Sauce prepping 101

Recently at some of the local Domino's Pizza stores in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, a switch was made from ready to use (RTU) sauce to concentrated sauce. It seems this is an easy cost saving measure, but apparently, mixing water and sauce is not as easy as it appears. For those outside the Domino's world, a typical sauce bucket held 3 bags of RTU sauce, while the concentrated sauce only requires two bags per bucket, therefore saving money. When prepping the concentrated sauce, we were given an exact measuring cup, sauce strainer, (for squeezing every last drop out of the bag) and a whisk to stir the sauce. I had the privilege of working the opening shift the day after the commissary truck delivered the concentrated sauce. Following the easy instructions, making concentrated sauce is quite easy. Many people make the mistake of emptying the sauce into the bucket first, but the best way is to pour the exact amount of water needed into the sauce bucket first, which makes stirring easier. While stirring the sauce and water, it is important to use the whisk and a spatula, so you get an easy and smooth mix. Another key to making good sauce is to not mix too long or not long enough. Many people think about one minute is enough, but three is a good number. The sauce needs to be thick enough to hold it's own, and not runny and soupy. The best trick to making perfect pizza sauce from concentrate is to re-stir or mix after about 15 minutes of it sitting still, further adding to the thickness and getting rid of any water that has emerged at the top of the bucket. I have unfortunately witnessed sauce prepping gone bad, so hopefully this will help any Domino's employee in the future. I have added a picture at the top of a perfectly made bucket of sauce.