To Split Belt or Not to Split Belt...is the Question

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

so finally ready to pull the trigger on a double stack of Edge60 wide body ovens and wondering if you guys recommend to split belt at least one if not both. We have a ton of requests for well done, crispy, or lite cooked up here in CT and thought that this would help…also does this come in handy for slices or do you guys just use the window? We currently have an electric countertop Bakers Pride for just slices since our Rotoflex gets jammed up with pies and have no room for slices and were hoping to eliminate for better work flow when we switch to Edge

Speaking of Rotoflex I have a perfect working condition 4 deck that will be in use through the end of March here in CT if someone wants a GREAT deal let me know.

2

I vote “NO” unless you are busy enough to have both ovens on at all times.

Split belt is good in theory, but in practice (in a slow to moderate store) it leaves a lot to be desired. IMO.

3

thanks for the reply…busy store so both ovens will always be on. Probably need to add a 3rd one soon since we do have 100+pie hours during peak times which is why the Rotoflex cannot keep up, but I do not like the height of the lowest belt for practical reasons so we are gonna see if we can get by with only 2

4

I only have a 30" doublestack MM oven and we handle 100+ hours without a problem. We max out around 150 in theory anyways. In practice it is usually around 120 that we start backing up.

I have worked in a store that did 180+ pie hours with triple wide’s double stacked, and we never had any problems with those. For all the spciality requests on baking, we either just put a screen behind it for well done then told the guy on the end about it. For light bake we just put a screen in the spot next to the window, then loaded it thru the window once the opening came in.

5

I now have split belts in 2 of my shops. My shop in Louisville, CO has a double stack 360WB (40" belt) and we run the split belt during our rush when we need both ovens on to cook our Square Pan and wings (9:30) as during the day with 1 oven we just cook 1-1/2 times using the window.

In my busy Boulder shop we have a 3rd 570 with a split belt which is on always. I only see a reason for a split belt if it is like my case of a 3rd deck. We run 2 decks always in that shop. If we get a large order we can quickly speed up the belt and use it normal.

6

We use the split belt to save on energy during slow times. Instead of running a 5 minute oven to cook breadsticks/appetizers and one 10 minute for pizzas, we can go down to only one oven between lunch and dinner and during slower late nights. We can also switch over to 3 lanes at 10 minutes to cook a solitary large order instead of firing up the 3rd deck.

When we had our MM360, we would put the 5 minute items in through the window and not only did that make a mess, but the bake was slightly off as the items were skipping half the top impingement they would normally receive.