Pizza ovens

The oven is the one piece of a pizzeria nobody compromises on. It sets your crust, your covers per hour and how many people you need on the pass. Four decisions cover almost every case.

Deck or conveyor — who is watching the pie?

A deck oven bakes on a hot stone floor with a chef reading the bake: better crust, more control, more skill required. A conveyor oven runs the pizza through on a belt at a fixed time and temperature — consistent whoever is on shift, and the right answer for delivery, chains and high-volume service where the queue never stops. Deck for craft, conveyor for throughput. If throughput is the question, look at conveyor pizza ovens.

Chambers and capacity

Deck ovens here run from compact single-chamber models up to two-chamber machines, with elongated formats for kitchens that need width rather than a second deck. Two chambers let you hold different temperatures — a hotter deck for margherita, a gentler one for loaded pies or focaccia — and double capacity without doubling footprint. Count your peak-hour pizzas, then size on that, not the daily average.

Electric or gas

Electric decks are the norm in city kitchens: simpler to install, precise to control, no flue for the burner itself. Gas suits sites where power is limited or gas is materially cheaper to run. Either way, check the supply before you specify — a two-chamber oven is a serious electrical load, and the answer is easier to find before delivery than after.

Plan the dough and the extraction at the same time

An oven is only half the line. Dough is the other half — see dough and flour processing for mixers, sheeters and prep. And every pizza oven needs extraction sized for it: ventilation is not the place to economise, because a hot line without airflow is a kitchen nobody wants to work in. For deck, bakery and other oven formats, start at ovens and bakery.