We are about to start our 2nd resort summer season and the end of our 1st year in business. Winter was lean but we made it and we know we will be slammed from 4 July to Labor Day. We’re running our old Blodgett 981(2 decks) with 50,000 btu. I love it and we’ll keep it but we do have trouble keeping up. I’ve noticed the BP Y600’s and 602’s have 120,000 btu. My God, that’s a bunch more than the Blodgetts (the new ones are about the same as our 1958). Does that extra gas make the BP’s recover “instantly”. My thought is to add a BP and we don’t have to use it in the winter when old Blodg can keep up.
So… Can someone explain that huge difference in BTU rating?
And… I live in Northern NY, where should I shop for a used BP deck?
So can anyone explain to me how two different ovens that aren’t that much different in size can be rated so differently? 50,000 vs. 120,000 BTU
50,000 BTU Blodgetts are much easier to come by and cheaper but I’m fighting with my wife about getting the pies out this Summer and she’s convinced it’s all about this rating. We want to stay with decks…
The Blodgett 981 is not a pizza oven per say, it is a bake and roasting oven designed to be used to bake or roast product over a longer time period than pizza. You have heat directly applied only to the bottom deck, the top deck gets only overflow heat from the bottom one That’s not to say that pizza cannot be baked in one but it will not, in my opinion, bake the quality or quantity of pizza for you to attain the level of success I would think you aspire to.
The bake chambers (2) are 42" X 32" ea for the 981. That equates to less than 19-BTU per sq. inch of deck
The Blodgett 10 60 is 60" X 36" inside and is 120,000 BTU per deck that is 55.5 BTU per sq. inch.
You can bake a lot more pizza faster in the 1060.
My shop has a double-deck 981 that makes due with our volume. It does definitely have issues on higher volume nights with heating consistency and volume. Recovery is sluggish and the tops don’t bake as quickly as the bottoms. We kick up the heat a little (575F) and use screens to slow bottom cooking and promote top cooking.
We will convert to 1060 or BP deck when the volume pushes us there. I know we’ll have to relearn the bake character of the ovens . . . part of the business.
(It does a glorious job on roasting pork loins and casserole based dishes like lasagna).
Thanks George… I restored this oven so know it in and out. That all makes more sense now. We do move pizzas around to get them right and it has been a challange at times.
We would like to stay with decks but now I’m not sure what we should go with. We do use the 981 for lots of things and it does bake well and fast on the bottom. Space is a bit of an issue so do you think there is a way to place our 981 on top of another oven. I’m sure I could work out the venting.
We are very seasonal here at Lake George in NY. We were doing about 80 pizzas/night last year but should do more this Summer as the word has gotten out. We’re making 10’s and 16’s.
It might be good if we could site a double high powered unit somewhere and also use the 981 but then use only the 981 with its lesser fuel consumption in the off season. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. C.
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Thanks George… I restored this oven so know it in and out. That all makes more sense now. We do move pizzas around to get them right and it has been a challange at times.
We would like to stay with decks but now I’m not sure what we should go with. We do use the 981 for lots of things and it does bake well and fast on the bottom. Space is a bit of an issue so do you think there is a way to place our 981 on top of another oven. I’m sure I could work out the venting.
Reply You could get a Blodgett Model 1048B single lower with short legs and put your 981 on top of it
That unit is 120,000 BTU figures at 69 BTU per sq in of baking power. Or use a bakers pride 451 at 80,000 BTU could probably do as much as you need and more.
An additional note to my post, the Blodgett I mentioned would have its flue line up closer than the Bakers Pride. You said you could handle ventilation but it might be a struggle with the Bakers Pride.
Thanks George and also to NicksPizza for your time…
If we got a single 1000 series Blodgett and could stack our 981 on top, we could use the bottom of the 981 more, combined with the high power single. As you work the BTU/sq.in. numbers, isn’t it fair to say the bottom of the 981 would NOT be similar to the top. In other words, I know you have a certain area with the 2 decks of the 981 and a certain input BTU but I would think the bottom could be looked at as a different rating than the top…
Any chance the 1000 series Blodgett vent would line up exactly with the inlet at the bottom of the 981 for stacking?
Thanks guys, I feel like we’re really getting somewhere now. Our inexperience nearly killed us last Summer… but not again!! C.
If I remember correctly from a couple years ago, the Blodgett 1000 vent is in the exact middle, so if the measurements of the box works out, maybe. But then again I don’t know the 981, but you would.