Before we look at which is the most suitable oven let’s understand how an oven works. The oven is designed to create heat in order to bake. Pizza and bakery products are baked by 3 different elements:
– Conduction: is the heat which comes from the bottom of the oven.
– Convection: is the air inside the cooking chamber.
– Radiation: is the heat coming from the flame or the walls of the oven.
Once the pizza or the bread is placed in the oven, the heat spreads from the oven environment inside through the surface and onto the food being cooked. This is a heat transmission called CONVECTION.
In addition, the heat comes from the flame or refractory mass towards the inside of the food This is called transmission by RADIATION.
Finally, from the oven floor, the heat propagates towards the base of the food. This is a heat transfer process called CONDUCTION.
In the product, a temperate content is created with a maximum of 100°C. In this phase there is a movement of molecules of water from inside to out, which goes to the surface and evaporates.
At the end of the baking process the water molecules that evaporate decrease causing the pizza to have a rapid increase in temperature in particular on the surface (now free of water molecules which have evaporated). This causes the formation of the crust. The crust becomes thicker as this cooking phase continues. If the water content disappears completely the pizza colours and eventually burns.
In short: during the baking process we extract water from the pizza. The product temperature is always lower than 100°C, but this depends on the size of the dough of the pizza and therefore on the weight and thickness (e.g. Neapolitan style or Focaccia). If it only reaches 70-75°C inside the product, with their characteristics that we know.
Electric deck ovens have been around for a long time and were once extremely popular among those wanting to cook stone baked pizza and have had to up their game in recent years to compete with the rise in the more traditional ovens that sit in the front of the restaurant. Originally used for thin and crispy pizzas, several manufacturers have risen to the challenge of producing an oven that can cook evenly, at high temperatures and recover quickly during peak demand.
A few have gone further and designed an oven that is powered by electric and cooks Neapolitan style pizza just like a wood oven, they have made it attractive so that it can sit in the front of the restaurant. Of course it also has the advantage of requiring a less elaborate or expensive extraction system.
In most cases the oven consists of a rectangular cooking chamber which generates heat from electric elements on the top and bottom of the oven these can be separately controlled in order to control the balance of the heat inside.
With more and more restaurants finding it hard to be able to cook with wood or gas due to the requirements of the smoke and fumes they need to extract, it may be that the Electric Oven will find itself back in favour once again.
Be aware though: when choosing an oven there are so many available and the price range is large between the cheapest and most expensive. Like everything you buy the advice is to test, test and test again to find the right oven for your business. The cheapest is rarely the best!
If you need any help or have any questions don’t hesitate to contact one of our team on 01527 528841. We will be happy to help.