Prep Equipment

Typically, pizza prep tables feature a raised condiment rail that keeps the topping pans higher than the surface on which staff make the pizza. Some units use a flat surface and wider openings for topping storage. Made-to-order pizza concepts, including those in the fast-casual space where customers can view pie ingredients, tend to favor these pizza prep tables.

Professional chefs and line cooks in all types of operations, from quick-service to white-tablecloth restaurants, use choppers. This equipment can help save money by making more efficient use of labor, and it can ensure uniform and consistent results. Choppers may also offer a safer alternative than traditional knives, especially when working with less-skilled teams.

The biggest differences between standard and pizza dough mixers are that the latter has lower RPM (revolutions per minute), utilizes gears instead of belts, has a dough hook attachment and features heavy-duty construction. This makes pizza dough mixers, often called spiral mixers, better suited for dense dough. Mixer designs have generally remained unchanged in the last 50 years.

Paul Mann, co-owner of Service Engineering Co., located in Asheville, N.C., says service agents generally do not deal with choppers as this equipment doesn’t tend to break easily. “We recommend the units be taken apart and cleaned daily with soap and water,” he says. “The most common problem is broken blades, which we can replace.”

Portion control scales play an integral role in most pizza operations, helping ensure consistency with topping amounts on pies. For both large-batch and single-serving recipes, portion control scales help minimize ingredient waste.

When a chopper does not operate properly, it can impact the quality of the food it prepares. Here are five factors to weigh when deciding whether to replace a chopper.