Gas, Electric or Wood Burning: Which Pizza Oven is the Best?

Everybody loves pizza.

That’s why there’s so many restaurants and pizza joints around the world that serve it. But not all pizza is created equal. It turns out the oven your pizza is cooked in can make a big difference in how it turns out.

There are 3 types of pizza ovens: wood burning, gas, and electric.

Each of these ovens have their own advantages and disadvantages, and each type gives the pizzas it cooks a distinctive taste and texture.

• Capable of handling high volumes of pizza, usually up to six 12” pizzas at once.

• Uses radiant heat to evenly cook the top and bottom of the pizza, making sure the crust is crispy and the toppings fully cooked.

• Front-mounted doors make loading and unloading easy.

• Pizzas have to be rotated constantly – at least once every 2-3 minutes – or else they’ll burn!

• Using gas ovens is very labor intensive and requires constant vigilance.

• Cooking pizzas in a gas oven is a very, very slow process.

• Electric pizza ovens are more userfriendly than gas ovens.

• Many are equipped with a “deck,” an extra heating element that cooks the pizza from the top as well as the bottom.

• Some use brick, stone, or ceramic tiles to replicate the effect of a woodburning oven.

• Electric ovens often make dry pizzas with crusts that are too thin.

• Try as they might, decks can’t fully replicate the effect of cooking in a wood-burning oven.

• Cold spots may appear between pizzas, requiring extra work to keep heat from escaping the oven.

Wood-burning pizza ovens are the original pizza ovens, and they’re still the best way to cook a pizza. Able to reach much higher temperatures than either a gas or electric oven, wood-burning pizza ovens cook faster and more thoroughly, producing tasty, authentic pies.

Wood-burning ovens harness the power of convection, which allows the hot air to circulate and cook the pizza just right. Crispy on the outside, warm in the center, and with all the toppings cooked just right!

Fontana Ovens & Grills is the maker of high-quality wood-burning ovens that are perfect for cooking pizza, bread, meat, and everything in between.

For more information, visit www.fontanaforniusa.com.