San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Electric ovens deliver delectable char, delicate crust for Bay Area pizzerias
Improved quality, modern controls, consistently high temperatures drive surge in demand
When Thomas McNaughton, chef and co-founder of San Francisco Italian restaurant Flour + Water, first heard about electric ovens being used in pizza restaurants instead of traditional wood or gas, he dismissed the idea. “The first thing that came to mind is an Easy-Bake oven,” he said.
But today, Flour + Water Pizzeria in North Beach has two shiny electric PizzaMaster ovens in which staff bake East Coast-style pies with a crispy thin crust. In a nod to the original Flour +Water’s wood oven pizza, there’s a bit of charring on the crust, achieved by raising the temperature on the top of the deck.
“These things generate so much power and have easy controls. We are 1,000% pro PizzaMaster now,” McNaughton said.
Like Flour + Water, many of the Bay Area’s buzziest new pizzerias are going electric with their ovens. The appeal, proponents say, includes modern controls and consistent high temperatures. And the PizzaMaster brand in particular, made by Swedish manufacturer Svenska BakePartner AB, seems to be the top choice among local restaurants.
The PizzaMaster line includes over 80 models in varying sizes, features and decks — from countertop models to large ovens for industrial and retail uses. Some can reach 900 degrees Fahrenheit and have several temperature controls, allowing staff to distribute heat from different directions.
Connor Reardon is the director of culinary and marketing for MPM Food Equipment Group, the exclusive U.S. distributor of PizzaMaster ovens in the U.S. In the last six months, demand for kitchen demos using PizzaMaster ovens has increased, he said — so much so in the western U.S. that his company launched test kitchens in Anaheim, Phoenix, Denver and Seattle, some in conjunction with utility providers like Southern California Edison, for example.
“These are very flexible and can get to people who want to open a new place very quickly,” Reardon said. “They also fit within any restrictions that they have,” he added.
More than 70 California municipalities, led by Berkeley, have taken steps to discourage or restrict gas in new buildings, which could promote more electric ovens. But pending a lawsuit to block the rule filed by the California Restaurant Association, the
future of such policies is uncertain. In a settlement announced in March, Berkeley agreed to repeal its gas ordinance.
As a precaution, however, Mario Volera, the chef of new Berkeley pizzeria Three One Four, tested out the PizzaMaster oven. Once an electric oven skeptic, he was blown away.
“I was a big preacher of only wood fire,” Volera previously told the Chronicle. “That’s the original pizza. We need wood!”
But he’s since recanted. At Three One Four, his PizzaMaster oven is steadily churning out crispy pies with a Neapolitanstyle
sourdough crust.
In San Francisco’s Portola neighborhood, the new bar and restaurant Out the Road also has a three-deck PizzaMaster oven in the kitchen, which can shuffle 12 pizzas around at a time. A few weeks after its opening, customers and neighbors are raving about the mushroom pizza: a crispy-bubbly pie with a white sauce made from Grana Padano cheese topped with maitake mushroom florets.
Owner Chris Lawrence says that he considered a gas pizza oven, but shifting hot spots and temperature fluctuation from
opening doors were weak spots. Gas ovens that could power his projected needs were also prohibitively expensive. In his research, he observed PizzaMaster ovens — more reasonably priced, though still expensive — around the city’s newest spots. When consulting with his kitchen adviser Josh DeClercq, the chef at Heirloom Cafe, he found it was easier for staff to learn to bake with these ovens.
“It seemed like it was a trendy option because of the efficiencies that it offers,” Lawrence said.
Operators don’t know for sure if the electric ovens are cheaper to operate, especially as the price of utilities surges. The Flour + Water team say their kitchen pulls in huge amounts of power, which requires high-amperage capacity on the property. McNaughton and Flour + Water co-chef Ryan Pollnow would like to expand to more locations with all-electric kitchen equipment. But because not every location is equipped with the gear needed to handle the electric volume, extra work may have to be done to prepare a kitchen.
The novel ovens do have their drawbacks. Repairs on electric ovens are not as simple as gas ovens, and specialized technicians are not widely available for several models, PizzaMaster’s included. McNaughton and Pollnow joked about being able to improvise a fix for a gas oven successfully, but wouldn’t know where to begin on their electric ovens. Gas and wood ovens can still operate during power outages, too.
In the past, other drawbacks of electric ovens included slower heating times and less efficient systems. But Tony Gemignani, best known for his North Beach restaurants Tony’s Pizza Napoletana and Slice House, said electric pizza ovens have greatly improved in the last 15 years, and tech support for some oven brands is now more available. He believes he was the first to install electric pizza ovens in San Francisco, with a pair of double stack Cuppone ovens at Tony’s. Electric ovens have been popular in Italy for 20 years or more, with pizzaiolo competitions having special categories for them, Gemignani said. He ties today’s renaissance for electric ovens in the U.S. to a wider variety of models from several manufacturers becoming available.
Of course, purists say true Neapolitan pizza will always demand wood fire. Alessandro Uccelli says the wood oven at his Berkeley pizzeria Lucia’s is the “pulsing heart” of the restaurant. At its peak, the domed Neapolitan oven built by revered artisan Stefano Ferrara, can put out up to 100 pizzas per hour. But Uccelli recognizes electric is here to stay, noting several renowned Italian oven makers have developed efficient electric models that can deliver the delectable char and delicate crust many seek in their pizza.
“If I were to do it all over again and I had enough power in the building, I would go with the electrical ovens myself,” he said.