Commercial pizza ovens

There are five types of commercial pizza oven, namely:

Brick pizza oven: A traditional, wood-fired oven made of bricks or stone. It provides excellent heat retention and distribution, resulting in authentic, crispy pizzas with a slightly smoky flavour. The oven's high temperatures and radiant heat produce quick cooking times and impart a unique charred crust.

Conveyor pizza oven: Designed for high-volume pizza production, commercial conveyor pizza ovens feature a belt that conveys the pizzas through a heated chamber, allowing for continuous cooking. This belt speed can be adjusted to achieve the desired levels of crispness and doneness. Also known as a conveyor deck pizza oven.

Pizza deck oven: Consists of multiple baking chambers, typically made of stone or ceramic decks. These decks absorb and distribute heat evenly, creating a crispy crust and a moist interior. Easy to clean and long-lasting, they’re popular with pizzerias.

Convection pizza oven: Uses a fan to evenly circulate hot air, resulting in uniform browning and quick cooking times. Convection ovens can handle various types of pizzas, baked goods, and other menu items.

Countertop pizza oven: These are countertop versions of the deck, conveyor and convection ovens mentioned above. Compact and portable, they’re well-suited to small-scale operations or establishments with limited space, including food trucks and concession stands. Most are electric.

The following table shows you roughly how many pizzas each type of commercial pizza oven can produce:

Brick pizza oven

• 2-5 minutes cook time
• Approx. 80 pizzas per hour

Conveyor pizza ovens

• 4-5 minutes cook time
• Approx. 75-100 pizzas per hour, per deck

Pizza deck oven

• 6-8 minutes cook time
• Approx. 50 pizzas per hour, per deck

Convection pizza oven

• 5-6 minutes cook time
• Approx. 40 pizzas per hour, per chamber

Countertop pizza oven

• Similar cook time to their full-sized versions
• produce fewer pizzas than their full-sized counterparts

Pizza ovens are designed to reach high to extremely high temperatures, ranging from 200oC to — in the case of brick pizza ovens — as high as 480 oC.

These high temperatures cook the pizzas rapidly, typically within a few minutes, ensuring the crust achieves the desired crispiness while cooking the toppings to perfection.

The speed at which the ovens can cook pizzas means pizzerias and restaurants can keep up with high demand.

The below provides you with a general price range for the different types of commercial pizza ovens:

• Brick pizza oven - $15,000-$65,000
• Conveyor pizza oven - $2,500-$80,000
• Pizza deck oven - $1,000-$80,000
• Convection pizza oven - $1,000-$25,000
• Countertop pizza oven (conveyor, deck, convection) - $500-$3,000

As you can see, commercial pizza ovens can be expensive, and paying for them up front could put pressure on your business’s cash flow.

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The below describes the level of skill needed to cook pizzas in the different types of commercial pizza ovens:

Brick pizza oven

• moderate to high skill level
• Involves properly building and managing the fire, controlling the oven temperature, and positioning pizzas within the oven for even cooking.

Conveyor pizza oven

• low to moderate skill level
• Involves placing pizzas on the conveyor belt and setting the temperature and conveyor speed. Some adjustments may be required based on the specific pizza recipe and desired doneness.

Pizza deck oven

• moderate to high skill level
• Involves placing pizzas on the deck, monitoring the temperature and heat distribution, and rotating or moving pizzas as needed for even cooking.

Convection pizza oven

• low skill level
• Little to do except set the desired temperature and timer and place the pizzas in the oven. However, the additional settings or programming options in advanced models require more time to master.