Real pizza, juicy and aromatic, on the thinnest test with a crispy crust can be prepared using the best traditions and recipes of Italy, using the company pizza oven. The choice of thermal equipment for the kitchen is wide enough. What type of oven in terms of productivity and cooking methods will achieve perfection in the taste of the famous product?
Types of furnaces
With all the variety of recipes and methods of making pizza, two more well-known types of it are conventionally distinguished - Italian and American. When preparing each of them, it is necessary to observe a certain number of rules. This applies not only to the method of manufacturing the workpieces and to the ingredients, but also to the ovens in which the pizza is baked.
Among the professional kitchen equipment, to increase the efficiency and automation of processes in the kitchen, mainly in the networks of restaurants and cafes, the main types of stoves are offered: wood, so-called Pompeii, electric and gas. Also, furnaces are classified according to the principle of their work on the hearth and conveyor.
Before making a purchase, experts strongly advise you to think through all the details, since the correct choice of the type of oven will affect the quality of the prepared dishes and the organization of the staff.
Wood stoves
A classic and also the best option is considered to be a wood-burning pizza oven, also called Pompeian. Its design was developed on the Apennine Peninsula and was a half-open hearth, which was used exclusively for cooking food. The stove is somewhat similar to a fireplace and consists of a hearth, which is usually made of fireclay bricks or natural stone, and a dome or arch created in the form of a hemisphere from narrowing brick rows. Such a wood-burning pizza oven withstands high temperature loads, inside it heated air masses circulate from the bottom up, which ensures fast and high-quality cooking. This process of preparing pizza takes about 3 minutes, while the oven temperature is 350-400 ° C.
As fuel, fuel briquettes, charcoal, hardwood firewood are used. It takes 40 to 60 minutes to warm up the oven, during which time the temperature in it reaches 500 ° C. Then the burning fuel is pushed to one of the walls of the furnace to ensure uniform movement of thermal masses. The finished layer of pizza is laid directly on the under the oven and during cooking, turn it with a specially designed shovel for the most even baking.
Classification of wood stoves
A wood-burning pizza oven has been used since ancient times. It is considered the invention of the Italians, but similar household appliances were used by both the ancient Egyptians and the Turkic peoples. This is the most classic way to prepare the prototype of pizza - tortillas with filling, as well as home-flavored bread and other dishes. And today it is believed that real pizza can only be cooked in a wood-fired oven. Only now it has several variations and is classified by the method of delivery, installation and capacity.
Pizza oven available assembled and disassembled. The latter option is convenient for installing it in a certain room. It is mounted and sheathed already in place by professional craftsmen.
According to the type of installation, the ovens can be ready-made and have a finished look, mobile, installed on special trailers and used on outings and other events, as well as built-in, usually made to order in a particular hall of a pizzeria, restaurant or other institution. The capacity of this kitchen equipment may be different and depends on the type of institution, its capabilities. Small cafes order small ovens that are designed to cook simultaneously four pizzas with a diameter of 35 centimeters. To increase the efficiency of processes in the kitchen, medium-sized ovens are used to cook up to 10 pizzas, and large ones from 12 or more.
Advantages and disadvantages
Perhaps not a single stove can achieve such a quick effect as a wood stove. In just a couple of minutes you get a ready-made pizza, wrapped in a special aromatic smoke, giving its taste a unique piquancy. Yes, and according to experts, real pizza comes out only in a wood-burning oven, where it is baked over an open fire.
The beautiful appearance of the equipment allows you to set the oven directly in the hall with visitors who can watch the quite spectacular process of preparing your favorite dish. Such a furnace does not require energy, gas and has an affordable price range.
However, the type of fuel used cannot be called cheap, especially taking into account the time required to heat up the furnace. Its dimensions are also not always convenient. For a long time, the main of the shortcomings was also considered open fire, but thanks to the use of a hydraulic filter over the furnace, today this is no longer a problem.
When choosing a wood-burning stove, experts advise paying attention to its model, installation method, and emission indicators of combustion products. The price issue largely depends on the choice of equipment. This can be either an economical option, or a stove with a rather expensive decorative design with tiles or mosaics.
Hearth furnaces
If the stove is not purchased for an expensive restaurant, but for a more modest establishment, experts advise buying a kind of analogue of a wood stove, in which gas and electricity play the role of fuel. This is a hearth pizza oven. According to professionals, this is a more economical option, giving the opportunity to vary the ingredients and baking time.
The name "hearth" is due to the ceramic hearth inside the equipment. The principle of preparation is based on heating elements installed inside the working chamber, having the form of tubes. They glow under and on top of the chamber. This is a kind of analogue of a wood-burning stove, only in the form of fuel gas or electricity is used here.
Heating the furnace to 250 ° C is set using a temperature regulator. Pizza is cooked for about 8 minutes. Such furnaces can have either one or several tiers, which significantly affects productivity. Multi-tier stoves allow you to save space in the room and increase efficiency in the cooking process.
Hearth classification
Hearth stoves are classified according to capacity in the same way as wood stoves. By the number of levels, they can be one-, two- and three-level. By the type of food, their electric and gas types are distinguished.
Pros and cons
The main advantages of such industrial devices are small dimensions and low power consumption. Hearth furnaces differ in the internal volume of the chambers, which also serves as their advantage. You can choose a model for a certain pizza size, calculate the productivity of the oven depending on the seats in the pizzeria, etc.
The only thing, based on the reviews and expert advice on equipping pizzerias with technological equipment, it is important to pay attention when buying a hearth furnace to the inner lining of the chamber and to the quality of the hearth. With insufficient thickness, which is often found in low-cost models, ceramic sector plates are loosely fitted. This significantly affects the quality of baking. Pizza turns volglo and often burns.
Experts recommend more expensive models of hearth furnaces, in particular Cuppone furnaces. This Italian company produces equipment with a camera made of a material that imitates stone, which allows you to bake excellent pizza. Experts unanimously advise against saving on the stove, since the future success of the institution depends on it. They also recommend paying attention to groups of heating elements (heating elements), separate adjustment of their temperatures.
The indisputable advantage of multi-tier furnaces is the ability to continue working in case of failure of one of the tiers until the arrival of the service or until the replacement of the necessary spare parts. Expert reviews say that this is an important advantage and, despite the sufficient performance of even one chamber hearth furnace, it is advised to immediately purchase two-chamber equipment.
The ovens are specially equipped with heat-resistant glass, which is very convenient for monitoring the baking process. Under the ovens, there can be either an upper or a lower one; a rather convenient solution of the front wall and control is provided.
These advantages make this pizza oven quite popular. Price Such equipment is also one of the advantages, since it differs significantly from wood stoves. Depending on the model, the availability of levels, the country of manufacture, it varies from 20,000 to 260,000 rubles.
Among the shortcomings of the oven, low thermal protection and the likelihood of pizza sticking when laying it directly on under the apparatus are noted.
Conveyor ovens
In large pizzerias or in a network of pizzerias, a conveyor oven has become quite popular. For pizza, a container is provided in it, into which it is launched from one side and the finished one is already taken from the other. On average, the temperature range from 220 ° C is used in the chamber. Heat flows are distributed in the system automatically, preventing pizza from burning out. It takes about 8 minutes to cook.
Unlike wood and hearth stoves, conveyor appliances use convection heating rather than direct infrared heating.
According to expert reviews, conveyor ovens are indispensable equipment for a network of pizzerias, especially those located in a busy place. With a constant flow of visitors, it is simply necessary to comply with such a basic requirement as obtaining products that are unified by type, type, size, and amount of filling. Conveyor furnaces are excellent at this task, which only needs to be programmed for each specific type of product.
Classification of conveyor ovens
Conveyor ovens feature high performance. Small equipment per hour can produce 12 ready-made pizzas, average - up to 20 pizzas. Large ovens respectively produce over the same time from 20 dishes.
By type of power, like hearth furnaces, they are gas and electric. And according to the method of their installation - floor and table.
What are the advantages and disadvantages
Among the advantages of conveyor ovens are uniform heating and baking, high productivity. Among the shortcomings of the equipment, its large dimensions, high cost and high power consumption should be noted.
Of all the known types of furnaces, work on conveyor equipment from pizza makers does not require special professionalism. This is the easiest pizza oven. Its electric model is considered more practical and does not require gas supply. However, gas stoves are considered more economical.
How not to make a mistake in choosing?
When choosing a set of necessary equipment, experts advise paying special attention to the furnace. It is quite difficult to choose its capacity correctly, therefore it is so important to think over the planned flow of visitors, the size of the pizza and its type, type of sales - whether the pizza will be prepared to order or served directly in the hall.
The main thing, according to experts, choosing a pizza oven, to build on the concept of the institution. For the economy class, fast food there is no reason for special concern. If we are talking about a good restaurant, then it is necessary to select the equipment corresponding to its class.
Next, you need to decide on the type of pizza. For American and Canadian pizzas, equipment with low temperature conditions is suitable. For classic Italian pizza, the equipment is selected with high modes, which are provided, for example, by wood-burning stoves. But do not forget that they require considerable skill pizza. The baking process in such ovens is short, but requires special attention, dexterity, the ability to maintain fire and knowledge of other nuances of pizza production.
A more individual approach to the choice of the country of manufacture. Pizza ovens are made almost all over the world. Many restaurateurs traditionally prefer Italian manufacturers, among which the most popular are Morello Formi, GAM, Frosty, Pizza Group, GGF, Apach, OEM, Sirman, Fimar, Pavesi and others.
Expert reviews say that it is always better to give preference to high-quality equipment from world famous manufacturers, which are also time-tested. So, for example, for seasonal cafes, restaurants that have pizza in the assortment of their dishes, the ideal solution will be the Gam pizza oven. The compactness of the models of this brand allows you to save kitchen space, as well as install equipment directly in the hall, baking pizza in front of customers.
According to professionals, German manufacturers Mastro, Bartscher, American Lincoln, Baker Pride, Turkish SGS, Euro Gastro Star, OZTI, Bartscher do a good job.
Own "pizzeria" in the garden
Nowadays, you can see many excellent examples of the successful location of the outdoor cooking zone in private houses and cottages. Here you can cook kebabs, fresh bread, various dishes in pots and, of course, pizza. To create such a zone, they resort to the help of professionals, and often, using the instructions and video materials on the sites, they create a pizza oven with their own hands.
The most common option is a clay oven. To create it, you need to think through the dimensions, calculate everything clearly and start preparing the foundation. The furnace itself is made of refractory material - adobe, fireclay bricks. The assembly of the arch can begin with an arched opening of reclaimed red brick and clay-sand mixture. Particular attention is paid to the hood in the oven.
Advice and recommendations for the construction of a clay furnace can be found in the book of the most famous builder of such equipment Kiko Denzer “Build Your Own Earth Oven”.