thanks very, very much for all of the help folks - it’s now clear that the blodgett 981 i was considering will definitely not meet my needs. as a matter of fact, i have since discovered that the 981 is listed on blodgett’s website under “baking & roasting” decks, not pizza decks.
i also spoke with the seller (armed with your great input) and he admitted that is was indeed a “baking” oven but could also be used as a pizza oven under the right circumstances; hence he advertised it as a pizza oven - he went on to tell me that one of the tricks of the baking trade he learned along the way was placing a layer of 1 1/2 inch bricks on top of a deck oven’s factory stones. according to him, this inexpensive addition works wonders as far as combating heat loss and retaining oven heat - so much so that he said that he is able to continue baking for over 2 hours once he shuts off his oven. he recommended that i try this regardless of the stone deck oven i end up purchasing… have any of you tried this?
snowman: i came across a guy in my neck of the woods who refurbishes and sells pizza ovens - one of his current deals is a refurbished 4 deck rotoflex for $12,500 which includes installation, hood, 1 year warranty and 1 year free service. too high for me considering the rock bottom prices i have been coming across for preowned pizza ovens!
pizzaguy: i found your post especially helpful as it pertained so much to the type of operation i have in mind (i.e., the vancouver brew pub you mentioned that serves 10" pizzas exclusively). btw, are you saying that you use a 20 qt mixer or simply that you make multiple batches as would be my case should i purchase a 20 “quarter”? when i decided to go with pizza i had always planned for my chef (who i recently hired) to come in early and prepare all of the pizza toppings and sauces as well as stock the prep stations so that my cooks could just come in and start making orders. adding dough mixing to my chef’s morning duties would work out very well. btw, my chef is absolutely stoked by the idea of coming in early and doing all of the prep in exchange for taking off early!
evelyne: very, very interesting information regarding conveyor ovens; thanks very much. i think i have pretty much decided on an oven but if it does not work out i will take a closer look at conveyors.
tom: thanks very much for your advice - i especially liked your thoughts regarding “no-sauce” pizza as an option! and, of course, you are absolutely right; i could easily come up with at least a couple of wonderful organic pizzas by simply using olive oil and local organic produce and cheeses! the local organic farmers are going to love me! speaking of organic, prince charles actually came to our small town (5 blocks long!) a couple of months ago to enjoy our farmer’s market and visit the local organic farms (apparently he is very much into the movement). you wouldn’t believe the mass of humanity that also poured into town just for a glimpse of royalty - it was absolutely staggering; many drove hours just to see him! as far as the oven (blodgett 981) i was considering is concerned, it was priced at $850 and included a 2005 20 qt mixer - an additional $150 got it delivered and installed! any wonder i was so interested!
guest: yeah, the 981 i was looking at, despite the dual compartments, couldn’t touch your setup. i have found that the 1061’s and bp y-600’s (pizzaguy) are very, very similar and are top of the line deck ovens pumping out 120k btus per deck - a rather far cry from the 50k btus the 981 dual deck is capable of. btw, the reason i have forecasted so many pizzas per day is because my plan is to sell only 10" “personal” pizzas - if i were to sell larger pizzas, enough for 4 say, the number would be quite less. i also plan on doing quite a bit of “pizza-by-the-slice” business as well. 48 pizzas in one hour? wow! if i should be so lucky!
batch yields: i know that batch yield depends on several variables, but opinions posted in this thread seem to vary considerdably based on the 20 qt mixer i mentioned…
snowman - “I’m thinking you’re looking at about 15 pounds of finished dough from one batch.”
eupher - "20 qt will be pushed to get 15# dough…our 60 qt maxes at about 40# ingredients (25# flour), which yields 28x23oz shells (more or less). NOTE: 28x32oz = 56 pounds of finished dough. if 56 pounds of finished dough can be produced in a 60 qt mixer, shouldn’t one be able to get 18.5 pounds from a 20 qt mixer assuming the same recipe?
pizzaguy - “As for the mixer you cann do about 20 lbs of dough.”
evelyne - “A 20 quart mixer can really only put out about 7 tp 10 pounds of finished dough, and that depends upon how wet the dough is.”
tom - “Instead, opt for at least a 60 quart size mixer as this will allow you to mix upwards of 60 pounds of dough at a time (40 pounds of flour) as opposed to only about 12 pounds of dough (8 pounds of flour) in a 20 quart mixer.” NOTE: again, assuming the same recipe, why would one be able to get 60 pounds of finsihed dough out of a 60 qt mixer and only 12 pounds out of a 20 qt mixer? if i get 60 lbs from a 60 qt mixer, shouldn’t i be able to get 20 lbs out of a 20 qt mixer?
i’m now seriously considering this oven and would appreciate any thoughts - i had originally wanted a gas deck because of what i had heard regarding gas ovens heating more evenly/accurately than electric ovens. economically, it’s a wash where i am because the cost of propane is so high in my area.
hobart adamatic aad303: adamatic targets industrial bakers as oppossed to restaurants and apparently has a very good reputation as high-end, work-horse equipment. the pizza oven i’m looking at was manufactured in 1988 and is very clean and refurbished - the downside is that they are no longer manufactured nor are any parts available. but after speaking with adamatic’s head of operations, no parts parts are proprietary (unique) and can easily be replaced through other vendors. once a subsidiary of hobart, adamatic was sold not too long ago.
some specs:
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220v, 2286kw, 3phase
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3 decks with stone hearths, individually controlled
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thermostat: 300-750
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size comparison - unit
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72" w x 36" d - adamatic
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78" w x 45" d - blodgett 1060
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78" w x 43" d - bp y-600
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size comparison - interior deck
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55" w x 24" d - adamatic
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60" w x 36" d - blodgett 1060
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60" w x 36" d - bp y-600
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interior deck area - total
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110 sq ft per deck, 330 sq ft (3-deck unit) - adamatic
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180 sq ft per deck, 360 sq ft stacked deck (2 decks) - blodgett 1060
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180 sq ft per deck, 360 sq ft stacked deck (2 decks) - bp y-600
*** cooking area-wise, the adamatic i’m looking at has close to the same square footage in its 3 decks (330 sq ft) as the bp y-600 and the blodgett 1060 double stacked units (360 sq ft).