Pizza Ovens
The aim of all commercial pizza ovens is to quickly cook a pizza evenly, in other words the center of the pizza is as cooked as the edges.
The commercial pizza oven is the heart of the pizzeria, and are used in a large number of restaurants. They make baking pizzas convenient and quick while keeping that authentic taste.
There are many benefits of having a pizza oven. They are designed to be wide and usually have one or two levels. Some are wide enough to cook up to four pizzas at a time, a necessity to some businesses. Most pizza ovens come with a few different sized pizza tins, usually ranging from 8 inches to around 16 inches. You will also need to buy a shovel as pizza ovens are not tall and the pans will become very hot. Most will have temperature dials and some are fitted with timers. Your pizza oven can either be powered by gas or electricity, depending on your cooking needs. The gas pizza oven uses natural gas or propane to produce its heat, the gas option is more suited to commercial use of the oven as they cook faster than electric ovens. Electric pizza ovens have coils that heat up the air inside the oven.
One important thing to consider when choosing a commercial pizza oven is the baking deck. Most professional pizza chefs would tell you that a stone or ceramic baking deck give the most authentic taste. The stone surface absorbs moisture from the pizza base and reduces fat content, also the stone baking deck retains heat longer than a ceramic one. The pizza oven should have the options to bake, toast and keep warm. The pizza oven can also be used to reheat foods and can be used to cook bread, baguettes and rolls. Pizza ovens are incredibly easy to clean and are compact in size. They are an essential tool for any pizzeria or Italian themed restaurant.
Type of Commercial Pizza Oven
There are several types of pizza oven and a number of well known pizza oven manufacturers.
These include:
- The standard pizza oven
- Brick pizza ovens
- Wodd burning pizza ovens
Pizza Oven manufacturers include:
- Blodgett
- Deck
- CB
About Pizza
The modern version of pizza is believed to have been invented by Raffaelle Esposito in the 1800s. Raffaelle owned a tavern called the Pizzeria di Pietro e Basta Cosi in Naples. The legend is that Raffaelle prepared a dish for the visit of the King Umberto and Queen Margherita of Savoy. Deeming garlic to be too crude for the royal palate he created a dish using basil, tomato and mozzarella cheese – the three foods providing the colours green, red and white, which now form the Italian flag. The royals enjoyed the dish and it quickly became famous in the region. Pizza spread to parts of the USA that had large Italian immigrant populations.