Buying A Pizza Oven

When I returned to Ahmedabad from New York, I decided to follow my passion for cooking and baking by starting my own restaurants. My love for pizzas led to both my restaurants focusing on pizzas.

At Cafe Soho, my main focus was on New York-style pizzas and I had considerable space limitations. I, therefore, opted for a double-deck stone oven. In my second restaurant Soho IL Forno, I planned to introduce Neapolitan pizza and Chicago style deep dish pizzas along with our original New York-style pizza. Here, space was not a limitation, so I went all nine yards and designed a 6.5” Brick oven which was pumping out the huge number of pizzas and other items. Of course, the dough had to be redesigned for each of the two outlets.

Pizzas are hugely popular all over the world. India is a young and fast emerging pizza market. Majorly pre-baked crust (base) is what local pizzerias use. In the past few years, restaurants have started using the fresh dough for their pizzas. With International pizza QSrbrands coming in and gourmet pizzerias opening in India, the pizza market in India is rapidly climbing upwards.

Dasrshan Rawal – Certified Pizzaiolo

Not surprisingly, many restaurants and cafes have pizzas among the fast-moving items on their menu. However, some restaurants do not buy the appropriate oven for the number of pies or type of pizza they produce. I have seen people installing expensive brick ovens in their restaurants and then using it at 175-250 degrees C. when their dough is not designed for the oven or they are using pre-baked crusts.

The selection of the pizza oven for a restaurant depends on factors like the style of pizza you propose to sell, the volume you expect to produce and sell, the space available for your oven, fuel you will use for production of pizzas, and your budget.

Style of Pizzas

There are many different kinds of pizzas across the world, from classics like the Neapolitan, Chicago Deep Dish, New York-Style Pizza, Sicilian Pizza, Detroit Pizza, St. Louis Pizza, Gramma Style to regional styles that have evolved to suit local palates.

There are also different types of pizza crust like pan, thin, stuffed and so forth. if you’re just opening your first pizza place or want to add a pizza oven in your restaurant, it is important to decide what style of pizza you want to serve. To give you an example if you are introducing New York-style pizzas, I would recommend a deck oven but Neapolitan pizzas require high temperatures so the brick oven is my top choice for such pizzas.

Expected Output

The number of pizzas you expect to sell, and therefore need to produce, should be considered when investing in a pizza oven. If you are a high volume pizzeria or QSR, the conveyor oven is your choice of oven.

For a café or multi-cuisine restaurant where pizza is just one section or item on the menu, I would recommend a deck oven – this is very versatile and can be used for bread, steaks, casseroles, pizzas, and bakes, thus ideal for establishments with a larger menu looking to serve plenty of food options. Deck pizza ovens can be used for gourmet style pizzas. There is a deck inside these ovens constructed usually of either metal, brick or stone, or ceramic tile, with heating elements on top and bottom. It is also easy to clean. However, their output is low and constant monitoring is required

For an Italian specialty restaurant where pizza is the main focus along with other menu items, the brick oven is the top choice as it bakes at high temperatures relatively quickly and produces the `gourmet’ crust. It adds to the beauty of the decor, has a high output and temperature capabilities, is easy to clean, and adds flavor and delightful texture to the pizza.

If you are a caterer you will be working on-site at various venues like wedding lawns, party plots, clubs and banquet halls. You should think of investing in portable gas-fired brick ovens as it will maintain the deck and air temperature for a long period of time, which is very crucial at outdoor locations.

A conveyor oven can produce 80 pizzas in an hour with a cooking time of four or five minutes. A deck oven can produce 50 pizzas in an hour with six to 10 minutes of cooking time. The brick oven can produce 80 pizzas with a cooking time of fewer than five minutes. A countertop can produce 25 pizzas. Convection 40 pizzas.

Fuel

Wood fire ovens are trending in India but it has it own challenges. First of all, you need an experienced person handling the oven. It requires regular maintenance, a person has to know the ovens hot and cold patches and can work with them, and it chews up lot of space in kitchen. Wood in kitchen always require some special attention

Wood and gas ovens are usually cheaper to operate in high volume establishments. Sometimes depending on the type of product and your output, electric conveyor oven can work too

If you require a brick oven, I recommend having it built by professional. Many companies makes brick oven which are good but too high priced. Building your own brick oven gives you more flexibility in size, looks and functionality. You can add your own personalized touch to your oven which connects you to the equipment and can go with the decor. Ready ovens are expensive but buying one makes life easier and saves time in starting your operations.

Space

If you have space constraints, it is worth thinking of a high-temperature deck oven or a free-standing small brick oven. I think deck ovens are the lowest in maintenance and more user-friendly for a beginner.

An eye to the future

The pizza market in india and the world is growing and evolving. New trends to follow are gluten free pizzas, vegan pizzas, exotic toppings, dessert and breakfast pizzas, various types of crusts such as cauliflower, oats and quinoa. The frozen pizza market is still untouched in India. Thus, a pizza oven is becoming essential equipment for hoteliers, restaurateurs and caterers.