Continuous Pizza
Let me preface this by saying that this may well be the best idea I’ve ever had.
The idea is simple, a machine that continually outputs pizza. It starts with dough at one end in a large receptacle. The dough is extruded onto a conveyor belt. Then it is flattened out. Sauce is spread on it, toppings are added, and then the conveyor goes through the oven. On the other side, pizza is cut and continues to move slowly. From here, people can grab their pizza.
Note that the speed that the pizza comes out can be changed by modifying the temperature and the movement speed of the conveyor. A sensor that checks how much pizza is currently ready to be taken can control the cooking speed.
I’m infatuated with this idea. Thoughts?
You can’t just change the temperature to make things cook faster or slower. I mean, within a pretty small range, you sort of can, but generally what that does is give you pizza that’s burnt on the outside and raw in the middle, which nobody wants.
Comment by Bonnie — April 6, 2009 @ 10:19 am
I’m fascinated. I sincerely doubt your variable speed pizza cooking theory, but other than that it seems totally kickass.
Comment by Gui — April 6, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
Make sure as much of the oven part of the machine as possible is made of stone. (esp the conveyor — thick slats) Heat mass is essential to good pizza. This may wreak havoc with your how-much-is-being-eaten sensor, since heating and cooling the stone will introduce delay… but it’ll be worth it.
Comment by Katie Rivard — April 7, 2009 @ 10:49 pm
The variable speed cooking theory is based on the don’t need great pizza at a bachelor party assumption.
Comment by boris — June 10, 2009 @ 11:28 am