Top 4 Pizza Ovens for Commercial Kitchens

Choosing the right pizza oven is critical for creating the perfect pizza. And if you’re running a business selling pizzas—it’s even more important.

According to IBISworld, Aussie’s are changing their pizza preferences, from the fast and oily grease-fest, to more gourmet, ‘healthier’ pizzas. IBISWorld also identified the most important success factors for pizza restaurants are:

• Prompt delivery to market
• Ability to quickly adopt new technology
• Proximity to key markets

So what does that mean for restaurateurs?

It means there’s an opportunity for hopping on the whole-food health wave, while still delivering a scrumptious pizza pie!

And how do you make a gourmet pizza so good your customers keep coming back? By having the right oven (combined with your secret ingredients, of course).

So we’ve rated the most popular pizza ovens for their ease of use, quality, and ability for creating the perfect pizza. Make sure you add one of these to your catering equipment list!

The top 4 pizza ovens for commercial kitchens include:

1. Brick pizza ovens
2. Deck pizza ovens
3. Conveyor pizza oven
4. Convection ovens

Take a look at new and used pizza ovens for sale here.

1. Brick Pizza Ovens

There’s something magical about a pizza cooked within a woodfired brick oven—but why?

Apparently, it’s not magic at all. It’s science.

It all comes down to even heating of the pizza. Thanks to the vaulted clarity of the oven, combined with the brick’s ability to retain heat, means the pizza dough and the toppings are evenly cooked at the same time. Yum!

Some drawbacks to this particular oven is you have a limited space for cooking, so if you’re in a high-demand, fast-turnover business, this may not be the most efficient or effective oven for you. They’re also pretty big and could be more difficult to fit within your commercial kitchen. 

Find fired ovens for sale here.

2. Deck Pizza Ovens

As one of the most popular ovens found in pizzerias, the deck oven secures second place in our list. Great for gourmet pizzas, the deck oven is ideal for sit-down restaurants and more traditional pizzerias. But what makes it so special?

They’re basically a woodfire alternative that’s sleek, easier to clean and takes up less space. As the name suggests, they work by having a deck inside the oven. This deck is made from brick, stone or ceramic, which helps provide that even heat distribution that’s so important to creating the perfect gourmet pizza. The deck oven also provides easier changes to temperature and air flow, and the chef has full control over removing the pizza from the oven.

Find deck ovens for sale here.

3. Conveyor Pizza Ovens

Conveyor ovens are the ovens of choice for those running a fast-paced restaurant, buffets or takeaway business. For those who need their pizzas cooked quickly, and for chefs who just don’t have the time to stand by and watch pizzas cook. It’s almost like a ‘set and forget’ option for busy commercial chefs.

Basically, the chef places the pizza on a conveyor belt, which moves the pizza through the oven to cook it and out the other end to rest when its done. This allows many pizzas to be cooked with minimal effort and no necessary adjustments—great for fast fooderies.  

However, it does hit number 3 for a reason. The conveyor oven means you have much less control over the cooking process, so you may be sacrificing a little on quality. This oven type isn’t as well matched with gourmet pizzas, so it also may limit your menu options. They also have a lot more moving parts than woodfire and deck ovens, which means maintenance costs could be problematic.

Find conveyor ovens for sale here.

4. Convection Pizza Ovens

Convection ovens are your standard run-of-the-mill oven. They provide even heating through circulating hot air throughout the oven. These ovens are good for lower energy costs and are available as a gas pizza oven or electric pizza oven. You can also produce pizzas a little faster in the convection oven and they don’t take up much space, so are a good option for faster-paced restaurants.

Pizza Oven Prices

Machines4U data suggests for used woodfired, deck and conveyor pizza ovens, you’ll be looking at up to $27,000*. For the convection oven, depending on size, you’d be looking at an average cost of approx $8,000.

Of course, this price will change depending on its size, condition, brand, etc.

What do you think of this list? Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below, or take a look at commercial ovens for sale here.

*Prices are indicative of Machines4U listing data by sellers/advertisers and are an approximation only. Data is correct up to and at time of publishing. Prices may change and need to be verified with individual sellers.