Electric vs. Gas Deck Ovens

Q: Do you know the difference between this pizza and your opinion? A. I asked for the pizza.

Ok, ok, all jokes aside opinions are like… dough recipes… everyone has one, so how do you sort through all of that advice when you’re looking to make a new oven purchase for your pizzeria? Some simple facts from Pizza Equipment Pros may help you to decide whether an Electric Deck Oven is the right fit for your establishment.

Ask a room full of pizzeria owners and operators what the most important piece of equipment is in their establishment, and you will get a unanimous response that the Pizza Oven is the cornerstone of any Pizzeria. Now, ask them the best type of oven to bake in, and you are sure to hear people shouting, “Deck! Conveyor! Brick! Convection!” And if you really want to have some fun… ask them Gas vs. Electric, and you might end up with a full out brawl, as the debate is sure to get louder, longer and more heated.

So who do you trust? Where do you go to find the best research? Well, we here at Pizza Equipment Pros did a web search for Gas vs. Electric Pizza Ovens today, and we were up to our eyeballs in so many different opinions that we felt that it was time to set the record straight! We specialize in Electric Deck Ovens here, (it’s kinda our thing) and although yes… we know that this is just another opinion, but let us share with you the reasons why we think that Electric Deck Ovens, and more particularly our line of Cuppone Deck Ovens are the best ovens available on the market today.

In our opinion, the most important oven in the history of pizza making is the deck oven, there are more deck ovens on the market than any other type of oven, and that is because quite simply they have stood the test of time and offer the most reliable and also versatile options for pizza making. A Deck Oven allows an establishment to have a mixed menu with varying products and baking times that cannot be achieved in a conveyor oven. Our Cuppone Ovens are used all over the world to produce breads and pastries, grill veggies, cook meats, and to even make Indian Na-an bread, all in addition to serving pizzas. Several of our customers bake all of their focaccia and sourdough breads for sandwiches and grill their veggies in the morning, finishing with plenty of time to make pizzas the rest of the day!

Furthermore, deck ovens allow you to cook the largest variety of pizza types in the same oven, whereas convection and conveyor ovens have limited bake types that they can achieve. (see our chart below)

While Conveyor ovens require an unskilled labor set to operate the machines, many small chains and pizzerias prefer to use Deck ovens which allow you to give a personal touch to the pizzas (crispier or less baked crusts) and allows you to completely control and manipulate the product during the cooking cycle. Many pizzaiolos stand by the fact that pies baked directly on the deck of an oven produce crisper bottomed crusts and the Leopard-spotting that most consumers look for. Some will even go so far as to tell you that that contact with the deck of the oven makes for a better flavor and char and we’ve even gone so far as to having been told before at a café in Rome that it is a Cardinal Sin for a Pizzaiolo to move a pizza from its original stone in the oven until it is completely baked.

Opinion, opinions, I know… so how about some facts:

• Deck Ovens are versatile. You can bake breads, meats, veggies, deep dish pizza, and thin crust all in the same oven.
• Deck Ovens are less expensive to purchase and also less expensive to maintain. (Conveyor ovens also have to be disassembled to clean out, whereas deck ovens can be put on a cleaning cycle, and/or easily brushed out each night!)
• Deck Ovens are quieter. If noise is a factor, Deck Ovens, are a much better option than noisier conveyor ovens.
• Deck Ovens save space. Deck ovens require a much smaller opening for inserting pizzas, meaning that decks can be stacked one on top of each other to maximize a larger cooking capacity in a smaller space. The Cuppone Ovens such as our Cuppone Max oven stack up to 4 Decks high!

Moving on to the tough questions! Electric vs. Gas?

We here at Pizza Equipment Pro’s strongly believe in the energy efficiency and benefits of using an Electric Oven over a Gas Oven. Cuppone Ovens, which was founded in 1963, has been the leader in the electrical engineering and development of Electrical Ovens in Italy for oven 30 years. Electric ovens provide more even cooking surfaces and more consistent heat patterns than gas ovens. This means that Electric Ovens are also able to achieve much higher temperatures for baking to produce products more consistent in appearance, texture and taste to a traditional wood fired oven, but with the reassurance of complete safety and control of that heat. Electric ovens have two individually controlled upper and lower heating elements which allow for you to adjust top and bottom heating temperatures to achieve the optimal char or golden color that you are looking for in your pizza. Electric ovens are also great for older buildings, or cities with regulations on ventilation and zoning. Electric pizza ovens can be easily installed on any home countertop, in concession stands, and mobile units such as food trucks that don’t have easily accessible natural gas. As the industry is leaning towards creating more energy efficient products and greener technologies, more and more companies are creating electric versions of their gas oven models.

So now that you know about the different types of ovens, and a few of the benefits of an electric oven over gas, let’s get on to the important opinions… such as why you need to invest in a Cuppone Oven.

The Cuppone Electric Ovens are engineered with the best insulation materials available in the industry, meaning that maximum heat retention also results in minimal energy consumption and low operating costs. Don’t just take our word for it… we have had our ovens Energy Efficiency tested, and they have the highest yield of energy efficiency available on the market! Check out the test results from the Food Service Technology Center for our Cuppone Ovens!

Designed with integrated pyrolysis and economy functions; programmable cooking and cleaning settings, and daily and weekly timers, the Cuppone Ovens allow for pre-set functions to keep your oven running at its optimal levels during different parts of each day. The unique doors of the Cuppone Oven’s are built with panoramic double glass and an opening-closing system with compression springs, ensuring visibility of the product being cooked without altering the chambers heating temperature by opening the oven constantly. To further ensure that heat does not escape from the oven, our ovens are designed with a heat seal between the door and the cooking chamber as well as a heat recovery system that is integrated into the cooking chamber. The stone refractory bricks of the cooking surface are made of CORDIERITE, allowing for a perfectly browned and evenly cooked crust.

Most of the Cuppone Ovens also come with an optional Type ll Hood that is designed as a moisture and heat evacuating hood, and dependent on your kitchen floor print, and your counties regulations, a Type II Hood may save you thousands of dollars in ventilation costs.

So don’t just take our word for it… Don’t ask us for our opinion, ask us for your pizza! The only true way to know if a particular type of oven is the right choice for you is to test it out yourself, using your products, your techniques and your recipes. Who needs an opinion when you can see the real results? We welcome you to come to our Test Facility and Demo Kitchen in California and we will even extend to you a $1000 travel credit when you place your order for a Cuppone Oven with us. See for yourself just how amazing our Cuppone Electric Ovens are. For the full line of Cuppone Ovens and our other products, please visit us at www.PizzaEquipmentPros.com. For any questions or to request a quote please contact us at [email protected]