Operation Success: Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia)
When Executive Chef Randall Van Dyke and his team at Virginia Tech Dining Services sought to create a better pizza program for its largest dining center on campus, they knew the key was to tackle the foundation for any great pizza: the crust. What happened next included a nearly yearlong process to find the perfect flour and formula to achieve quality, cleaner-ingredient dough that they hope to bake up across other dining areas on campus.
We recently talked to Van Dyke and Virginia Tech’s Pastry Chef Joshua Carroll to learn more about the decision to change up their pizza program, what the process entailed and their key learnings along the way.
Pizza is King
Virginia Tech is known for its award-winning dining program that includes approximately 19,000 dining plan holders and one of the largest non-military dining halls in the country, D2 in Dietrick Hall. It’s an “all-you-care-to-eat” facility that boasts eight different venues and styles of food and can seat up to 1,100 people at any given time.
“Executive Chef Randall Van Dyke in Virginia Tech dining hall”
Van Dyke says pizza is so important on a bustling campus. On most days, when the D2 facility can serve more than 1,300 people at lunch, they are making pizza as fast as they can. However, turning out large quantities of pizza doesn’t mean there has to be a sacrifice in quality.
“Pizza is king,” said Van Dyke, adding that’s why his team looked to create a quality pizza that tasted better than off-campus options while giving the outside community another reason to visit and dine on campus.
Tapping the Doughminators
Recognizing the opportunity with pizza, Van Dyke and Carroll wanted to create the best quality pizza possible. The process started by examining different flour types to help them achieve the perfect crust under the guidance of Shotsie Wilson, account executive with General Mills Foodservice, and Tom Santos, one of General Mills’ Doughminators™ who works closely with pizza makers to help them create the perfect crust.
“We really wanted to improve the quality of the pizza and offer a cleaner version,” said Carroll, who credits General Mills for helping them to make a transition to a lower protein, non-bromated, unbleached flour and also helping them to refine a crust formula that would make the most of the school’s new gas-driven brick oven.
Santos and Wilson spent four days at Virginia Tech, working with the team to educate them about different flours and experimenting with several pizza formulas that would work best with for their operation and equipment. This process included identifying the perfect temperature to achieve the Neapolitan-style crust with the quality and results the chefs were looking for.
