Yes, Our Pizza Truck Runs on Waste Cooking Oil!

Since the inception of Itsa Pizza Truck in 2015, we’ve used a 1996 Dodge Ram pick up truck to pull our mobile wood fired pizza ovens. This particular truck happens to have one of the all-time favorite diesel engines, the 5.9L Cummins.

My favorite thing about this truck, and the reason I looked all over the country for it, is because it’s the very best candidate in its class for running on used veggie oil. You heard it right! Our heavy duty pick up truck runs on waste oil from the deep fryers of local restaurants. Although many people have heard of this concept as something that’s theoretically possible, not many have encountered it in person. “Does it smell like French fries?” Many people have asked me over the years. I describe it more like the smell at the back of diner, kind of a general food smell, but not something where you’d be able to pick out the smell of individual ingredients.

But it smells way better than diesel. I’ve always loved this sustainable aspect of Itsa Pizza Truck. Besides keeping our fuel costs very low, its the greenest mode of transportation I’ve come across, besides walking or riding a bicycle. Although it does involve changing fuel filters more than you’d otherwise have to, the fuel system maintenance is low after installing a two tank system on an old diesel truck.

After successfully converting our dodge pick up to run on used veggie oil, I also (with the help of a trusty friend) converted a 1981 Mercedes, which to this day is still my daily driver. We’re just on the verge of converting yet another 1996 dodge ram pickup truck to be able to run on waste oil. If you’re curious about the subject I recommend checking out the Elsbett company at:

https://www.elsbett.com/epages/63102114.sf/en_US/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63102114/Categories

Why Sourdough Pizza Is a Rare Find — and Worth the Effort

“Why are there so few pizzerias making a sourdough crust ?” I’ve often wondered to myself. As the owner of Itsa Pizza Truck, and an avid sourdough baker for many years, the flavor and health benefits are clear to me. Whenever I’ve asked about this subject at the pizzerias that I visit, the one fuzzy answer that I’ve been given is that it adds another step to the chain of responsibilities. For example, someone might forget to feed the sourdough starter, or not know how to maintain it well. Another factor I’ve found is that some folks are under the false impression that sourdough bread or pizza crust will always have a strong sour flavor. Or they simply might not associate sourdough and pizza in the same culinary category. In my experience, using the sourdough method is really the only way to make great bread! The longer fermentation times, and the beneficial yeasts and bacterias that develop depth of flavor during sourdough fermentation always lead to more complex flavors as compared to using commercial yeast as the fermentation agent. While using commercial yeast leads to a feeling of confidence that your pizza dough will ferment more quickly and actively, it does so at a loss of flavor and digestibility. Since the very early days of Itsa Pizza Truck going ten years back, I knew that making sourdough pies was simply the only way for me to be in the pizza world.

If you’re new to sourdough baking, I’d like to leave you with one or two tricks for now about how to keep your sourdough starter alive and actively bubbling, making sure that it has enough life force to do the heavy lifting needed to give you bubbly-crispy bread and pizza:

1) The amount of food that you give the starter should be proportionally high compared to the amount of starter you have in your jar or container. In other words, if you have 1/4 cup of starter in your jar, you would feed it about 2 cups of flour and water. This is as opposed to having a half full jar of starter, and feeding it only a tablespoon each of flour and water. The first equation will lead to explosively active starter, while the second equation will only result in a tiny surge of activity. Try it out!