Blodgett Pizza Oven Review – How to Choose the Right Oven for Your Kitchen
Pizza is the most popular meal you can serve for any guest. A variety of choices make it suitable for vegetarians and meat lovers at the same time. With basic cooking skills, you can make a good pizza in just 20 minutes. You may cook a decent one with your normal kitchen tools, but true professionals always use more advanced appliances.
From my own experience, I can say that the main challenge of making the best pizza comes from the wise choice of kitchen equipment. So, I’m here to share my knowledge in choosing the right oven with you.
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My TOP-4 Blodgett Ovens
To be able to follow the best recipes, you need to be sure of the quality and capability of your kitchen appliances. I have prepared a Blodgett pizza oven review for you and found the best match of price and quality available on the market.
1. Blodgett Pizza Oven Review Gas Deck Type Single
If baking pizza is your passion, you may prefer to have a high-volume energy-effective oven. This model is suitable for every kitchen, but make sure you have enough space between this gas oven and other appliances you have. You can make a big pizza while being sure that every part will bake evenly, because of the bottom air intake technology. This oven is highly efficient in terms of fuel consumption, due to the specially designed system for transferring heat from the combustion chamber to the baking compartment.
As for the material, the oven is made from highly durable stainless steel and equipped with a heavy chrome-plated tubular steel door handle. The baking compartment and combustion chamber are from aluminized steel. The burner door opens easily for cleaning or kindling. The manufacturer has taken care of a user`s safety by adding the dual spring counterbalanced door.
This oven would be relevant for those who want to have a good-quality gas oven at home or even for a small restaurant. The size of the oven is 84 x 54 x 31 inches. Therefore, if you don’t have a lot of free space in your kitchen, you may find something smaller, but keep in mind that it takes mostly vertical space, which you don’t use anyway. With a smaller size of oven, you would not be able to make two pizzas at the same time. But with this item, you can dedicate some additional free time to making a dessert.
Keep in mind that the oven is 1,050 pounds, so locate it in your kitchen that way that you will not need to move it. A few layers of stainless steel prevent hidden rust and pitting. You can control the temperature range from 300°F (149°C) to 650°F (343°C) by a snap throttle thermostat. So it’s easy to adjust for different recipes.
- Fuel efficient
- Easy to use
- High durability
- Preheats in 10 minutes
- Optimized production capacity
- Highly adjustable
- Require a lot of space
- Careful handling needed to use a gas fuel
- Heavy
The supplier of this deck oven is Blodgett. This company has a 200 years history of producing high-quality kitchen equipment. They offer self-sustained ventless convection for their ovens, which helps to save costs on the installation and maintenance of ventilation hoods in commercial kitchens. The price of this particular deck-type oven is quite high, but considering all the features mentioned above and the reliable name of the producer company, I can say that such a price is reasonable.
2. Blodgett Pizza Oven Review 981-961 Two Sections Deck-Type Gas Oven
If you are looking for a professional appliance for your pizza restaurant, this oven is a good match of price and quality. Many professional cookers prefer deck ovens like this one to bake a pizza. Since deck ovens provide independently controlled heat, you can operate the temperature and change the heating levels by using air shutters. Commercial ovens usually have two or more sections, so with this item, you will get a higher capacity, which is our case. If you have a small kitchen, the deck gas oven is perfect, as the majority of the space it takes is vertical. Therefore, there is more horizontal space for other appliances.
The oven`s exterior construction is made from stainless steel with a full-angle iron frame. It has counterbalanced doors with concealed hinges and a heavy chrome-plated tubular steel door handle. Oven compartment interior size is 42” x 32” x 7” (1067mm x 813mm x 178mm). The temperature control range from 200°F (93°C) to 500°F (288°C) is regulated by liquid pressure thermostat. It’s quite easy to look after the oven since burner doors open easily for ignition, cleaning, or adjustment, without a need to remove any fastenings.
- Blodgett
- Cooking Equipment>Commercial Ovens>Pizza Ovens
- Fuel efficient
- High production capacity
- High durability
- Aluminized steel is the main material
- Appropriate for small commercial kitchen
- Vitreous fiber insulation
- Needs a well-ventilated area
- Careful handling needed to use a gas fuel
- Heavy
Moreover, the price is affordable for those people who want to buy such an oven to invest in their commercial cooking equipment. The main advantage of this oven is its low maintenance cost and long lifetime. The deck ovens hold their resale value because they can last many years. The low maintenance cost is caused by the lack of moving parts, and you don’t need to spend money on repairing the details that were broken.
3. Blodgett Pizza Oven Review 951-966 Deck-Type Gas Oven
Another wise choice for a small restaurant owner or a beginner wanting to bake a pizza professionally is to use Blodgett 951-966 Deck-type oven. I recommend buying a gas oven for those who prefer high-volume baking for traditional pizza. Such appliances allow you to cook pizza more evenly and make a crust more crispy. It has a 42″W x 32″ D deck interior with two sections. Each section consists of two 7 high baking compartments.
The new design of this oven demands low BTU input without sacrificing the amount of heat delivered, which can be beneficial for saving your financial costs. The item has a deep deck and a lot of space for pizza baking sheets. It’s made from stainless steel with 7 adjustable legs.
The oven has counterbalanced doors with a heavy chrome handle and an angle iron frame. The burner door opens easily for ignition, cleaning, or adjustment, without the removal of any fastenings.
The important feature is that the oven has vitreous fiber insulation at the top, back, sides, bottom, and doors.The size of 951 Model oven compartment interior is 42” x 32” x 12” (1067mm x 813mm x 305mm) and of 966 Model – 42” x 32” x 16-1/4” (1067mm x 813mm x 413mm). Blodgett 951-966 oven is easy to operate since it has a free-floating, easily removable duplex-tube burner. You can adjust the airflow by using air shutters and locking devices. The temperature range is 200°F (93°C) to 500°F (288°C), which you can control with the help of a snap throttle thermostat.
- Blodgett
- Cooking Equipment>Commercial Ovens>Pizza Ovens
- High durability
- Have 2 sections
- Fuel efficiency
- Vitreous fiber insulation
- Low maintenance cost
- Needs a well-ventilated area for effective work
- Heavy
- High price
The price of the item is quite high but I still recommend you check this oven because it is effective in terms of fuel consumption. Besides, you’ll save money on paying gas bills.
4. Blodgett Pizza Oven Review 966 Gas Double Deck
This model is suitable for beginners and professionals at the same time. It’s easy to adjust, and the operation efficiency of the item is high. I consider it to be a thoughtful choice as Blodgett 966 Pizza Oven has a high capacity. It has a stainless steel top, front, sides, and back. The interior is made from aluminized steel. Its steel deck is supported by an angle iron frame. The weight of the oven is 1190 lb., while the height is 68.81 in.
The oven has two sections that consume 50,000 BTU per section. Thus I can say it is energy efficient. The temperature range is 200-500°F, which is regulated by a liquid pressure thermostat. It has an aluminized steel cabinet, counterbalanced doors with a heavy chrome handle, and 7 stainless steel adjustable legs. It operates with a free-floating, easily removable duplex-tube burner.
Within a section body, you can find the main gas valve, temperature control valve, and safety pilot valve which are accessible through a covered and ventilated compartment in front. You can adjust air mixes by regulating air shutters and locking devices. Burner doors open easily for ignition, cleaning, or adjustment, without removal of any fastenings.
Such kind of gas oven is easy to maintain as its structure is not complicated. At first, you may be confused by the lighting process but in a short time, you will get used to it. The quality of Blodgett ovens is wide known so you will not need to call the repair master every few months as it usually happens with other ovens.
- Blodgett
- Cooking Equipment>Commercial Ovens>Pizza Ovens
- High capacity
- Fuel efficiency
- Low maintenance cost
- High durability
- Needs a well-ventilated area
- Heavy
This oven is quite expensive, but if you have an intention to invest your money wisely, this appliance can be a good match for energy consumption and production capacity. Keep in mind that it also features high durability so you can resell the oven any time you want.
How to Use a Deck Type Gas Pizza Blodgett Oven?
The gas oven is easy to operate, durable, and economical. This item is equipped with a minimum set of functions, so it is easy to manage. Such a cabinet is the best option for kitchens with weak electrical wiring. Modern gas ovens have fewer functions than electric ones, but quality and reliability are at the highest level. In case of the absence of a centralized gas supply, it works from a gas cylinder. Heating in the cabinet occurs due to an open flame. For the maintenance of gas, it is supplied from below – through the burner nozzles.
Instructions for Using the Gas Oven
These instructions are applicable for every deck-type gas oven. The main advantage of this type of ovens is that you need to make easy steps to operate them, which makes the cooking process more enjoyable.
Lighting
- Turn the manual control flapper to the OFF position.
- Push the red button on the safety panel.
- To light the oven manually, you need to open the door and hold the burning match to the burner.
- After lightening a pilot burner, you should continue to suppress a red button for 30 seconds and then release it.
- Set the manual control valve to the ON position.
- Apply the desired temperature on THERMOSTAT
Preheating
To preheat the oven to 600ºF, you need to start from 300ºF and increase the temperature gradually during the next three hours in increments of 100ºF. You need to track the temperature all the time and adjust it with the thermostat. You have to conduct such a procedure at the initial startup since it will harden the Ultra Rokite shelves and burn off any substances residue.
Loading
- Before laying the dish inside, let the appliance heat up for 10-15 minutes.
- Place the pants at some distance from each other, and they shouldn’t touch the oven sides. Don’t open the door all the time, only if you need to check the pizza preparation.
- Adjust the temperature. You can regulate the heat by turning the mechanical thermostat.
- The cabinet turns off by turning the control knob to its original position.
Safety tips
Many people choose gas ovens because of their fuel efficiency. However, keep in mind that such ovens need careful maintenance since a fire can occur very easily.
- Don’t store any flammable substances, especially gas, near the oven.
- Install the oven in free of drafts area.
- Be careful with ignition, use the special kitchen lighter with a long handle.
- After you light the oven, be sure to ventilate the room.
- The main thing is to act carefully not to get burned.
Pizza Cooking Time and Temperatures
The cooking temperature depends on different recipes and products. You need to provide your experiment to find the best combination of temperature and time required. I’ll provide you my proven plan on how to bake the perfect pizza.
- Make a few bakes at 500ºF (260ºC). Write down the time when a firm crust appears.
- In case if cheese melts too fast or even becomes burned, you need to set a lower temperature and give more time for baking.
- If you want a faster production, you need to increase the temperature gradually by increments of 25ºF (15ºC).
- Record the results of every baking to identify the highest temperature at which you can cook high-quality pizza. It will ensure the maximum production for this particular recipe.
Baking Tips
To bake the best pizza, you need to know some features of gas ovens. Every recipe has its own rules to follow. Here, I share the most common ones, which apply to every case.
- For consistency, you need to scale dough.
- If you use dough from the fridge, it needs time to be brought to room temperature. When baking such a product, small bubbles may appear, break them if necessary.
- Find a good location between the upper and lower sections in the oven.
- Avoid frequent door opening.
Pizza-Making Accessories for Gas Ovens
Making pizza can be as enjoyable as eating it, especially if you have good pizza-making tools and accessories. Sometimes, it’s difficult to navigate through a variety of choices, but I’m here to help you with this. Here is the list of my favorite pizza-making tools.
A Pizza-Making Stone for the Oven
You can use a simple baking sheet that is suitable for any oven, and you will get a good pizza. But if you want to switch from a good pizza to a fantastic one, you will need a pizza stone. A pizza stone can easily handle the high temperatures which the gas oven creates. Such a stone absorbs the oven heat and evenly distributes it to a pizza, which helps to reach a fantastic crust.
A Pizza Steel Tool
The way pizza steel conducts heat is different from the way a pizza stone does it. Pizza steels retain heat better, but a stone conducts the heat more evenly. If you prefer to cook pizza quicker, pizza steel can be more beneficial. But keep in mind that you need to be more careful while cleaning pizza steels since they can get rust spots.
Pizza Cutting Wheel
A good cutting tool can make life so much easier for you. You can get perfect slices with almost no effort. The wheel cutting tool is also safer to use. This particular type of cutting tool is used in restaurants as it makes the process much quicker.
The Bottom Line
Probably, you would not be able to find anybody who hates pizza. It’s the most popular meal you can find at every restaurant in every country all around the world. Every time you open your fridge, you can find the necessary ingredients to make your pizza. But keep in mind that to bake a good pizza you need to have a proper equipment in your kitchen.
The ovens, designed specially to make a pizza, have become in high demand over the last 10 years. Whenever you want to open a restaurant on your own or to bake a homemade pizza for your family, it’s necessary to choose the right oven.
You may wonder whether an oven designed especially for pizza is worth buying. I would say yes, because of a bunch of reasons. Pizza ovens are designed to cook fast at high heat. Your normal home oven can not provide the same effect as any professional commercial pizza oven. The heat matters a lot, depending on the variety of pizza you are cooking. For example, Neapolitan pizza requires a short time for cooking, 60 seconds or so at high heat. This way of cooking makes the dish famous, and you would not be able to make this pizza following the original recipe without the oven created especially for making pizza with a high air intake.
I hope this article was useful to you, and now you can find the best oven for your kitchen. If so, leave a comment on whatever you need my advice for. Let’s help each other to bake the best pizza ever. Share your favorite pizza recipes in the comment box and tell what are your top-3 baking accessories. If you have already used Blodgett ovens, please, tell me whether you agree with the pros and cons defined in this article.
