Cook-Time-Based Kitchen Sequencing: 12-Min Pizza, 4-Min Mezze

If a 12-minute pizza and a 4-minute mezze hit the kitchen the same second, the mezze finishes eight minutes early and sits dying. The algorithmic answer is cook-time fan-out: stagger ticket release so both plates arrive at the pass together.

How the Algorithm Works

Each product carries a cook_time field: pizza 12 min, mezze 4 min, mains 8 min. The order's target plate time equals the longest cook_time. Everything else is delayed backwards so completion times converge.

Pizza ticket fires at t=0. Mezze ticket fires at t=8 (12 − 4). Both finish at t=12 and walk out on the same tray. Customers see one synchronized course rather than two disjointed plates.

Da Felice's Numbers

Da Felice, a 28-seat Roman trattoria, switched on cook-time fan-out in autumn 2025. Average ticket-to-table time fell from 31 minutes to 23 minutes, a 26% drop, with no extra staff.

• Pizza oven idle time fell 18%
• Cold-plate complaints down 71%
• Table turns per hour up from 1.4 to 1.8

Implementation Details

In thMenu, cook_time is optional on the product schema. When populated, KDS sequences automatically; when blank, the ticket fires at t=0 — fully backwards-compatible.

Station capacity matters too. If the pizza oven is already running four pies, the fifth waits three minutes. The scheduler is not greedy — it accounts for station queue depth.

FAQ

Who fills in cook_time? The chef or kitchen manager measures each item under realistic load, then enters values via the thMenu admin product editor.

Does it work during rush? Especially during rush. The scheduler folds in real-time station queue depth, so values self-adjust.

Which plan unlocks this? Platinum — bundled with KDS and the order module.

Found this helpful? Share it.