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Deck to Conveyor & making the switch. Sort of. Advice?

noreason said:
I’ll be honest, even after 50 years I couldn’t claim consistency during peak hours. I don’t think anyone who runs deck ovens could, unless you are low volume or run at a low temp.

When you have 4 ovens full at all times it just takes a large amount of skill. Hell, I might even say it’s completely impossible for most. You may have a really lucky shift one day but it’s only a matter of time before you’re going to over-bake one side from not turning a pizza, under cook or over cook a bottom, or just flat out burn a pizza. Some say it adds to the charm of deck oven pizzas, like wood or coal baked, but who knows.
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I agree with everything you say about deck ovens. We have been using them since the early 1980’s and I am the newer generation in my family and I look at the consistency and quality, and when the Poopoo hits the fan, its not there. I love using deck ovens, but i also dont like working 50 hours a week. I find its harder to train new workers on, it takes longer to cook the pizza (we run 550 and it takes about 8-10 minutes for a Large 16"). I am looking to switch for my store even though the franchise probably wont switch.

couple questions for you noreason:
  1. have you considered the dough recipe would have to change? (thats what i noticed from researching here. we use salt/sugar/flour/oil/water and yeast in our recipe. nothing else)
  2. What is the biggest pizza you make? we do 18" NY Style but honestly where i am at, everyone does 16" and 18" are a pain to stretch for the NOOBS.
 
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I agree with everything you say about deck ovens. We have been using them since the early 1980’s and I am the newer generation in my family and I look at the consistency and quality, and when the Poopoo hits the fan, its not there. I love using deck ovens, but i also dont like working 50 hours a week. I find its harder to train new workers on, it takes longer to cook the pizza (we run 550 and it takes about 8-10 minutes for a Large 16"). I am looking to switch for my store even though the franchise probably wont switch.

couple questions for you noreason:
  1. have you considered the dough recipe would have to change? (thats what i noticed from researching here. we use salt/sugar/flour/oil/water and yeast in our recipe. nothing else)
  2. What is the biggest pizza you make? we do 18" NY Style but honestly where i am at, everyone does 16" and 18" are a pain to stretch for the NOOBS.
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  1. For sure. My main concern is the recipe more than any other factor. I know the product won’t be the exactly the same in the end, but the pros of switching should outweigh the cons.
    We don’t use sugar now so I don’t feel we will have to adjust the recipe too much. Even if for some reason I have to completely change the recipe, In the end, I’m never worried to modify something to make it work right…
  2. We make 12", 14", 16". We use to make 20" for slices, but not anymore! Sometimes I wish we just made 14s.
 
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noreason said:
  1. For sure. My main concern is the recipe more than any other factor. I know the product won’t be the exactly the same in the end, but the pros of switching should outweigh the cons.
    We don’t use sugar now so I don’t feel we will have to adjust the recipe too much. Even if for some reason I have to completely change the recipe, In the end, I’m never worried to modify something to make it work right…
  2. We make 12", 14", 16". We use to make 20" for slices, but not anymore! Sometimes I wish we just made 14s.
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our 16" are weighed out at 24oz which is too much if you ask me, should be 22oz (will switch when we dump the 18") and we do a 26oz for the slice pies, cut into 8, about 19-20"…our specialty slices are 16" cut into 6 and that seems to work pretty good. we pretty much crush the specialty slices and we go through about 3-4 of the plain slice pies. we make about 15 pies to start including a thick Sicilian. But the 16" aren’t that bad to train someone to make, its when you go to the 18" that it just gets ugly sometimes. I dream of a day when thin spots no longer exists.

I am currently looking into the univex sprizza 40/50 to streamline the process and cut down on training and labor (average pay is $15/hour for a pizza man which with this machine should not go above 10/hour). They are working on getting me a demo unit as we speak and they will be coming out to one of our shops to test it with our dough and oven. Once I see what this machine can do, then I will look into the conveyor next. Trying to do my research now for when the time comes, so please keep me updated on your switch.
 
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How those Edge 60’s treating you? I’m on the cusp of taking over a new location, and currently they have CTX electric ovens in there which will not suffice.
 
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Thanks for the discussion and info.

I’ve narrowed it down to Edge 60, PS360G WOW2, or XLT 3255. I will call each company and see how it goes. I like the WOW2 and plus I’ve used MM for years with much success, the XLT 3255 with the attached hood sounds intriguing because I will need a hood for this project. The Edge 60 sounds great from what you guys have said. I’d appreciate any advice or comments, as it is I guess I’ll just call and get some pricing and see how it goes.
 
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pizzanow said:
Thanks for the discussion and info.

I’ve narrowed it down to Edge 60, PS360G WOW2, or XLT 3255. I will call each company and see how it goes. I like the WOW2 and plus I’ve used MM for years with much success, the XLT 3255 with the attached hood sounds intriguing because I will need a hood for this project. The Edge 60 sounds great from what you guys have said. I’d appreciate any advice or comments, as it is I guess I’ll just call and get some pricing and see how it goes.
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One of the things that led us away from the XLT with the good built in was the inability to put the pizza boxes on top of the oven to temporarily keep them hot while the rest of the orders food comes out. Just something to think about

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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pizzanow said:
Thanks for the discussion and info.

I’ve narrowed it down to Edge 60, PS360G WOW2, or XLT 3255. I will call each company and see how it goes. I like the WOW2 and plus I’ve used MM for years with much success, the XLT 3255 with the attached hood sounds intriguing because I will need a hood for this project. The Edge 60 sounds great from what you guys have said. I’d appreciate any advice or comments, as it is I guess I’ll just call and get some pricing and see how it goes.
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I have used all of those ovens at some point. Except the WOW2 Just have WOW
 
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I would like to add one other thing to keep in mind when transitioning from a deck oven to an air impingement oven and that is to make sure the top and bottom finger profiles are correct for YOUR product mix. This is not much of an issue when buying a NEW oven, but BE SURE to bring it up with the installer, where the issue is most frequently encountered is when purchasing a used oven or even a refurbished oven. Here at PMQ, a number of years ago I corresponded with a fellow here in the T.T. who was having a dickens of a time getting his (recently purchased used air impingement oven) to bake properly. No matter what he did, he got a poor quality bake on his pizzas. A quick call to the manufacturer revealed that his oven was originally built under contract for a major seafood restaurant chain (yes, seafood requires a different finger profile than pizza…VERY different I might add) so even though he bought what he thought was a used “pizza” oven, in reality it was a seafood oven. It took an additional investment of several hundred dollars to purchase the correct fingers to achieve a finger profile suitable for baking pizza. This occurrence prompted me to write an article on buying used ovens which was published in my “In Lehmann’s Terms” column in PMQ. If anyone wants to see the article it should be available through an archival search of my articles.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Really curious if you ever made the switch from a deck oven to a conveyor. I hear you loud and clear on all the issues with the deck oven and have thought about switching as well. Very hesitant.
 
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Al;so remember that the baking platform you use will also have a significant impact upon what you get out of your new air impingement oven. That’s why there are so many different baking platforms available, the trick is to find one that works best in YOUR oven to give you the pizza with the desired baked characteristics.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
 
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Jeremy said:
Really curious if you ever made the switch from a deck oven to a conveyor. I hear you loud and clear on all the issues with the deck oven and have thought about switching as well. Very hesitant.
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did it after much hesitation only to wish I did it years ago…business went up, headaches went down…no brainer!
 
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Here it is spring break and things are out of hand. I honestly forgot about it during the off season because this location does just fine with 4 decks.

Now we are 2 hours behind and losing out on an ungodly amount of orders. I had to disable online ordering it got so crazy. There was just no way and adding another double stack of ovens and 2 or 3 more skilled guys seems unrealistic.

Long story short, I’m pulling the trigger. I have to get this figured out before the summer business comes.

So, I’m in the market for at least a double stack or triple stack of (thinking about edge) ovens. Brand new. Should I contact them directly?

I could also really use some help on a redesign of my layout. I have some ideas but I’d love some advice because I’m only use to deck ovens which is a different flow for the most part. Not sure if George mills is still around? Any advice though is greatly appreciated.

Any advice and even solicitations would be appreciated! I’m tired of losing out on the potential business.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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noreason said:
Here it is spring break and things are out of hand. I honestly forgot about it during the off season because this location does just fine with 4 decks.

Now we are 2 hours behind and losing out on an ungodly amount of orders. I had to disable online ordering it got so crazy. There was just no way and adding another double stack of ovens and 2 or 3 more skilled guys seems unrealistic.

Long story short, I’m pulling the trigger. I have to get this figured out before the summer business comes.

So, I’m in the market for at least a double stack or triple stack of (thinking about edge) ovens. Brand new. Should I contact them directly?

I could also really use some help on a redesign of my layout. I have some ideas but I’d love some advice because I’m only use to deck ovens which is a different flow for the most part. Not sure if George mills is still around? Any advice though is greatly appreciated.

Any advice and even solicitations would be appreciated! I’m tired of losing out on the potential business.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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I was very happy with the deal I got through @George Mills. His price was a bit better than what I was quoted by Edge.
 
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After many years on decks, we’re seriously considering this decision too. But of course we don’t want to lose the crisp and special character of our pies from the deck. Are you still happy with your move to the Edge 60? Any advice about the drop in “special” quality of the crust would be much appreciated.
 
After many years on decks, we’re seriously considering this decision too. But of course we don’t want to lose the crisp and special character of our pies from the deck. Are you still happy with your move to the Edge 60? Any advice about the drop in “special” quality of the crust would be much appreciated.
 
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