The Manufacturing of Deep-Dish Pizza Pans
Leave a CommentWhat Is Deep Dish Pizza?
When you think of pizza (and let’s face it, who doesn’t think of pizza on a regular basis?) your mind may wander into the various offerings depending on your geography. New Yorkers think of wide, foldable crusts with a touch of blistered char, just thick enough for a toothsome chew. Californians picture thin, crisp crusts topped with innovative combinations of ingredients. But if you’re in Chicago, pizza means a pie with a hearty crust and layers of toppings all served up via deep-dish pizza pans.
Chicago was a popular area for Italian immigrants from the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century. As they flocked to the city, they brought with them their love of pizza. This passion resulted in a new culinary creation that married Italian and American traditions: deep dish pizza. Thicker than a Neapolitan style pizza, but thinner than a Sicilian, deep dish pizza features a hearty crust, sauce over its cheese, and various meats and vegetables. To note, the first one was sold by Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo at Pizzeria Uno in 1943.
The Deep-Dish Pizza Pan
Image courtesy of Pizzeria UNO
To facilitate the construction of deep-dish pizza, pizzamakers use pans that are specifically designed to allow the crust to extend up the sides and form a shallow container for the other pizza ingredients. In most respects, standard and deep-dish pizza pans are the same. However, deep dish pizza pans are distinguished by their taller metal walls. In addition to making it easy to cook deep dish pizza, they can be easily stacked and carried and used for proofing dough.
These pans are generally available in round and square shapes and are made from aluminum or tin-plated stainless steel. Non-stick coatings can also be added to allow for easier cleanup.
How Are Deep Dish Pans Made?
Manufacturers use deep drawn stamping to create a wide range of metal products, including deep dish pizza pans. This manufacturing technique employs a custom stamping die and stamping press to form sheet metal into hollow shapes.
Deep drawn stamping is ideal for producing deep dish pizza pans for a number of reasons, including:
- Minimal warpage. As metal stamping is a cold forming process, it does not use heat to produce parts. This quality allows for the production of more precise and accurate parts as there is no chance of thermal warpage.
- High product strength. Deep drawing strengthens metal through a process called strain hardening, which rearranges the metal’s crystalline structure as it is pressed into shape. After deep drawing operations, finished stamped parts tend to demonstrate greater material hardness and strength.
- No seams. Seams can serve as weak points in formed and assembled parts and increase the risk of leakage or breakage. Deep drawn pieces are stamped out of a single sheet of metal, meaning they have no seams.
By using deep drawing to produce deep dish pizza pans, the result is a sturdy pan that can be used to create a chewy crust with a crisp exterior and a bubbling cauldron of sauce, cheese, and toppings within.
Deep Drawn Stamping Services from Manor Tool
At Manor Tool & Manufacturing, we offer custom deep drawn stamping services for industries ranging from aerospace and automotive to refrigeration and restaurant service. Our stamping capabilities allow us to produce countless parts and components, including deep dish pizza pans.
Our team is equipped with a fleet of over 30 400-ton presses, each of which allows for various press strokes and stamping capacities. Combined with our team’s knowledge and years of experience in stamping, this equipment allows us to stamp several types of material, including aluminum, brass, copper, nickel, plastic, and steel, in thicknesses of 0.005 to 0.5 inches with tight tolerances. To ensure the quality of our products, all deep drawn stamped products, assemblies, and sub-assemblies are subjected to rigorous ISO 9001:2015 certified quality control measures throughout the production process.
If you need a deep drawn stamped product, our expert team can take your project from design to end product. For more information on our stamping capabilities or to partner with us, contact us or request a quote today.
WTMA Grant Awarded to Manor Tool’s Anne Lesko!
Leave a CommentTMA President Steve Rauschenberger, in conjunction with the Women in Technology & Manufacturing Association (WTMA), have awarded Manor Tool’s very own Anne Lesko with a grant. Anne will be honored for her achievements at the upcoming WTMA Fall Luncheon on October 25th, 2019.
According to the TMA website, the WTMA grant seeks to “assist women in addressing the barriers they face in advancing their manufacturing technology education and their pursuit of careers in the industry”.
About Anne Lesko
Anne’s road to this accomplishment was paved with hard work, ambition, and focus, and Manor Tool couldn’t be prouder. Upon struggling with a series of dead-end jobs that stunted her finances, Anne decided to enroll at the workNet DuPage Career Center in July of 2018. While there, she discovered her love of creativity and a proclivity for craftsmanship translated to a pursuit in the Welding Certificate program at College of DuPage.
An apprenticeship led to her hiring at Manor Tool, where she has taken over welding procedures, but she is also working towards tool & die certification. In addition, she has set her sights on fabrication and machining.
No challenge seems too big for Anne! As a woman in the field, she is being acknowledged by the WTMA to continue her education and expand upon her experience. Anne ignores the notions that careers in welding and related operations are typically a male-dominated industry. She has battled through obstacles both personal and professional to land where she is today and Manor Tool, along with many, many others celebrate her achievements as a woman in industry!
A Step-by-Step Guide to Our Deep Drawn Stamping Process
Comments Off on A Step-by-Step Guide to Our Deep Drawn Stamping ProcessSince 1959, Manor Tool & Manufacturing Company has been fabricating metal components for a range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, medical, energy, and consumer goods. With a specialty in high-quality metal stamping, Manor Tool can create anything from a one-off prototype to a high-volume run requiring progressive tooling.
Manor Tool’s deep drawn metal stamping services include standard cylindrical and axisymmetric shapes as well as box-shaped items. We can make modifications to meet each customer’s unique needs, such as coining, curling, extruding, and embossing. Our shop is also ISO 9001:2015-certified for quality, and our process has been established to produce finished parts to tight tolerances that meet or exceed customer specifications.
The Process of Deep Draw Stamping
The deep draw process is necessary for parts with a depth that exceeds their diameter, like beverage cans, deep pans, assembly housings, and other containers. A blank piece of sheet metal is positioned over a die, and a punch is used to force the metal into the die and create a custom shape. Once the die is made and tooling set, the process is relatively inexpensive, especially for high-volume production, because it can be completed with minimal downtime or maintenance.
From start to finish, the deep draw stamping process is as follows:
- Engineers provide a design.
- Our Engineers review the design and determine whether the part can be created with Manor’s fleet of more than 30 400-ton presses.
- We consider the ideal thickness, shape, and radii of the finished part and what will work best based on customer specifications and our expertise. Typical parts we create are between 0.005 and 0.5 inches, with extremely tight tolerances. We can also make dies up to four feet wide and eight feet long.
- We implement Finite Element Analysis, or FEA. This allows us to virtually create the part using the final design and accurately simulate the entire manufacturing process. Any problems with design or tooling can be easily discovered and changed before it costs time and money.
- Based on material requirements, we select the right flat metal sheet. Options include aluminum, brass, copper, and steel.
- As part of set up, Engineers note the depth of the part and the degree of radius. They position the die and punch properly on the press. The metal sheet, or blank, is placed on the die.
- The punch is applied against the die with force, which shapes the workpiece as desired. This process is repeated to produce the correct depth and size.
The finished part, having been created from a single sheet of metal, is strong and seamless. The precision of the process allows it to be completed quickly, for less technical labor costs and quicker turnaround times.
What Can Be Made From Deep Draw Stamping Metal?
Metal stamping is widely used to manufacture a wide range of parts, and deep draw stamping produces parts with depth greater than the diameter. Commonly produced items from the deep draw stamping process include panels, tanks, containers, sinks, automotive parts and pots or pans for kitchen use.
Some types of parts or items are more likely to be produced via deep draw metal stamping:
· Parts that must be produced at high volume. Deep draw stamping works quickly and efficiently once it has been set up, making it ideal for longer runs.
· Parts that must be water- or gas-tight. The one-sheet process is seamless.
· Parts that must be produced to tight tolerances. Metal stamping has high accuracy and can be set to tolerances as low as ±.0005 in.
· Parts that have complex, axisymmetric shapes. The die and punch create these geometries more quickly and accurately than many machining processes.
· Parts for which cutting or welding would be undesirable from a durability or aesthetic standpoint.
Quality Metal Stamping at Manor Tool
Deep draw metal stamping is an ideal process for cylindrical or axisymmetric parts that can be manufactured quickly to tight tolerances. While anything from a prototype to a small run to high-volume manufacturing can be completed using deep draw metal stamping, it is most cost efficient for large production runs. Once the tooling is set, the process runs quickly and with little required oversight.
Manor Tool’s ISO 9001:2015 certified quality control processes at every stage of production ensure that a high quality finished part fits all specifications. Not only can our pre-production process identify inefficiencies before work begins, but we can assist in determining the ideal shape, thickness and materials to use for best results.
To learn more about our deep draw stamping services or to get started on a project, contact us today or request a quote.