How to Choose the Best Commercial Pizza Oven for Renting, Leasing, or Buying

You might be a maestro at baking finger-licking pizzas at home. However, to turn it into a profession and open a pizzeria, you need not only nail the culinary skills but must also be equipped with the right tools such as a commercial pizza oven or you can also take a shared commercial kitchen for rent for running a successful food business.

Commercial pizza ovens are unlike the standard countertop pizza ovens at your home used for baking pizzas. They are adapted to maintain flaming high temperatures, support optimal production output, and sustain long term usage. These advanced features are accompanied by a hefty price tag as well. Therefore, you must invest your money wisely when buying or renting a commercial pizza oven.

You have to pay attention to several factors when selecting a pizza oven, such as available space, fuel source, production output, and type of pizza to be served. Let us have a look at these factors in detail to help you choose the best commercial oven for renting, leasing, or buying.

Factors to Consider for Renting, Leasing, or Buying Commercial Pizza Oven

The market is swarming with different models of commercial pizza ovens, which are usually categorized into the following types:

  • Conveyor Pizza Ovens
  • Brick Ovens
  • Pizza Deck Ovens
  • Pizza Convection Ovens

All of these ovens produce scrumptious pizzas. However, they possess distinct features that make them suitable for different needs. Finding the commercial pizza oven best suited to your needs and preferences is a bit complicated. The myriad of models displayed in the market can also prove shopping for a commercial pizza oven for the first time quite tricky. Therefore, you need to ask yourself the following questions before settling on any pizza oven.

Gas or Electric Pizza Ovens?

First, you need to decide on a fuel source. Gas and electric pizza ovens both serve different purposes. Brick ovens are best known for baking the traditional Italian pizza with an evenly cooked, crunchy crust, while conveyor ovens offer unparalleled efficiency. All conveyor ovens, convection ovens, and deck ovens have both electrical and gas hookups. Choose the pizza oven with a fuel source that is available in your area. If your establishment does not have access to a gas utility or if you have a food truck or some other mobile business, opt for gas pizza ovens.

Will your Pizza Production be High or Low?

Next, you need to determine how much pizza you are going to sell. If you are opening a pizzeria, the pizza production will be high but, if you own a café where you wish to serve pizza only as an appetizer, you will be selling comparatively less pizza.

Low Production

Commercial pizza convection ovens have a comparatively lower pizza production output than other types of commercial ovens as they are countertop units. They have two to five racks per chamber, with enough space on each to fit one-two 16 inches pizzas. The average cooking time for a convection pizza is about five to six minutes. However, this time might vary with the temperature and number of pizzas in the oven. Moreover, they are designed in a way to minimize heat recovery time. The heat will be lost when the oven door is opened to remove or move around the pizza. Convection ovens are ideal for a restaurant that includes pizza as a menu option and sells it in small numbers.

Medium Production

Both deck ovens and brick ovens offer medium production output. A deck oven has about four to six racks stacked on top of each other. Each deck has enough capacity to stock up to six pizzas at the same time. It takes about 60 minutes to heat up to cooking temperatures and takes around six to eight minutes to cook the pizza to perfection. It might take longer, however, as the pizza needs to be moving around while cooking, additional time might be required in recovering lost heat.

Unlike a deck oven, brick ovens only have a single massive cooking platform that can hold up to pizzas at the same time. Since it can maintain high temperatures, it loses little to no time to heat recovery and can, therefore, bake a mouth-watering pizza under five minutes.

High Production

Conveyor ovens have the highest pizza production output making it ideal for restaurants or pizzerias that sell large numbers of pizza through takeaway. The most promising feature of a conveyor oven is its automated process. All you need to do is place the pizza on the conveyor belt and sit back to let the conveyor belt do its job. It will pull in the pizza through the cooking chamber at a set temperature. Cooking time for a conveyor oven is about four to five minutes. No additional time is lost on heat recovery as the pizza passes through constant heating elements.

Where are you going to keep your Pizza Oven?

Before going on a pizza oven hunt, you need to have a clear picture of how much space is available in your kitchen. Convection ovens take up the least space compared to other commercial ovens, fitting even on a workbench. They are best suited for small pubs or pizzerias that have limited kitchen space.

If you have a little more space to spare, opt for deck ovens. Thanks to its stacking mechanism, a deck oven takes up space vertically rather than horizontally, conserving space for other kitchen equipment. The exact measurements differ and depend on the number of decks/racks, but a standard deck oven with four racks takes about one sixty cubic feet of floor space.

Conveyor ovens and brick ovens take up a lot more floor space than types of commercial ovens. Although it reaches from floor to ceiling, a brick oven can enhance the appeal of your restaurant. If your kitchen has enough space to spare, a brick oven is worth-purchasing as it becomes the center of attraction.

No matter which commercial oven you choose, always read the measurements in the product specifications to avoid any hassle afterward.

What is Your Budget?

The price tag becomes the deciding factor when buying a commercial pizza oven for your restaurant. However, it is necessary to understand that buying a commercial pizza oven is a long-time investment so, even if you have to spend an extra couple of hundred dollars, buy a pizza oven that is durable and has a long life-span. Conveyor ovens fall under the price range of $5,000 to $30,000; the exact price might vary with brand, model, and condition. They have more time taking maintenance than other commercial ovens. Deck ovens also have a somewhat similar price range. However, their low maintenance and long durability make them cost-effective. Pizza convection ovens are the most viable option for cutting on expenses with a price range of $1,000-$10,000.

The Takeaway

Buying a commercial pizza oven can prove to be tricky if you’re not equipped with the right information. The right commercial pizza oven will produce pizzas that rival Italian supremacy, boosting your sales and enhance your restaurant’s image. We also recommend buying accessories to help you operate pizza ovens with enhanced safety. To kick start your pizzeria, buy or rent a commercial pizza oven that is compatible with your overall needs and specifications.