Ovens Used in Pizza Restaurants

Wood-fired pizza ovens require the most talented pizza bakers.

From upscale gourmet shops to factorylike chains, a variety of pizza styles flavor in American restaurants. While the recipes and economics may have some bearing on how each pizza tastes, the ultimate influence on pizza flavor and texture is the oven in which it is baked. Pizza makers have many choices when it comes to commercial pizza ovens. The decision is determined by what kind of pizza you want to serve in your restaurant and how intensely you want to train your people.

Ovens and Employees

All new pizza makers have to be trained to use their particular oven, but the oven you choose will determine how much training you need to provide. Electric and gas conveyor belt ovens take almost no training at all. Wood-fired ovens, at the other end of the spectrum, require the services of an experienced professional pizziaolo. Your training budget and time constraints should be taken into consideration before deciding on an oven style.

Conveyor Ovens

Whether it's powered by electricity or heated with gas, the conveyor belt oven is the simplest kind to operate. Flip on a switch to heat the oven. Place a formed raw pizza on the conveyor belt at one end, and a finished baked pizza comes out the other side in five to six minutes. Conveyor ovens are consistent, simple to operate and require no special attention during the cooking process. On the other hand, every pizza comes out exactly like every other one, leaving no room for individuality in doneness. It's factory pizza on a small scale, but the system is reliable if you have a large turnover in staff or do a large volume in your store.

Deck Ovens

Deck pizza ovens are usually heated with gas. The metal box of the oven holds in the heat, and a stone floor in the oven helps to provide crispiness to the crust. Pizzas cooked in deck ovens must be watched, as all deck ovens have hot and cold areas. Place a pizza in the oven. Spin the pie after 2 to 3 minutes using a pizza peel. The peel turns the pizza so that a different side of the crust faces the hottest part of the oven. This constant turning of the pies creates an even brown crust, but requires a baker with a good amount of training. This position can be intense if you have a number of ovens stacked up, as the pizza baker must keep track of the relative doneness of dozens of pies at once. The must function like an air traffic controller keeping airplane positions in his head.

Wood-fired Oven

Gourmet restaurants and specialty pizza shops sometimes opt for the oldest type of pizza oven, the wood-fired oven space. This type of oven creates a particularly crispy crust with a unique, smoky flavor. Wood-fired pizzas are prized by pizza fans, and often garner larger sales prices and profits. The job of pizza baker is an intense one, however. You must build a fire to heat the interior of the oven and arrange the coals to create even heating to the interior. Place the raw pizza directly on the surface of the oven stone floor. Turn the pizza with a peel to give even browning to the outside crust.

References

• Forno Bravo: Brick Oven Cooking Techniques
• Forno Bravo: Using Pizza Peels