Papa Murphy's is the fifth largest pizza chain in the country and the pioneer and leader of the "take and bake" pizza segment. Papa Murphy's operates over 1,100 franchised and corporate-owned locations in 32 states and Canada. The Vancouver, Wash.-based company offers custom-made pizzas featuring high-quality, fresh toppings generously layered on pizza dough that is made fresh each morning in each store.

Papa Murphy's has been voted "Best Pizza Chain in America" for six consecutive years by consumers in a nationwide survey by Restaurants & Institutions magazine and was named "Chain of the Year" by Pizza Today in 2001, 2006 and 2008. We sat down with Al Randazzo, senior director of business services, at Papa Murphy's to learn more about their foodservice equipment selection process.

Hobart: You recently upgraded to Hobart Legacy mixers. Was there a particular reason you changed mixer manufacturers?

Randazzo: We prepare a double batch of pizza dough in our mixers at a time, which yields up to 79 dough balls. We had experienced occasional mechanical failures with our existing mixers and as a result wanted to upgrade the mixers in all of our new stores and replace mixers in several of our existing stores. In total, we replaced between 300 and 350 mixers.

Hobart: What were you looking for in a new mixer?

Randazzo: Durability and reliability were paramount. We also saw this as a catalyst to improve our dough-making process. A higher-quality mixer would allow us to increase yield, reduce waste and have a more consistent product. It would also help us eliminate downtime and repair costs as a result of fewer breakdowns.

Hobart: Why did you select Hobart's 60-quart Legacy mixer?

Randazzo: Because we are a growing chain, every mixer manufacturer out there was vying for our business. We'd never cut corners on a mixer, because our dough is the foundation of our product. If the mixer goes down, we are out of business. It has to be reliable. The Hobart line is the industry standard. It has a great reputation and they just don't break. It was an easy choice.

Hobart: Tell us about the benefits you've experienced with the Legacy mixer.

Randazzo: Where do I start? For one thing, we've increased yield. One of the best features on the Legacy mixer is the power bowl lift, which ensures the bowl is raised and locked into the correct position. Our previous mixers used manual crank-up bowls, which could creep lower during operation because of vibration. As the bowl lowered slightly, ingredients at the bottom of the bowl were not being thoroughly mixed and became dry. This dry part of the dough would need to be cut off and discarded.

Hobart: What about waste? You mentioned one of your goals was to reduce dough waste. Did the Legacy mixer help you accomplish that?

Randazzo: It did. Our old mixers had a spring timer, which was rarely accurate. Flour constantly got into the timer mechanism, which caused it to wear out over time. This created a lot of confusion because employees didn't know how long dough was being mixed. If the dough was mixed more than 10 minutes, it was over-kneaded and was thrown away. With the more accurate timer, employees always know exactly how long to knead the dough.

Additionally, the Legacy's audible alarm alerts employees when the mixing is completed. If dough is left in the bowl too long after a mixing cycle, it will begin to rise rapidly, resulting in a shortened shelf life. It takes only about 10 minutes to reach the point where the dough is unusable. Plus, every batch is more consistent as well.

Hobart: What about cost savings?

Randazzo: Aside from reducing the amount of dough we discard, which is a cost saving, we also use the Legacy mixer's shred plate attachment to shred cheese for our pizzas. This saves us the cost of having to purchase a separate shredder or install additional power receptacles. We've also had fewer service calls for maintenance, which has reduced costs.

Hobart: How have your employees adapted to using the Legacy mixer compared to your previous mixer?

Randazzo: It's simple to use and has actually reduced operator error. It might sound funny, but using the previous mixers, employees could accidentally install the bowl backward, causing it to fall off during operation. That's wasted time and dough. The Legacy mixer's bowl can only be installed in the correct position, eliminating the possibility of the bowl inadvertently becoming detached.

Hobart: Any other benefits?

Randazzo: It's quiet. That's important when employees are taking orders via a nearby telephone or if meetings or interviews are being conducted in the vicinity of the mixer. With our previous mixer, employees could only use the telephone in the office because the clanking of the mixer made it impossible to hear customer orders on the kitchen phone.

Hobart: Do you ever consider going back to your old mixer?

Randazzo: I've never given it a thought. Our previous mixer sounded like an old Buick. When the phone rang, you had to take the call in the front office because it was the only place you could hear the person on the other end of the line. The clanking of the mixer was too loud. Today, Papa Murphy's specifies Hobart Legacy Mixers in its equipment standards manual.

Hobart: Any final thoughts?

Randazzo: Only that we are very hard on these machines and they perform flawlessly. Hobart mixers are as reliable as they come.