Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of these

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Easygoer13

New member
I was wondering for those who have used a deck, rotating (roto-flex, Fish, Dalton, etc) or a Conveyor oven.

Which do you feel is the best overall…Is the trade-off of bake quality of the deck or rotating off set by the consistency and simplicity of the conveyor …

Which if you could start from scratch would you choose ?

Thank you for your input… 🙂
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

I use a conveyor at the my store. I have used wood burning ovens before as well. I prefer the conveyor. Its streamlines the kitchen, pizza in one side out the other and right to the boxing station.

I guess it also depends on if you have the option to build your kitchen or use one that’s already existing.
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

Started with Blodgett & Bakers Pride decks. Moved to conveyors (both XLT & Middleby) for about 8 or so years and now I have switched to Rotoflex. I wish I had never put those conveyors in. If I had it to do all over again I would have gone with a Rotoflex or Bakers Pride all the way.

In my opinion the conveyor puts out an inferior product. Not bad, just inferior.

We do about $20,000 per week through the Rotoflex and it keeps up just fine, plenty of room to be busier. Much quieter too.

I have never used a Fish oven, but everyone who I have talked to who does have one loves them.
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

Steve,

Thanks for the links…great information…
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes
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thepizza:
Started with Blodgett & Bakers Pride decks. Moved to conveyors (both XLT & Middleby) for about 8 or so years and now I have switched to Rotoflex. I wish I had never put those conveyors in. If I had it to do all over again I would have gone with a Rotoflex or Bakers Pride all the way.

In my opinion the conveyor puts out an inferior product. Not bad, just inferior.

We do about $20,000 per week through the Rotoflex and it keeps up just fine, plenty of room to be busier. Much quieter too.

I have never used a Fish oven, but everyone who I have talked to who does have one loves them.
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ditto for me…decks to conveyor, to air decks, to Roto-Flex…conveyors IN MY NORTHEAST OPINION will give you a CONSISTENTLY INFERIOR product

Love my Roto-Flex…could not do the volume without it
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

I know some very respected people here like the conveyors and feel you can get a great bake from them…but I still hear the little caveats…like almost or very close…I think the ovens like a roto flex or a fish give you the best of both…but I value the input of the experienced here who know in the real world how close they really are…
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

Hi guys:

This debate goes on and on. Its great fun.

Thirty years ago, or there about, all pizzas were baked on deck or revolving ovens.

Now the vast majority of pizza operations use the conveyor oven.

I personally switched hundreds of deck oven users to conveyor ovens. Virtually all of those were of the opinion that their pizza, that they took as much pride in as anyone, could not be baked to their satisfaction in a conveyor oven.

All operators for whom we demoed were there only to determine the quality of the product. The advantages of the conveyor oven were not what they were testing for, it was just the quality of the product.

I do not recall any situation where we were not able to bake the tester’s product to their most demanding requirements. These operators were not fools, they had set the highest posable standards for their pizzas. They all had loyal cliental that they were not going to alienate by compromising their product.

Once convinced that the conveyor oven could bake pizzas as good and some times better than their deck ovens, those that had the space and could make the substantial financial commitment to new conveyor ovens and the upgrading of their ventilation system did so.

All those who made the switch to conveyors enjoyed substantial increases in sales and reductions in operating costs. Sales went up because they could produce more of their high quality pizzas faster. Cost per pizza went down because of reduced labor cost and operating efficiencies.

The shops in small chains using conveyors became vastly more profitable and more and more ambitious people purchased franchises.

The above is not to say that every conveyor oven ever built can consistently produce superior pizzas. Their have been and still are conveyor ovens sold that were and are not equal to the task.

Another situation arose about 15, or more, years ago as used conveyor ovens began to appear on the market. There are a lot of old, purchased used, conveyor ovens out there that were never properly maintained, never properly rebuilt and never properly calibrated when installed used. Those units are usually producing a poor product.

I am not a baker or a pizza maker but Tom “The Dough Doctor” is at the top of those classifications. I refer you to his conclusions as to the ability of particularly a small group of the latest air impingement conveyor ovens to bake as good and often better than deck or other type ovens plus have all the advantages of th conveyor type ovens.

George Mills
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

Hey George,

OK…Lets say today’s conveyor oven (some) will with the right pans bake as good as a Rotating oven. Than what advantages does each hold over the other. I think it is fair to say that a conveyor will be the easiest to operate. Does one style typically have less maintence, is one more energy efficient. When representing your product what gives it the edge over a rotating. Oven. Volume or out-put should be close.
 
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Easygoer13:
Hey George,

OK…Lets say today’s conveyor oven (some) will with the right pans bake as good as a Rotating oven. Than what advantages does each hold over the other. I think it is fair to say that a conveyor will be the easiest to operate. Does one style typically have less maintence, is one more energy efficient. When representing your product what gives it the edge over a rotating. Oven. Volume or out-put should be close.
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George,

If you get the chance…Please share your thoughts…about what you see the advantages would be to a conveyor over a rotating oven…I asked a few questions in the above post…I do appreciate your insights…
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

I was hoping George or if someone else has the experience with knowing the advantages of a conveyor over a Rotating oven…Please share them…I would agree that a conveyor will be slightly easier to operate…but I am wondering about operating cost and maintenance…flexibility of what type of things you can bake…for example we may add sandwiches and if so would like to bake our own bread…can it be done with a conveyor…I am sure there are others things that can be considered…if anyone can offer any insights…Please share them and Thank you for taking the time…
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

Sorry Guys :kinda lost track of this topic:

The advantages of a conveyor oven are basically that it knows when the pizza is baked the way you want it and discharges the pizza at that time. No skill is involved,

I don’t know how someone operating a rotating oven putting pizzas in at different intervals on different decks can know the precise moment when the pizza is baked to perfection. That must be a highly trained person who can keep his attention riveted to the oven so that some pizzas do not make to many revolutions and some to few

As to operating cost,I have no figures on rotating ovens but you could simply compare BTU per hour for ovens of the same production capacity.If say both ovens could bake 120 of 15 in pizzas per hour the one with the lowest BTU rating would be the most efficient. The conveyor ovens can be stacked 3 or even 4 high so production could be well over 400 per hour. The electrical load would also have to be calculated to be exact.

As to maintenance the trend is to five year warranties for conveyor ovens so I guess the factory does not anticipate much maintenance.

You Mention baking bread. The tallest item that can pass through a conveyor oven is 4-in.So if you want to bake anything taller than that you need a different style oven.

Hope the above helps.

George Mills
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

Thank you George…I am not so sure I fully agree with you about missing a rotation or two…I mean if you don’t have have someone watching any oven can have problems…A conveyor can starting putting “perfectly” cooked pies right out an onto the floor if your not paying attention… 😉 …One thing about a Roto-Flex is you can do 24 18" pies at one time…so out-put is very productive and the Fish is not far behind…Please know I truly appreciate yours Tom and other owners thoughts on these ovens as I am just trying to make the best choice for my shop and I think that is sorta the key that there are probably several solid choices one can make and it comes down to your shop and what you want to achieve …Thanks again…
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

As far as missing a rotation or two having a impact on the pizza - it all depends on how hot you bake your pizzas. I run my Rotoflex at 520 and if we let the pizza go a few extra times around - no big deal, it is just a little more done. However, the hotter you cook the less forgiving it is.

One drawback with the Rotoflex is that while it is very capable of baking 24 18" pizzas at once, the challenge lies in getting them all out before you burn one, but this is only an issue if you load them all at the same time. We do 55 large pizzas every week for a school lunch, and we load 15 wait about 5 minutes then load 15 more and so on so they are staggered a little.

As far as training goes, it definitely takes more skill and attention to handle any deck oven, but within a few months I had about 50% of my crew able to handle the oven on a Friday night no problem. And it also gives them a sense of pride and purpose that they actually know a skill.

I disagree to a point about a conveyor putting out a perfect pizza every time. I believe this to be true if all you do is bake one size pizza with the same toppings every time. However in my years of experience in my own business and working for *ominos before, is that conveyor ovens have their own set of inconstancy problems. They simple can’t bake a 10" cheese pizza the same as an 18" everything. You still have to have some operator involvement to know when to put things back in a little longer or know when to slide things in a little further down the baking chamber. A lot of these problems can be solved with split belts and by having several ovens running at different temps.
 
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

I was just having some fun with George about missing a rotation or two…You brought up some good points about the conveyor…I think it comes down to what you want your shop to be and what path you want to take to get there. I am new and after doing some initial research ruled out the Conveyor’s. It was not until some respected people here on this board were touting their praises that I thought I needed to rethink them. I think for what I am looking to do…A rotating oven like the Roto-Flex or a Fish or perhaps a Baxter is what I will go with. I do appreciate the input form the experienced here, its been a big help… 🙂
 
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“Easygoer13” said:
Thank you George… if you don’t have have someone watching any oven can have problems…A conveyor can starting putting “perfectly” cooked pies right out an onto the floor if your not paying attention… :

Note:Conveyor ovens have a stop at the discharge end of the conveyor so that pies do not fall of.

GM
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Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

lol…but what happens to pies in the oven…My point was that any oven that goes unwatched could have problems…Again I appreciate your insight and opinion. I have come to the conclusion that there are several types of ovens that can work well, it just comes down to what you need for your shop and what price you are willing to pay to achieve the end result you seek. I think for me the added flexibility of rotating oven is swaying more to them than the pizza bake at this time.
 
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Easygoer13:
I have come to the conclusion that there are several types of ovens that can work well, it just comes down to what you need for your shop and what price you are willing to pay to achieve the end result you seek.
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You have come to the proper conclusion.

George Mills
 
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Easygoer13 said:
Re: Deck-Rotating or Converyor who has used 2 or all of thes

I was just having some fun with George about missing a rotation or two…You brought up some good points about the conveyor…I think it comes down to what you want your shop to be and what path you want to take to get there. I am new and after doing some initial research ruled out the Conveyor’s. It was not until some respected people here on this board were touting their praises that I thought I needed to rethink them. I think for what I am looking to do…A rotating oven like the Roto-Flex or a Fish or perhaps a Baxter is what I will go with. I do appreciate the input form the experienced here, its been a big help… 🙂
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So whatever happened with your oven purchase?
 
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So whatever happened with your oven purchase?
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The original poster has not been on the board since 2009 I doubt you will ever find out.
 
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