Conveyor Oven Pizza?

Have any of you (knowingly) ever had some? Was it any good? Is there any great pizza being produced in a conveyor oven anywhere that you know of? Would you try a new pizza joint that utilized that method? How about if you were in the middle of nowhere and it was the only game in town; would you try it then? Inquiring minds want to know. pb

Yep, we've had 'em here in the Hudson Valley. One of the upscale/yuppie/organic/locally grown type markets makes pizza in (on?) a conveyor oven.
They make a normal crust (I like Eddie's-style real thin crust) and it's a bit chewy, but they will make it "well-done" if you ask. They use very good ingredients and actually charge less for a pizza than a lot of the pizza joints.
It is acceptable in all ways. But every pizza place is different.
Ron

Turoni's in Evansville uses a conveyor and I think they make a fine pizza, but it's a very thin crust.

That sounds like a neat idea. No clock watching. No opening the oven to let heat out so you can cook another pizza. I haven't done it, but it doesn't scare me.

The best pizza in this area comes from a lowly conveyor oven.And thats not damning by faint praise.Theres a guy 5 miles down the road that has a beautiful imported wood-fired oven from Italy.But he doesnt know how to use it.Its nice to have the best tools,but better to know how to get the most out of the ones you have.

You know, my favorite sandwich was from a place called Ollie's L'Oven Works, and they wrapped all the sandwich guts in what you might call pizza dough and sent it through a conveyor oven to bake. It heated up the fixin's nicely, too. I miss that place.

I've been to Quizno's and chipped a tooth after they sent their sammys through a conveyor oven, though. Something about sending bread that's already baked through an oven again, I guess.

My go to place here in St. Petersburg is Gumby's Pizza and they use a conveyor oven. I do ask for to be well done which adds a little bit to it and to my liking.

But this does not mean that I don't prefer a pizza from a regular pizza oven. I think it has more to do with the ingredients and the cook than it does the oven but that is another thread.

John

I run from conveyor pizza...

All I've seen from places that run a conveyor oven is a dream for speed and mass production. Food Quality has sucked. Show me a good ol' Blodgett or Bakers Pride brick oven, and chances are I'll gamble my dollar on their product. A lot more pride goes into the pie when they sit and babysit it (gently turning it, shaking it now and then).. Also far better tasting then something being made factory style!

When a good local pizza place switched over a few years ago, the pizza stayed the same.

It's like all types of pizza, there are good places and bad. Luckily, the conveyor across the street from me is very good. A block from work, good in a pinch. Better than the other pizza options near work.

Are we talking about the type of pizza that, for example, Costco sells? If so, well, then, there's Costco's Pizza. It's OK, but not up there with great pizza at all. It's mostly notable for the amount of pizza and toppings you get for only $9. ---Ken

Costco makes the same mistake so many "American-style pizzarias make:The sauce is loaded with sugar. Taste just the sauce next time!!!I think you could get an OK pizza from this contraption if great ingredients were used. Still a wood burning oven(again considering you used great ingredients) is the preferred way to go.
Lee

One of my favorite pizza places in Columbus, OH, Johnny's on Parsons Ave switched to a conveyor a few years ago. It's still good but I think they got it slightly crispier in the older ovens. I asked for it well done once and he burned the crap out of it so now I just get it the way it comes.

Pizza Port, Carlsbad (CA) uses a conveyor. They make a pretty darn good "CA" style pizza. But let's get real here people... I really go there for the beer! www.pizzaport.com

Doatsie

p.s. See you at the Strong Ale Festival!

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Costco makes the same mistake so many "American-style pizzarias make:The sauce is loaded with sugar. Taste just the sauce next time!!!I think you could get an OK pizza from this contraption if great ingredients were used. Still a wood burning oven(again considering you used great ingredients) is the preferred way to go.
Lee

Ya, what is it with all this sugar in the sauce? Totally sickens me to say the least. Shows you all these shop owners have no clue to what a good, lightly seasoned tomato sauce tastes like. Someone out there started a chain of events with the sugar, and it keeps escalating. My only theory is they never tasted something real and good, just started out in the biz copying someone else. Then came that conveyor oven... ARGHHH...