Nothing brings a family together quite like a giant pizza pie. Odds are, every birthday, family function, or Superbowl party you’ve ever been to has been filled with cheese and pepperoni.
In order to make each pizza as crispy and delicious as you like, different style pies are made using different types of pizza ovens. So what are these different industrial ovens?
- Brick oven: Brick ovens have been used for cooking pizza since it was first created. Because they are typically nothing more than four walls and a chimney, they don’t need the more advanced equipment such as gas valves or industrial burners. Brick ovens are good for thin crust pizzas that can cook quickly and evenly.
- Deck oven: Deck ovens are not only popular for making pizzas, but can commonly be seen in use at the roughly 6,000 residential bakeries around the country. Typically, commercial ovens are either powered by natural gas burners (55% to 60%) or electricity (40% to 45%). Deck ovens can be made to use both gas valves and burners or electricity depending on a company’s needs.
- Conveyor or revolving ovens: These are the ideal oven for any company that needs to make many pizzas in a short span of time. They typically have a large amount of space inside and are constantly moving the ingredients to evenly distribute heat. Revolving ovens are large enough to fit anywhere from eight to 32 pans of food. As they turn, the cook can simply remove or put in pizzas as they pass by.
- Commercial convection oven: What makes convection ovens unique is that they use a fan to actively circulate the hot air inside. This allows the heat to distribute evenly to create a consistent temperature. This also reduces any patches of cold air in the oven allowing the food to cook quicker.
Each type of oven has its own advantages, but gas valves, burners, and coils are all making America’s favorite party food. Next time you order a pizza, take a guess at which oven was used to make it.