Which Pizza Oven is Best for You?
Choose the Right Pizza Oven and Save Some Dough
- How much space does your kitchen have for a pizza oven?
- How many pizzas will your kitchen be putting out in a day or night? Max per an hour, maybe.
- Are there any particular types of pizzas that you and your team will be making most frequently?
- What other items will you be serving alongside the pizza?
Impingement Conveyor Ovens
With this type of oven, cooking times are set, which tell the conveyor how quickly to move. As the conveyor progresses, hot air is forced both below and above the cooking area. This option provides for a uniform cooking temperature. Because of the way the independent air jets supply the hot air, pizza is cooked consistently, all the way through. If you are looking at cooking large amounts of pizza, conveyor ovens are usually the way to go, with the ability to constantly feed pizzas into them, taking about 5 minutes to cook each pizza, and coming in different configurations with up to four stacked ovens. Of the three kinds of pizza ovens presented here, these are the largest. Conveyor ovens have a wide range in price and tend to be comparable to deck pizza ovens. Conveyor ovens are known for cooking New York and Neapolitan style pizzas.
Deck Ovens
Deck ovens’ conduction heating uses two methods to cook pizzas. First, heat is passed through to the pizza directly from a hot stone, otherwise known as a deck. Second, infrared heat provides radiant temperature, cooking dough thoroughly. Stone deck ovens have a bit of variation, heating up to anywhere between 400 degrees Fahrenheit and 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The differentiation most typically comes from the unit’s size. Deck ovens can usually handle up to six minutes and take up to 8 minutes to cook a pizza. Deck ovens take up an amount of room that is somewhere between conveyor and convection. Deck ovens are known for cooking New York, Neapolitan, Chicago, and Sicilian style pizzas well.
Convection Ovens
The convection oven uses one or multiple fans to circulate hot air throughout the oven. This helps to ensure that the pizza is cooked thoroughly and evenly. Convection ovens are typically sought after for their versatility, serving as more than just a pizza oven when called for in any kitchen. Commercial convection pizza ovens are known to work well in lower volume operations. They typically have somewhere between two and five racks, each rack being able to fit two 16-inch pizzas. Furthermore, these ovens can usually cook a pizza in less than six minutes. For space considerations, convection ovens usually take up the smallest amount of room. These types of pizza ovens tend to be the most economical. The New York and Neapolitan style pizzas usually are the pizzas of choice to cook in a convection oven.
Gas or Electric Pizza Oven?
All of these types of pizza ovens—conveyor, deck, and convection—come in electric and gas varieties. Your choice as to which to invest in will typically be decided by which type of hookups your kitchen has available. Electric pizza ovens are best for businesses that rely on mobility, like food trucks. If your kitchen has the hookup for gas or LP, though, this is best, because gas ovens are regularly lauded for their ability to provide a crispier crust while also cooking the pizza thoroughly and evenly.
