disks in conveyor ovens

there are getting to be more of a variety of disks used in conveyor ovens.

I have a Q-Matic 36W and use black anodized 14 gauge preforated (.25" holes, around 13% preforated, ie about 80 in the 14" disk)

I am considering experimenting with the same disks with no holes.

Has anyone else tried this ?

Otis

Just one question, why? I am a die hard fan of screens. The more open the better. I bought a whole shop full of LC pans a few years back and just dont like the bottom bake of anything that isnt open.

to get a better bake, ie, crispier, almosted charred like a deck oven profile.

I have used screens, they work OK, main advantage is that they are faster

best thing for me is when I customer lifts the pizza, see the bottom,… and smiles.
note that I use a Q-Matic conveyor oven that is not a convection/impingment oven…ie, no moving air, similar to the CTX, so it takes a little longer
I bake at around 440 for 8 minutes…Q-Matic has timed interval and range settings also, sorta like CTX…, so it is highly tunable

popular thing now is the disk that Tom Lehmann and Pizza Tools developed that produces a “NY” style pizza in impingment ovens ?!

isn’t pizza great !

Otis

PS…what are LC pans ?

I believe that screens are not allowed to be used in Arizona. The health dept requires disks instead.

the disks from PizzaTools are great, but costly…clean easily…no stick…no need 2 re-season…last longer than screens…more durable…

that could be true, so I am glad I use disks anyway

Otis

LC = Little Caesars.

They cook everything in black pans. that look like this:

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4359/pansgb8.th.jpg

I bought out a Little Caesars a while back, and have a ton of the nesting pans like that.

SCREENS, PANS, DISCS.
Like so many items in this industry the use of any of the above appears to depend on the product being baked and just how the shops clientele like their pizzas.
There appears to be a clientele for about any pizza be it thin, thick, crisp, soggy or whatever.
I have encountered so many variations in end product produced by different shops that I wonder if there is a pizza so bad that there is not a group of buyers that like it.

George Mills

George,

You would know better than me, do some people with impingmeng ovens bake there pizzas on solid disks and/or pans with less preforations on them than screens, ie less than 20% preforated ?
I have a Q-Matic and bake on 14 Gauge balack anodized preforated to 13" (81 .25" holes in a 14" diameter disk).
I have some solid disk coming to try. Of course the Q-Matic is not impingment.
I appreciate your post here, helps give us a wider perspective in ovens.
Otis

Otis Gunn You would know better than me, do some people with impingement ovens bake there pizzas on solid disks and/or pans with less perforations on them than screens, ie less than 20% preforated ?

Reply yes some use solid pans with no perforations, with many are using screens and discs.
George Mills

Re: disks vs screens in conveyor ovens

George,

What different profile is used when solid disks are used as opposed to screens.

A specific answer to a specific oven will be fime, does not have to be to a Q-Matic like I have.

thanks in advance,

Re: disks vs screens in conveyor ovens

Question: What different profile is used when solid disks are used as opposed to screens.

Reply:There does not appear to be the wide divergence of, as you say profiles, with air impingement type ovens as with other styles. The action of the high intensity hot air streams overcomes most of the variations encountered in non air impingement ovens. There is little variation needed between pans screens and discs if the same product is being baked. Just a tweaking of temperature or tine to suit the operator.

There is always some small divergence of oven times temps etc, even within chains using theoretically the same product.It appears the individual operators cannot resist tweaking the times and temps to their own satisfaction.

I have had operators show up for demonstrations with all types of product and screens or pans or discs of whatever style or type that they use and after baking 4 or 5 pizzas and adjusting only time and temperature we are baking as good or better pizza then what they are currently producing.

A lot of the problems encountered with ovens, that are even a few years older, or are not The latest air impingement type.is that they get substantial variation of temperature even during a short stay in the oven, the latest versions of air impingement ovens are equipped with modulating gas valves and therefore have almost no variation of temperature in the bake chamber.

There are additional improvements coming shortly in the gas burner systems used in air impingement ovens that will make that baking system even more efficient.
George Mills

Re: disks vs screens in conveyor ovens

The modulating gas valve seems to be a good improvement.
I only know a Q-Matic, which I have, it has the old timed gas valve.

Are the controls on the impingmnet ovens similar to a Q-Matic, with the interval setting and the temperature range setting ?..they call it something fancy like HSCS setting, but I call it temperature range setting, ie the low side that it turns on and the high side that it turns off.

Otis

Re: disks vs screens in conveyor ovens

Otis
Are the controls on the impingement ovens similar to a Q-Ma tic, with the interval setting and the temperature range setting ?..

Not really all I have seen have a temperature controller that can be set for a specific temperature and a speed control that can be set for a specific time. Temps are adjustable in one degree increments and belt time in one second increments.

Exceptions to the above the XLT 3270 has a temperature controller and a burner at both ends the temperature can be set so as the inbound and exit temperatures can very a bit. Most users use a consistent temperature throughout. A few prefer a lower exit temperature.
George Mills