Conveyor or Deck ovens

[The_Fat_Boy]

was wondering what you guys use and how you feel about your equipment and pizza decision

I use conveyors 19oz for a 14" Large pie

was looking at a show tonight and saw all of the awsome looking NY style crust cooked on a deck or brick oven and was thinking of putting like a blodgett on top of my conveyor and addding NY Style pies what do you think

also if you do a NY Crust what are the % of water right now we use about a 53% water

 

[George_Mills]

Hi Fat boy.

If your existing oven is up to par with the new models you may not have to add an oven to get the product you want. Tom tells how to bake the same as a deck with out all the drawbacks.

Check the following quote from Tom Lehmann

“Any of the new, more highly efficient air impingement ovens Lincoln FastBake, XLT, PESI, or WOW, when combined with the Hearth Bake Disks, and set up correctly will bake a pizza as well as any deck oven will but with the added benefit of ease of operation and increased production capacity. I’ve been demonstrating this at the last few PMQ Pizza Shows with great success. So, to answer your question, yes, they will do a great job. Just make sure you combine it with the Hearth Bake Disks from Pizzatools.com and make sure the oven is set-up correctly for YOUR pizzas”.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor.

Our clients have equally good results using the XLT ovens. Many are satisfied with the results even without the special bake disks but that’s a matter of individual preferences.

George Mills

 

[Pizza_of_the_Month]

You are going to open up a can of worms asking that question. My personal opinion is that pizza was made to be baked on a brick.

 

[pizzatime]

You CAN NOT get the same results from a belt oven that you can from a deck…PERIOD!

Its all up to you. Define your market and go after them.

 

[Charles]

pizzatime:

You CAN NOT get the same results from a belt oven that you can from a deck…PERIOD!

That’s true. With an impingement oven you have much more flexibility to make a better pizza. A deck oven is really limited to lower volume production of New York style or Napoleon style, both of which are easily done in an impingement oven with disks.

So we can go all day with this argument and I doubt many will change their mind. The deck verses conveyor argument has been bickered to death to no productive purpose.

Come up with a business plan and decide which oven fits your budget, productivity goals, and pizza style. There is no “best” oven other than the one that meets your needs.

If you go to the Practical Pizza Production Technology course at AIB in October, you can try out several different ovens and decide which you prefer.

 

[UncleVic]

Deck ovens all the way! (Blodgett is my choice, followed by Bakers Pride). I’ve worked with conveyors before, but you just don’t get that perfect crust. That and you have love put into your pie when baking in a deck oven, vs. putting it on an assembly line style cooker.

 

[Pizza_of_the_Month]

UncleVic:

Deck ovens all the way! (Blodgett is my choice, followed by Bakers Pride). I’ve worked with conveyors before, but you just don’t get that perfect crust. That and you have love put into your pie when baking in a deck oven, vs. putting it on an assembly line style cooker.

I used Blodgett for years then switched to this last year:
http://www.veroforno.com/ovens.html The 4 deck model.
My customers are amazed at the quality of the crust now.
And the savings in utilities has paid all my payments!

 

[UncleVic]

Pizza of the Month:

UncleVic:

Deck ovens all the way! (Blodgett is my choice, followed by Bakers Pride). I’ve worked with conveyors before, but you just don’t get that perfect crust. That and you have love put into your pie when baking in a deck oven, vs. putting it on an assembly line style cooker.

I used Blodgett for years then switched to this last year:
http://www.veroforno.com/ovens.html The 4 deck model.
My customers are amazed at the quality of the crust now.
And the savings in utilities has paid all my payments!

Thanks for the info there. Wow, 6 minute cook time… What temp does this run at? Or is it a convection type deal?

 

[royster13]

I have no comment on the type of oven except to say make sure you have enough oven…When you can not get orders out in a “reasonable” time you have a problem…And make sure you gauge “reasonable” based on your customers opinions, not yours…You may think an hour wait is just fine but your customers may not…

 

[Pizza_of_the_Month]

[/quote]

Thanks for the info there. Wow, 6 minute cook time… What temp does this run at? Or is it a convection type deal?
[/quote]

The oven can go up to 560.

 

[George_Mills]

Pizza of the Month:
Thanks for the info there. Wow, 6 minute cook time… What temp does this run at? Or is it a convection type deal?
[/quote]

The oven can go up to 560.
[/quote]

Six minutes is not exceptionally fast; In fact many of our chain accounts who prefer slower bake times have to keep after their franchisees who start getting well below that to up production. Some are at 4 minutes.
George Mills