Which pizza oven can I convert?
Which pizza oven can I convert?
Many questions about "Can I convert my pizza oven?" reach us. In times of constantly rising energy prices and gas shortages, this is a legitimate question. Of course, which type of firing is suitable depends on many factors, especially the location of the restaurant, the location of the oven and the technical conditions. Up to now, gas has been a good mix of space-saving firing, low odour nuisance to the surroundings and flexibility for the kitchen. But at the moment, switching to wood makes sense for several reasons. It is sustainable and offers a degree of independence from gas and electricity prices. If you have enough storage space for wood and no odour-sensitive neighbourhood, plus a functioning fireplace, you are well served by a wood-burning oven. Electric pizza ovens have also become much more expensive to run because the price of electricity has risen considerably, as has the price of gas.
Convert from gas to wood
Most pizza ovens that we run on gas can also be run on wood. The conditions are similar, the dome shape of Valoriani's pizza ovens is equally suitable for gas and wood firing. As a rule, the gastronomic pizza ovens are also sufficiently large to spare a little space for the wood fire. All ovens from the Valoriani Forni manufacture can always be operated with wood to support or enhance the visual effect. So it will be easy to make the switch. For the gas burner, safe covers for the burner are offered by the manufacturer. The most important point, however, is the infrastructure in the kitchen. If you want to operate a wood-burning oven indoors, you need a suitable chimney for the exhaust air. It is worth talking to the chimney sweep in charge here.
Converting from wood to gas
Despite rising gas prices, it may be necessary to switch from a wood-burning to a gas oven. The reasons are many: kitchen remodelling, problems with the chimney, complaints from neighbours, etc. In the case of ovens from Valoriani, a gas burner from Milberg can be retrofitted at any time. A little manual skill is required to drill the hole for the burner in the stove bottom. The gas burner can be operated with both LPG and natural gas. The connection must be made by a gas fitter. There are various gas burners with different functionalities to choose from, depending on the size of the stove. It is not possible to convert an electric stove to wood or gas. Since the design of an electric stove is fundamentally different from that of wood and gas stoves, conversion is not possible. But there are alternatives.
The alternative: wood-burning oven as a second oven
If the reason for conversion is primarily the potential energy cost savings that a wood-burning oven offers, there is another alternative. Above all, we offer a high-performance wood-burning oven that is an excellent solution as a supplement or support in the kitchen: the Valoriani Baby. It is an absolutely professional wood-burning oven. It reaches temperatures of up to 500 degrees. This means that it has very short cooking times for pizzas, so that they are ready after 90 seconds. In case of doubt, it is smaller than the existing gas pizza oven, but can possibly deliver the same throughput per hour. So it is definitely an alternative to the gas pizza oven. And the existing gas pizza oven can be added when the load is high, so that the capacity in the kitchen is even increased and the energy prices are still reduced.
Whatever idea crosses your mind, we will be happy to advise you. Give us a call and arrange a consultation.
