Peerless C131 counter top deck ovens

[ByTheSlice]

Anyone have experience with using this oven? I’m looking to open a low volume mobile pizzeria and think two of these could do the trick.

Thanks
Dan

 

[George_Mills]

Hi Dan:

As you intend a mobile unit I assume you intend to heat your ovens with propane.

From the configuration of this oven there is heat only under one deck, the bottom one, the other 3 decks will not be hot enough to bake pizza properly. Deck type ovens need heat applied directly to the underside of each deck.

George Mills

 

[ByTheSlice]

Thanks for the reply George.

Do you have experience cooking with this oven?

 

[George_Mills]

Thanks for the reply George.

Do you have experience cooking with this oven?

I am not a food service operator, I am an equipment supplier.

I have had contact with thousands of operators who do use various types of equipment and I distill and present the consensus of their experiences as they relate them to me.

To properly bake a pizza a large amount of heat should be applied to the bottom of the product.

I see no heat applied directly to the bottom of the top three decks of the unit in question.

I have never seen that unit in service. I have encountered similarly constructed units and all the users I spoke to regretted buying that style oven.

George Mills

 

[ByTheSlice]

Thanks again George for the great reply. I see what you’re saying. Peerless has a test kitchen about an hour from me so I might go try one of these out to see for myself before any cash is spent. Do all of the smaller counter top ovens suffer from this same problem or are there any you would recommend taking a closer look at. Ofcourse with the Peerless the pricing is very attractive but I still want the best bake possible. Just some back ground info, my pizzas will be 16’’ in size with four toppings max including chesse. Not sure if thats going to make a difference.

 

[George_Mills]

Thanks again George for the great reply.

Do all of the smaller counter top ovens suffer from this same problem or are there any you would recommend taking a closer look at.

Response:

Please indicate how many pizzas you hope to bake during the busiest hour of your busiest day?

When I know that I will make some recommendations.

George Mills

 

[ByTheSlice]

Busiest hour of my busiest day would be 12 16’’ pizzas.

 

[Daddio]

ByTheSlice:

Busiest hour of my busiest day would be 12 16’’ pizzas.

I am not sure where you plan on using your mobile unit but I have a feeling that your estimate is low. I set up a concession stand at small outdoor concerts and sell about 130 slices an hour for the busiest hour.

 

[George_Mills]

Hi Dan:

I am a bit confused. You were contemplating purchasing two ovens with a total of eight decks but you only hope to sell 12 pizzas during your busiest hour?

I assume you are planing on selling other items? Any others that you will process using the oven>

George Mills

 

[ByTheSlice]

Daddio:

ByTheSlice:

Busiest hour of my busiest day would be 12 16’’ pizzas.

I am not sure where you plan on using your mobile unit but I have a feeling that your estimate is low. I set up a concession stand at small outdoor concerts and sell about 130 slices an hour for the busiest hour.

I wouldn’t be surprised if my estimate was low. I’ve based my number on projected sales needed for the bussiness to be successful and for me to make a modest salery.
I do plan on doing small local outdoor concerts though. I’d love to hear more about your pizza concession business daddio!
George Mills:

Hi Dan:

I am a bit confused. You were contemplating purchasing two ovens with a total of eight decks but you only hope to sell 12 pizzas during your busiest hour?

I assume you are planing on selling other items? Any others that you will process using the oven>

George Mills

I also plan on selling steak hoagies that I would cook using the ovens. If you read my reply to Daddio you’ll see why I came to the number I used. I figured at the price peerless is selling their ovens at have eight decks instead of four was a no brainer and worked with the $$ I have set aside for start up.

I’m a sponge for knowledge so please set me straight if I am being ignorent with my estiments.

Thanks
Dan

 

[George_Mills]

Hi Dan:

As your story unfolds the Peerless unit appears better.

You could, if your volume is low, bake pizza only on the bottom shelf and use the other decks for sandwiches that do not require extreme bottom Heat.

George Mills

 

[bouldercreekpizza]

Hi Dan,
I have been operating a mobile pizza business for 14 years. The type of oven partially depends upon the type of pizza dough you are planning on using. For many years we par baked our crusts with a braided edge. We cooked them in Castle Comstock PO18 ovens with 3 stones per oven. These ovens are similar in size to the peerless. Since the dough is par baked, you do not need heat under each stone. The par bake method works great for concerts as you can sauce and top a stack of pizzas, let them sit until you need them. You won’t get a gum line like fresh dough would develop. Also, the pizzas cook faster as you don’t have a wet dough cooling the oven down. The problem with par baked pizza is that the quality isn’t as good as freshly cooked dough pizzas-in my experience. Recently, we have been using fresh dough with Castle Comstock po26 ovens(for small shows) and xlt3870 ovens for larger shows. You can use 2 stones in the oven. The bottom shelf to brown the crust, the top shelf to brown the cheese. I have 7 old Comstock Castle Pizza ovens Model PO18 that I might sell at some point, but they have a thin stone and are really only good for par baked crust pizzas. Let me know if you have any other questions about the mobile pizza experience.
Tom

 

[ByTheSlice]

bouldercreekpizza:

Hi Dan,
I have been operating a mobile pizza business for 14 years. The type of oven partially depends upon the type of pizza dough you are planning on using. For many years we par baked our crusts with a braided edge. We cooked them in Castle Comstock PO18 ovens with 3 stones per oven. These ovens are similar in size to the peerless. Since the dough is par baked, you do not need heat under each stone. The par bake method works great for concerts as you can sauce and top a stack of pizzas, let them sit until you need them. You won’t get a gum line like fresh dough would develop. Also, the pizzas cook faster as you don’t have a wet dough cooling the oven down. The problem with par baked pizza is that the quality isn’t as good as freshly cooked dough pizzas-in my experience. Recently, we have been using fresh dough with Castle Comstock po26 ovens(for small shows) and xlt3870 ovens for larger shows. You can use 2 stones in the oven. The bottom shelf to brown the crust, the top shelf to brown the cheese. I have 7 old Comstock Castle Pizza ovens Model PO18 that I might sell at some point, but they have a thin stone and are really only good for par baked crust pizzas. Let me know if you have any other questions about the mobile pizza experience.
Tom

Thanks Tom,

I’m planning to have a new york style crust. I plan to use a press to shape the pies . From what I understand the dough press machines have a heated upper deck that helps to stretch the dough and gives you a some what par baked dough in the process.There will no doubt be some tooling around with things till I find what I like dough handling wise. I take it your happy with the Castle brand if you’ve been using them the better part of 14 yrs.

Thanks again
Dan

 

[bouldercreekpizza]

We make a NY style crust and played around with a press but found it did not work well with our recipe. It seems a press is better for thicker style crust. NY crust is thin and we use a combination of hand stretching and rolling pins. The comstock castle ovens are ideal for concession operations as they are relatively light and compact. The newer castle ovens are built much better than the older models. I looked at the peerless ovens when upgrading from the older style castle but if I remember correctly, the castle ovens are deeper and allow us to make a 22" pie. To get the deep crust browning of a NY pie, we start the pizza on a disc and then slide it off as soon as the pizza has firmed up enough. When the crust is sufficiently brown, the pizza goes on the top shelf to finish the cheese and toppings.

 

[Patriot_sPizza]

the use of a traditional dough press will not aid you in making a par-baked crust…it will only help you stretch the dough…

But, you can use it & truly par-bake your crusts ahead of time…there are tricks & techniques available to make a par-bake mimic the taste/look of a fresh bake…search the archives here…

 

[ByTheSlice]

I finally spoke to a peerless rep to ask some questions. He claimed a 10 degree difference between bottom and top stones. He said the oven has blowers that move the heat around to ensure even bake. Also said back time is between 5 to 12 minutes for a 16’’ pie to cook. He passed my number along to Brian the owner to contact me. Apparently brian has sold several of these units to mobile/trailer operations.

 

[bouldercreekpizza]

Hey bytheslice,
I took a few pictures of our mobile setup this past weekend and will PM them to you when I find the camera download cord.
I looked at the schematic of the gas c131 and see no electricity requirements therefore no fan. Is the fan some kind of option? Perhaps Peerless will give you the number of the mobile food concession operators and you can get their opinion.
I’m skeptical that the top stone will maintain heat and brown the crust like the bottom stone. With the Comstock Castle ovens I use, if the pizza is cooked entirely on the top shelf, even without a screen, it will not get crispy-period. I listen for the sound when my helpers cut the pizza. If no crispy crust sound, it goes back onto the bottom shelf without a screen/disc.
Sometimes sales reps don’t know their product or will tell you what you want to hear to make the sale.
Best, Tom

 

[ByTheSlice]

Thanks Tom, I look forward to the pics. I’m hoping he’ll give me numbers I can call and talk to people who use these ovens on a regular basis. Maybe I misunderstood but I swear he mentioned fans. They are fairly new to carrying Peerless so maybe he’s not explaining the best way.