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Does Your Pizza Dough Match Your Oven’s Capabilities? [INFOGRAPHIC]

September 27 2017 by Nick Charles

Popular Pizza Oven Types

An oven is a substantial investment for any pizzeria or other operation that serves pizza. The oven you use must have the features and benefits necessary to help your kitchen run efficiently. But, to produce consistent and customer-pleasing pies, there’s one often-overlooked factor that must also be considered: how that particular oven type impacts the bake characteristics of pizza dough and crusts.

The graph below matches popular oven types with the various operations and pies that align with them:

Popular Pizza Oven Types and Uses

How Ovens Impact Pizza Crust Color, Texture and Bake

So, what can you expect your oven to deliver in terms of crust characteristics? With the exception of Rapid Cook ovens, which do not offer particular enhancements, look for the following oven-specific results on crust color, texture, bake characteristics, and ideal crust type:

Brick/Wood-fired ovens

  • Crust color: light golden brown with intermittent deeper browning
  • Crust texture: among the crispiest available when baked directly on the deck
  • Bake characteristics:Crusts bubble and blister for enhanced visual appeal
  • Ideal crust type: flatbread or custom crusts

No wood fired oven? No problem! Try new Authentic Wood Fired Crusts from Alive & Kickin’ Pizza Crust.

Conveyor ovens

  • Crust color: evenly brown with a darker bottom
  • Crust texture: not quite as crisp as pies prepared in deck ovens, but more pull and chew than convection oven crusts
  • Bake characteristics: Crusts evenly baked with some blistering
  • Ideal crust type: dough balls, self-rising or par-baked crusts

Deck ovens

  • Crust color: brown underside and lighter edge
  • Crust texture: crispy bottom and satisfying, chewy pull
  • Bake characteristics: Crusts blister without burning and do not affect the cheese’s lightly baked color
  • Ideal Crust Type: dough balls

Double-door Convection ovens

  • Crust color: evenly browned, as is the cheese
  • Crust texture: soft and bready because of a lack of bottom heat; thicker crusts often perform better than thin
  • Bake characteristics: Crusts are uniform in appearance, with no substantial bubbling or blistering
  • Ideal crust type: par-baked crusts

Are you getting the most out of your oven? Rethinking the dough balls and pizza crusts you use could make for even more delicious pies—and profits. How to Select the Right Oven for Your Pizza Operation explores how ovens can help or hinder pie success, guide you to the right equipment, and more! Click the button below to download your free copy.

Pizza Operation Ovens Guide

Categories: Kitchen Operations

Nick Charles

Written by Nick Charles

President, Alive & Kickin' Pizza Crust
Nick has been in the pizza dough business for more than 20 years. He heads up the company’s customer development and service (making sure they’re always happy with our product and our processes) and manages the overall business. It’s a big job, and he’s the right guy to do it!