10 Common Pitfalls of the Pizza Oven

Pizza ovens have soared in popularity over the last 12 years. However, when it comes to the commercial market, this surge in popularity is accompanied by major pitfalls. Since Orchard Ovens championed pizza ovens back in 2003, many new entrants to the pizza oven market have jumped on the bandwagon and started supplying the commercial market with some extremely poor products.

These new entrants have untried and untested products and no longevity in the market. There is a big bank of evidence to show that many of these ovens are failing after less than three years, whilst a Valoriani oven has a long track record and its ovens have been shown, in thousands of cases worldwide, to last over 30 years.

Given its position of authority, Orchard Ovens is, unfortunately, often called in to launch rescue missions in the kitchens of chefs who have found their pizza oven purchase a cooking disaster, a potential health risk and a huge investment mistake.

To help guide commercial pizza chains, chefs, hoteliers and publicans through the pizza oven maze, Orchard Ovens has identified 10 common pitfalls of buying a pizza oven.

1) Size and weight. Many pizza ovens come as one massive piece of kit that, on arrival at its kitchen location, cannot be manoeuvred through doors and tight spaces. Many new buyers are forced to undertake property alterations to get the oven into place, whilst others risk health and safety issues by asking employees to help carry a heavy piece of equipment. Orchard Ovens’ Valoriani ovens, can be assembled in situ, with parts carried through any standard door.

2) Regulations. Many pizza oven buyers are unaware that wood-fired ovens require DEFRA certification, if they are to be operated in a smoke-controlled zone. Whilst local authorities took a little time to catch up with the popularity of wood-fired ovens, they are now much more active in checking an oven’s certification. The truth is that there are few ovens, other than Valoriani ovens, that have DEFRA certification that enables them to be legally operated in smoke-controlled zones. If you fall foul of the regulations, you could incur DEFRA testing, which costs around £10,000 on site, as well as a week of downtime for your oven, which will lead to lost revenue as well.

3) Dual Fuel. Some ovens are operating with a dual fuel source of gas and wood, but the regulations on the legality of this are very unclear. As a result, any fire, or carbon monoxide poisoning that occurs due to inadequate flue systems, could invalidate a commercial insurance policy. Whilst Orchard Ovens has a dual fuel oven, it always highlights that it must be run with either one fuel source or the other. Some other manufacturers and suppliers do not.

4) Maintenance. Many of the ovens currently being sold in the UK market are built poorly and regularly need to have new oven floors fitted. In some, the floor of the oven simply cannot be replaced, rendering the whole oven redundant. In others, the oven has to be completely dismantled, to replace the oven floor. A Valoriani oven rarely needs to have its floor replaced but, if this is necessary, this can be done through the mouth of the oven and only the damaged area needs to be replaced.

5) Manufacturing Materials. Some of the ovens now being supplied attempt to replicate the renowned heat retention and distribution properties of Valoriani’s unique ‘cotto’ clay, by creating an oven dome that contains metal within the clay construction. Unfortunately, this mixture of metal and clay can disintegrate relatively quickly, creating food safety issues and possible metal contamination in the food being cooked in the oven. Again, Orchard Ovens, and other experts, have been called in to rescue chefs who have invested in an oven that has disintegrated within just a few years, due to inadequate technology.

6) Insulation. Another health and safety and food safety issue surrounds the insulation of many pizza ovens now being sold. Cost cutting has been achieved, in some cases, by supplying un-insulated ovens that have a dangerously hot exterior shell that could injure chefs and other kitchen staff. In others, the insulation used is not safely encased, which can create dust particles on food.

7) Testing. Many of the ovens flooding the market have no testing to point to, or certification to back up their performance claims. A new buyer should always check out the credentials of the oven they are being sold and ask to see the certification. They should then assess whether that certification comes from a credible and respected body. DEFRA and Food Safety testing and certification and GasSafe and HETAS certification and CE marking are all things to look for.

8) Energy Efficiency. A prospective buyer should always question how much fuel their oven will us, how long it stays warm without requiring reheating and how well it retains heat, rather than releasing heat. A Valoriani oven will retain heat, even after the fire is extinguished at close of service in the evening, right through to the following morning.

9) After-sales Support. Buying an oven without any assurance about the after-sales support available is very risky in a market in which so many poor products, and many here-today-gone-tomorrow ovens are being touted around. Do not buy an oven unless you are sure about its quality and reliability and the support that will be there for you, if the product fails. Valoriani has been around since 1890 and have now formed a joint Company with Orchard Ovens, so your support from Orchard Ovens by Valoriani is guaranteed.

10) Product Training. Learning how to get the best from your oven is vital, as it can help you maximise your energy efficient use of the oven, create better menus and use it in a way that will prevent any damage to components. As many pizza ovens are being sold cheaply, out of the box, there is no training available, often because the sellers have no experience to impart. In contrast, Orchard Ovens by Valoriani has its own state-of-the-art training centre in Preston, at which chefs can get full training with their product and even take advantage of a try-before-you-buy offer.

Orchard Ovens by Valoriani’s Andrew Manciocchi says: “We do what we can to assist pizza oven owners who have fallen into one of the many traps surrounding the new-age pizza ovens flooding the market, but that entails replacing an oven that wasn’t fit for purpose with a Valoriani oven that is. All the investment wasted in the inadequate oven has to be written off to experience, but for some eateries, that is a major financial loss they could ill afford. We would rather offer potential purchasers advice on the pitfalls and give them the product knowledge that is lacking in our sector, than have to go in and witness their despair.

“Unfortunately, we are not operating in a sector of white good brands, sold to thousands of homeowners who can leave ratings and reviews on their purchases. This is why some of the new pizza oven market entrants are able to currently get away with supplying inadequate products, as there simply isn’t the infrastructure in place to make public the disasters that are occurring in eateries across the country.”

More details and advice can be found at www.orchardwoodovens.co.uk or by calling Andrew Manciocchi on 01772 250000.