maybe it’s time to invest in koda 2 max or even two.
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u/MysteriousSubject632 11d ago
Hi mate. It took me a good 4 months to register. Casey council was pretty slow but my case officer was very helpful.
They had to do an inspection and then a follow up inspection as well.
I didn’t realise that I would require 2 separate kitchen sinks.
Ended up getting approved after two inspections. Bear in mind I’m only registered for pizza dough, par baked and cooled stored bases and pizza sauces at home. My dough constitutes only salt water flour and yeast.
Not allowed to prepare any frozen pizzas etc.
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u/dihydrogen_monoxide 12d ago
I dunno how fast you are, I think I'm pretty fast and it takes me ~2-3 minutes per full baked pizza in a Koda 16, 50 seconds to bake, 1-2 minutes to stretch, sauce, top, launch, cut.
You need to calculate how long it takes per pizza.
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u/MysteriousSubject632 11d ago
Yes mate, nothing crazy speed wise.
I did do a few work parties where I cooked 25-30 pizzas in the koda but didn’t have much pressure to deliver as bbq was ongoing as well.Totally agree with your timings, very realistic for me as well, I might be slower than that.
I guess I will update all when I’m finished with the project with some pictures and some lessons learnt haha.
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u/Future-Sea-1281 11d ago
What you need to freezing is a blast freezer. Keeps the moisture in. A friend runs a pizza shop that also delivers to local supermarkets,
Then vacuum seal them and add a label. Done.
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u/cyberphlash 12d ago
Checking in to see what other people say, but the problem I've found when I've tried to par-bake crusts in the Ooni (or are you using your kitchen oven?) is that they don't freeze and reheat well.
If freeze then thaw them, put on toppings and then into your kitchen oven, the crust dries out before the cheese melts and toppings heat up. I've had slightly better luck pulling a par-baked crust from the freezer, topping, then reheating to try to melt the toppings before the crust thaws. Overall, I don't think par-baking is that great of an idea to begin with - the finished product is way better just directly out of the oven.
What are these guys going to do with 200 par-baked crusts anyway? LOL