A professional pizza maker won't settle for anything less than the best commercial pizza oven. When you want the best-tasting pizza, a lot of the cooking process relies on a high-end oven that is able to reach high enough temperatures and meet your establishment's needs.

If you don't know the best pizza oven to buy, you will know after reading this article.

types of pizza ovens

How Much Does a Commercial Pizza Oven Cost?

Pricing is going to be a major consideration when choosing a pizza oven. You'll find prices vary greatly depending on the type of pizza ovens you choose and the fuel type. Commercial pizza oven brands have different prices.

You can find a good pizza oven in the $1,000 to $10,000 range, with countertop models offering similar pricing options.

Conveyor ovens can cost between $5,000 and $30,000 depending on size, capacity, and special features that may be available.

In general, if you want a good pizza oven that is new and able to withstand the rigors of a commercial pizzeria, you'll be spending between $5,000 and $20,000, depending on the overall size and pizza capacity.

You will also have to choose among the different oven types to find the right pizza oven for you.

Types of Pizza Ovens

You'll always find unique and different types of pizza ovens, but most commercial ovens will come in one of three types:

  • Triple Deck. A three-deck oven with the ability to cook up to 18, 12" pizzas at one time.
  • Double Deck. A two-deck oven with the ability to cook up to 12, 12" pizzas at one time.
  • Countertop Oven. A smaller option which saves on space and is a great option for smaller restaurants that only need to cook up to three pizzas at one time. If pizza is not your main attraction, a countertop oven is an affordable alternative to the options previously listed.
  • Conveyor Pizza Ovens. A popular option when massive quantities of pizza must be made routinely. These ovens make use of a conveyor belt system to rapidly cook and move the pizza from the oven to the customer's plate or a pizza box.
  • Brick Ovens. A popular choice, with many chefs and consumers believing that the brick oven produces the best-tasting pizza.

Most of the best commercial pizza ovens will be able to cook up to two pizzas at one time for a total cooking capacity of about 12 pizzas per hour.

Selecting the Best Commercial Pizza Oven

A commercial pizza oven temperature is one of the most important aspects of a pizza oven. The standard industrial pizza oven will have a temperature range of 400В°F to 700В°F - much hotter than a standard range.

Brick and wood fire ovens, often the most desirable in high-end pizzerias, can reach temperatures as high as 1000В°F.

Size

Size will be a major consideration for your restaurant. If you're well-known for your pizza or operating in a large city, being able to cook twelve pizzas an hour may not be enough. You may have a much higher demand for your pizza, and this is why many restaurant owners will have several ovens available.

There's also the benefit of having redundancy and a backup if one oven is out of commission and needs to be maintained or repaired.

  • Width. An oven's width will range between 18" and 78"
  • Depth. An oven's depth will be between 15" and 78"
  • Height. An oven's height will range between 8" and 66"

Your size requirements will depend on your restaurant's layout and demand for pizza. You may not need an oven with the largest width, depth and height if you only sell two dozen pizzas a night.

Fuel Type

You'll find that there are three main fuel types available:

  • Electric
  • Gas
  • Wood-fired
  • Dual fuel

A wood-fired oven is a special type of oven which will require you to continually add wood to keep the fire going. Chefs claim that the wood does provide a unique taste and offers a more traditional pizza than electric or gas.

Dual fuel options are available, which combines gas with wood. This allows for easier management of the fire-starting process and adds a delightful flavor to your pizza.

If choosing between gas and electric, there are a few things to consider:

  • Gas is a cheaper alternative and has fewer problems than electrical pizza ovens.
  • Electric is adaptable and available everywhere unlike gas.

When baking your pizza, electric and gas ovens will have different bake times. Electric ovens can take up to 30% more time to properly bake a pizza. You will have to adjust your cooking time when choosing electric. There's also the concern that you won't be able to bake the same number of pizzas per hour as you can with a gas oven.

Most Popular

A deck oven is the most popular choice and is available as a commercial electric pizza oven, too. Gas options are available. Both offer a deck made of tile or stone. The reason that so many restaurants choose the deck oven is that they offer:

  • The ability to bake six, 12" pies at the same time
  • Stack the ovens to increase their overall capacity

Deck ovens are a great option for a growing pizzeria that needs to be able to expand operations in the future.

You can always talk to the retailer and your chef to get the best recommendations for your restaurant.

industrial pizza oven

Commercial Pizza Oven Maintenance

If you're investing in a pizza oven, you'll need to know how to clean a commercial pizza oven and maintain it properly. You can't afford  the oven to breakdown and cause your sales to plummet.

You'll want to do the following to keep the oven up and running:

  • Have a routine technician come out to inspect the unit, make repairs and maintain it
  • Clean the interior of the oven daily 
  • Remove crumb trays and clean if using a countertop model

Conveyor Oven

Conveyor models should be unplugged before cleaning. You'll need to clean a conveyor pizza oven differently by:

  • Unplugging the unit
  • Remove the belt and spray with oven cleaner
  • Clean the fingers
  • Clean the interior of the oven
  • Allow all parts to dry and replace them all

Brick Oven

Brick ovens take a long time to cool down, so you will have to make sure enough time has passed before trying to clean the unit. Cleaning a brick oven will require you to:

  • Use a brush to remove off scraps and crust
  • Clean out any grease or debris
  • Use a scraper or long brush as necessary
  • Clean exhaust stacks monthly (hire a professional)

Pizza Deck Oven

A pizza deck will be cleaned similarly to the brick oven. You'll want to avoid using cleaning solutions because the pizza stone will absorb the solution, leaving your pizza with an odd taste. You also risk the pizza stone cracking when heated.

You'll want to:

  • Use a scraper or brush to remove stuck debris
  • Loosen up the ash
  • Clean the oven walls
  • Use an oven broom or hand brush to remove debris

Basic cleanings will keep your pizza tasting its best and allow you to maintain proper sanitization practices. You'll find that most ovens have a schedule on the side of the oven, which should be filled in to know when an oven was last maintained.

Aside from cleaning the intake fans and exhaust stacks, which may or may not exist on your machine, there's often very little maintenance required in a pizza oven.

Pizza ovens do come with cleaning and maintenance instructions which should be followed.

Owning a pizza oven does come with some responsibility, but these ovens can last years with little issues. You can choose between an array of sizes and fuel types to find an affordable, efficient pizza oven that's perfectly able to accommodate your business' operations, whether you're making three or a dozen pizzas at one time.