http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/rss/feedsThe foundation to great communities starts with creating welcoming environments where people can come together. At Red Tractor Pizza we aim to provide a lively and warm space to gather together to enjoy thoughtfully crafted foods Sat, 02 May 2026 19:05:59 -0700http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/learn-to-make-chemicalfree-laundry-detergenthttp://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/learn-to-make-chemicalfree-laundry-detergent You are likely reading this blog because you already know a little bit about the Red Tractor Pizza mission – we make New York-style pizza with ingredients sourced as locally as possible, and we do in a sustainable, environmentally-friendly way. Operating a sustainable business means thinking about more than just pizza. Owner Adam Paccione is “thinking green” beyond the walls of his pizzeria. At home, he’s started making his own chemical-free, eco-friendly laundry detergent. It may sound like even more of a chore than doing laundry, but it’s easier to make than you might think. It’s also inexpensive, and it’ll make you feel a heck of a lot better about yourself and the planet! Whatever your reason for going green may be, we are here to help with a quick and easy lesson on how to make your own laundry detergent. If you’re more of a visual learner, watch the video by clicking here. There are lots of different homemade laundry detergent recipes out there, but this one is super easy and simple. You don’t even have to combine any of the ingredients ahead of time. What You’ll Need: Chemical-Free Soft Soap (1/8 cup)Washing Soda (1/4 cup)White Vinegar (1/8 cup)Directions: Add your clothes to the washing machine.Add the washing soda and the chemical-free soft soap.Start the washing machine.When you get to the rinse cycle, use 1/8 cup up to 1/4 cup of white vinegar.Note: Make sure you add the vinegar to the rinse cycle, not the wash cycle! The vinegar works to rinse away soap scum and soften clothes, thus removing the need to use any fabric softener at all. For super dirty clothes, or if you need to whiten up your whites, you can use oxygen (non-chlorine) bleach. We got the basics for this recipe from Jill Potvin Schoff’s book “Green Up Your Clean Up.” But feel free to experiment with the amount of washing soda and soft soap you use to see what works best for your needs. While there are many eco-friendly products you can buy at your local health foods store, making your own products at home is fun, rewarding and more affordable! Here are two more reasons for making the switch to homemade detergents: Most store-bought detergents are made with a new type of surfactant (a cleaning agent) that compromises skin-barrier function. That is, it makes it easier for chemicals to seep through your skin and into your body.These detergents put a heavy burden on our environment causing: 1)Depletion of Nonrenewable Resources, 2)Air Pollution, and 3)Habitat Destruction.Now that you know the facts behind store-bought detergents, are you ready to hop on the green train with us? Then do yourself a favor and watch our YouTube video for a visual lesson! Adam “Pepperoni” Paccione doesn’t disappoint. Tue, 19 Apr 2016 00:00:00 -0700http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/pizza-dough-shapinghttp://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/pizza-dough-shapingCurious how Paccione gets that perfectly thin New York-style crust? Wonder no more. In episode no. 3 of Pie Skills, Adam (playing Pepperoni Paccione) shows fans how to shape pizza dough prior to tossing it. Click on the image below to watch the full video, or read this quick step-by-step guide for getting the job done. Step 1) Start by patting down the dough in a symmetrical fashion and placing it down flatly on the countertop. Step 2) Next, make sure that the dough is completely covered with flour. Step 3) Use your non-dominant hand as a guide by gently holding the outside edge of the dough in place. Step 4) With your dominant hand, you’re going to use the two-finger method to form the crust. To do this, simply take your two pointer fingers and push them into the edge of the dough, towards your guide hand. Then, rotate the dough a bit with your dominant hand and do the same thing again. Continue rotating and pushing down into the dough with your fingers until the crust is formed the entire way around. Step 5) Once your crust is formed, you can start to warm up the dough and prep it for a proper stretch.As you rotate the dough with your dominant hand, give it a little stretch. Your other hand should be holding down the dough to build symmetry and tension. Step 6) Lastly, before you get your baby up in the air, you’re going to really stretch it out. Hold the bottom of the dough with your knuckles, not your fingertips. Fingertips have a tendency to create holes. While holding it with your knuckles, you’ll want to use your thumbs as a guide and rotate the dough through them. Don’t overthink this one – just let the dough do the work! It will naturally stretch from the center due to centrifugal force. Beginners out there, remember: There is a top and bottom to the dough. Let’s keep it that way! Are you a visual person? Then subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on all the latest videos from Red Tractor Pizza! Tue, 26 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0700http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/the-claw-griphttp://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/the-claw-gripIn the educational and entertaining “Pie Skills” video series, Red Tractor Pizza owner Adam Paccione offers quick kitchen tips for pizza lovers, aspiring chefs, and anyone wanting to feel more comfortable in the kitchen. Topics range from safe knife handling and prep-work tips, to brick-oven cooking techniques, to learning how to make and toss your own pizza dough. In episode no. 2, Adam (playing Pepperoni Paccione) demonstrates the “claw grip.” For the claw grip, curl your fingertips (including your thumb) in so that they are behind your knuckles. Then, press the food item against the cutting board with the claw grip. When using this grip, your knuckles will serve as a guide for your knife so that you don’t have to worry about cutting your fingers off! Need a visual? Click here to watch episode no. 2: “The Claw Grip.” Pie Skills, Episode No. 2: "The Claw Grip" In this episode of "Pie Skills," Red Tractor Pizza owner Adam Paccione teaches viewers the claw grip technique for chopping the goods. Once you’ve got the claw grip mastered, you can start chopping. When cutting food, you always want to have the flat edge of the food item (in this case an apple), on the cutting board so it’s not rolling around. This will help prevent any mishaps and keep things under control. The first cut we’ll go over is the Julienne cut. The Julienne cut is a French culinary knife technique in which the food item is cut into long, thin strips. Think matchsticks. Just press the tip of your knife against the cutting board and slice down, through the food item. Slices should be cut evenly and consistently so that they all come out the same size. Check back next week for episode no. 3, where Adam shows viewers how to toss pizza dough.Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0700http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/holding-a-chefs-knifehttp://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/holding-a-chefs-knifeIn the educational and entertaining “Pie Skills” video series, Red Tractor Pizza owner Adam Paccione offers quick kitchen tips for pizza lovers, aspiring chefs, and anyone wanting to feel more comfortable in the kitchen. Topics range from safe knife handling and prep work, to brick-oven cooking methods, to learning how to make and toss your own pizza dough. In episode no. 1, Adam (playing Pepperoni Paccione) goes over the different parts of a chef’s knife, and demonstrates the proper, safe way to hold it. Watch the full video and meet Paccione for yourself by clicking here. There are plenty of knives that you can use in the kitchen, but today we are going to be learning about a chef’s knife. For most western cooks, a chef’s knife is the “go-to” knife when preparing food. A couple of important features of this knife are the: Pie Skills, Episode no. 1: Pepperoni Paccione explains proper form for chef knife handling. Handle Blade Edge Tip Heel Bolster To hold a chef’s knife properly, take your thumb and forefinger, and wrap them around the bolster. Then g take your remaining three fingers and wrap them around the handle. Squeeze tightly, and firmly press the knife’s tip against the cutting board. This will stabilize the knife and prevent it from moving around so that your little fingertips don’t get sliced off. Want to learn more? Stay tuned for episode no. 2 in which Pepperoni Paccione goes over the famous “claw grip.” Click here to watch episode no. 1: “Holding a Chef’s Knife.” Fri, 08 Jan 2016 00:00:00 -0700http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/red-tractor-is-growinghttp://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/red-tractor-is-growingWe are excited to announce that Red Tractor Pizza is expanding its dining capacity from approximately 25 to almost 100 people next month. If you stop by the restaurant, you’ll see that construction is already well underway next-door. Red Tractor’s dining area offers a comfortable, casual atmosphere for people to eat awesome food and drink good beer while hanging out with their buddies. With the additional space, we plan on adding a fun kids area so the whole family can come hang out. We also plan on bringing in full bands multiple times a week once things are rocking and rolling. As you probably know, we like to “think local.” We are a sustainable, community-minded operation, so when you eat here, you’re doing more than just eating good pizza – you’re supporting the local community. The completed space should be ready by mid-December, but stay tuned for details.Wed, 18 Nov 2015 00:00:00 -0700http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/the-audience-awards-farm-to-pizzahttp://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/the-audience-awards-farm-to-pizzaFrom April 7th to April 29th, we were entered in to the Real Montana short film competition put on by the Audience Awards. We received the information about the contest just days before the deadline, and managed to come up with a 1 minute film explaining our values and philosophy at Red Tractor. The contest awarded cash, and we immediately knew we could use whatever proceeds won to benefit Gallatin Valley Farm to School. You see, we have a big spot in our hearts for involving the youth in this worldwide awareness of local, organic, non GMO fresh food. GVFS connects schools with local farmers and raises awareness as well as overall health for the community. There are lots of projects all around the community they get involved in. One of these projects we have long desired to complete and are in the works of is a giant mural on the side of our shop, that displays colorful imagery of the farm to school ecosystem. If you’ve ever been in our shop, you’ve probably seen the coloring pages, displayed below: Our biggest challenge was getting this profound message across quickly. If you have ever tried to explain anything in less than a minute, let alone you core values and life long dream, you would know it is VERY difficult in such little time! We decided to settle on a very basic concept: Farm to Pizza. We had our talented buddy Joel Martin direct and shoot the entire short. We got up at the crack of dawn and visited our favorite dairy farm, Amaltheia, (where we source our goat cheese) to get er’ done with the rising sun. Pigs, goats, dogs, camera men, actors, and planted pizza slices surrounded us. We planted the slices in rows, and began the fun. We chose a humorous angle because it represents us as who we are. Most shorts we ever see on local businesses take themselves far too seriously, and if anyone knows Red Tractor, they know it’s about fun. Farm to Pizza means a lot to us as farmers and gardeners ourselves… it’s who we are and what we do. Though we did not take first place overall, we did place in our category of Food and Beverage. It was such a learning experience and a massive outpouring of love from our friends, family, and customers. We will continue to reach for that mural, and definitely not stop spreading the knowledge and power of our farmers. Be sure and watch the video here! Tue, 05 May 2015 00:00:00 -0700http://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/thanks-bozeman-rci-realtyhttp://www.redtractorpizza.com/blog/post/thanks-bozeman-rci-realtyBozeman’s RCI Realty recently put out their own top picks of the “Best of Bozeman”… we really appreciated their kind write up and shout out, especially the mention of how we donate to a local charity with every purchase. Their other reasons for picking us are all about our ingredients! Gluten-free, locally sourced, and tasty! Which makes us smile BIG TIME because that is our greatest mission in life… our ingredients. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. Thu, 30 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0700