When you're running a busy pizza operation, volume and quality can sometimes feel like they're working against each other.
You need to get pizzas out quickly, but you also need every pizza to be consistent. You need a process your experienced pizzaiolo can manage — but ideally one that doesn't fall apart when they're not there.
That's where the right combination of equipment, preparation and process can make a huge difference.
In our latest video, our pizza guy, Kyle puts the Cuppone Alpha and Pizza press through their paces to see just how quickly and consistently you can produce pizza with a press-to-order setup.
[Watch the full demonstration on YouTube →]
High-volume doesn't necessarily mean a huge restaurant or a massive chain.
You might be serving pizza in a busy pub, running a street-food operation, operating a takeaway, or simply finding yourself overwhelmed during peak service.
The challenge is the same: how do you increase output without sacrificing consistency (or adding bods to the kitchen)?
Because, the answer isn't just adding more people to the kitchen.
A well-designed pizza process can help your team:
And that's where a pizza press can become a really useful part of the operation.
The Cuppone Alpha is a high-performance pizza oven designed for busy professional kitchens with a rotating base that heavily reduces labout, while the Pizza press takes care of one of the most time-consuming parts of pizza production: stretching the bases.
Put the two together and you've got a surprisingly simple workflow:
Press → Top → Bake → Repeat.
The result is a process that can be followed consistently, even by team members who don't have years of pizza-making experience.
Rather than manually opening every dough ball, the Pizza press creates a consistent pizza base efficiently with very little skill.
There's no need for extensive training and practicing.
That can be particularly useful during a busy service, where speed and consistency matter.
Once the dough has been pressed, it's ready for topping.
This is where your preparation and kitchen workflow become important.
Having your ingredients prepared and your toppings organised means the team can move from pressed base to topped pizza without unnecessary delays.
In Kyle's demonstration, the process is deliberately simple.
The aim isn't to show off complicated pizza-making techniques.
It's to demonstrate how repeatable the process can be.
Once topped, the pizza goes straight into the Alpha, loading from the front only whilst the base moves the pizzas along. No turning required here! Set the timer and leave it alone.
The combination of an efficient preparation process and a capable commercial pizza oven means you can keep the pizzas moving through the kitchen.
And that's the key to high-volume pizza:
It's not just about how quickly your oven cooks. It's about how efficiently the entire process works.
Getting seven pizzas out quickly is great.
Getting seven pizzas out quickly that all look and taste the same is much more valuable.
Consistency is particularly important for growing businesses.
Your customers expect the same pizza whether they visit on a Tuesday afternoon or Saturday night.
And your kitchen team needs to be able to reproduce that pizza without relying entirely on one person's experience.
A more structured process can help remove some of the variables.
The Pizzaform provides consistency in the base, while the Alpha provides a reliable cooking environment.
The result is a workflow that is much easier to repeat.
One of the things we love about this setup is how accessible it can make pizza production.
In the demonstration, the process is straightforward enough that even someone with very little pizza-making experience can follow it (we've tried it!)
That doesn't mean skill and knowledge aren't important. They absolutely are.
But the right equipment can help reduce the number of specialist skills required for every single stage of service.
That's particularly valuable when you're recruiting, training new staff or dealing with busy periods.
Of course, equipment is only part of the equation.
You can have the best oven and press in the world, but you still need a dough recipe and process that are suited to your operation.
For this demonstration, Kyle uses Verace flour from Grandi Molini, supplied by Eurostar Commodities.
We also use products from our fantastic partners, including Filippo Berio and Arla Pro.
The important thing is to develop a dough process that works for your business.
Your ideal dough might depend on:
There's no single dough recipe that's right for every pizza business. Or sometimes, a frozen puck is what helps your kitchen tick!
Before investing in equipment, it's worth looking at your entire pizza operation.
Ask yourself:
How many pizzas do we need to produce during our busiest service?
How much of the process currently relies on one skilled member of staff?
Where are the bottlenecks?
How much time is spent preparing dough?
How consistent are your pizzas between different members of the team?
Could a more streamlined process allow us to increase output without increasing staffing?
These questions can tell you far more about the equipment you need than simply looking at an oven's maximum capacity.
There's a reason we have a demo kitchen.
Buying pizza equipment is a big decision, and specifications on a website only tell you so much.
At our demo kitchen, you can actually get hands-on with the equipment, try different processes, work out what makes sense for your operation and of course empty Kyle's head of all his knowledge, wisdom and top tips!
Whether you're opening your first pizza business, looking to increase capacity or simply wondering whether there's a better way of doing things, come and test it for yourself.
Book your free, no-obligation demo at the LLK Pizza Pros Demo Kitchen
LLK
Units 3-5 Belgrave Industrial Estate
Honeywell Lane
Oldham
OL8 2JP
0161 388 0321 (sales)
0161 696 0052 (service)
*CALLS ARE RECORDED FOR TRAINING AND QUALITY PURPOSES*
sales@llkpizzapros.co.uk
