Quick Answer
A commercial pizza oven should reach 300–500°C. Electric deck ovens run 250–350°C and suit most UK restaurants; gas and wood-fired reach 450–500°C for Neapolitan. Budget £500–£2,500 countertop, £2,000–£8,000 deck, £3,000–£10,000 conveyor. Size on pizzas per hour, not floor area.
Caterzone supplies commercial pizza ovens to pizzerias, pubs, and takeaways across the UK, and the question we are asked most is not which brand to buy but how many pizzas an oven will actually produce on a Friday night. That is the right question. Deck size, recovery time, and fuel type together decide whether your kitchen copes with a rush or falls forty minutes behind it.
This guide covers oven types, temperatures, realistic hourly output, UK flue and planning rules, and running costs, so you can specify the right commercial pizza oven for your site.
What temperature does a commercial pizza oven need to reach?
The style of pizza you sell sets the temperature, and the temperature sets the oven. True Neapolitan pizza is baked at 430–480°C for 60–90 seconds, which produces the leopard-spotted, puffed cornicione that defines the style — and which no standard electric deck oven will deliver. Stone-baked and New York styles work at 300–350°C over 3–5 minutes. Commercial electric deck ovens generally top out at 350–400°C, which is perfectly good for a pub or restaurant pizza but will not pass as Neapolitan.
What matters as much as peak temperature is the deck itself. The stone or refractory brick base stores heat and transfers it into the dough on contact, and a thin, cheap deck gives up its heat after two or three pizzas, leaving pale, undercooked bases in the middle of a rush. Recovery time — how fast the deck returns to temperature after a pizza is pulled — is the specification that separates a busy pizzeria oven from a light-use one, and it is rarely printed on the datasheet. As a rule, thicker stone and higher installed kilowatts mean faster recovery.
Which type of commercial pizza oven should you buy?
Five types cover the UK market, and they are genuinely different tools:
- Countertop electric — single chamber, 1–2 pizzas at a time, plugs into a standard supply. The entry point for pubs and cafés adding pizza to an existing menu. A 16" single-deck chamber oven is the classic starter unit.
- Single-deck electric — a larger chamber with a proper stone base, typically 2–4 pizzas per bake.
- Double-deck electric — two independently controlled chambers, doubling output without doubling footprint. A double-deck electric pizza oven is the standard specification for a dedicated pizzeria.
- Conveyor — pizzas ride a belt through a heated tunnel at a set speed, producing identical results with unskilled labour. The right answer for high-volume delivery operations, as with this refurbished Blodgett 18" conveyor oven.
- Gas and wood-fired — highest temperatures, fastest bakes, authentic results, and the most demanding installation requirements.
How many pizzas per hour can a commercial pizza oven produce?
This is the number to size against, and published figures are usually optimistic because they ignore loading, turning, and unloading time. Realistic UK output looks like this: a single-deck countertop oven produces 8–12 pizzas per hour; a double-deck oven 16–24; a conveyor oven 40–120 depending on belt speed and width; and a large wood-fired oven 30–60 in skilled hands.
Work backwards from your busiest service. A pizzeria serving 80 covers on a Friday night, where roughly 70% of covers order a pizza, needs to produce about 56 pizzas — but not evenly across the evening. If 60% of those land in a 90-minute window, you need genuine capacity of 35–40 pizzas per hour, not the 25 your average suggests. Undersizing here is the most expensive mistake in the category, because the fix is a second oven and a second extraction run, not a software setting.
Commercial pizza oven types compared
| Type | Max temp | Pizzas/hour | Bake time | UK price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countertop electric | 350°C | 8–12 | 5–8 min | £200–£800 | Pubs, cafés, side menus |
| Single-deck electric | 350–400°C | 12–18 | 4–6 min | £450–£2,500 | Small restaurants |
| Double-deck electric | 350–400°C | 16–24 | 4–6 min | £1,400–£4,000 | Dedicated pizzerias |
| Conveyor | 300–350°C | 40–120 | 3–6 min | £3,000–£10,000 | High-volume delivery |
| Gas / wood-fired | 450–500°C | 30–60 | 60–120 sec | £5,000–£20,000 | Authentic Neapolitan |
Gas or electric — which is better for a UK restaurant?
Gas ovens recover heat faster and reach higher temperatures, which is why they remain standard for traditional Neapolitan and stone-baked pizza. They are also cheaper to run at UK energy rates: natural gas sits at roughly 7–10p/kWh against around 28p/kWh for commercial electricity, and on an oven drawing serious power for ten hours a day that gap compounds into thousands of pounds a year.
Electric ovens win on installation. They need no gas connection, no Gas Safe commissioning, and in many cases no dedicated flue — though they still need extraction. Temperature control is more precise and more repeatable, which matters when the person on the pass changes every shift. For a restaurant adding pizza to an existing menu, electric is almost always the practical answer. For a dedicated pizzeria trading on authenticity, gas or wood-fired earns its extra complexity.
One caution on electric: a double-deck oven can draw 12–20kW, which frequently requires a three-phase supply. Confirm your available supply before you order, because a supply upgrade from your DNO can cost thousands and take months.
Do you need planning permission for a wood-fired pizza oven in the UK?
In most cases, yes. A wood-fired oven produces smoke and requires an approved flue system, which typically needs local authority approval and often a full planning application where the flue is visible externally or the building is listed. You may also require an environmental health assessment covering air quality and odour, particularly on a site with residential neighbours.
The constraint that catches operators out is smoke control. Most UK urban areas are designated smoke control zones under the Clean Air Act, where burning wood is only permitted in Defra-approved appliances or under an exemption. Always consult your local planning authority and environmental health department before you commit to a wood-fired installation — retrofitting a compliant flue after the fact routinely costs more than the oven.
Gas ovens have their own requirements: installation and annual servicing must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and you will need a gas interlock system tying the oven to the extraction canopy, which is a standard EHO and insurance expectation in UK commercial kitchens.
How much does a commercial pizza oven cost to buy and run in the UK?
Purchase prices span a wide range: countertop electric ovens £200–£800, single-deck £450–£2,500, double-deck £1,400–£4,000, conveyor £3,000–£10,000, and wood-fired £5,000–£20,000. Refurbished equipment is genuinely strong value in this category because the expensive components — steel chamber, refractory deck, heavy elements — either work or do not, with little middle ground.
Running cost is where the sums get interesting. A 10kW electric deck oven held at temperature for 10 hours a day does not draw 100kWh, because it cycles; expect roughly 40–60% duty, so 40–60kWh, or about £11–£17 a day at 28p/kWh. That is £3,000–£4,500 a year. The equivalent gas oven at 7–10p/kWh costs roughly a third as much to run, which is why high-volume sites gravitate to gas despite the installation burden. Budget separately for stone replacement every few years and for extraction filter cleaning, which your insurer will expect on a documented schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What temperature does a commercial pizza oven need to reach?
A commercial pizza oven should reach 300–500°C depending on style. Neapolitan requires 430–480°C and bakes in 60–90 seconds. Stone-baked pizza runs at 300–350°C over 3–5 minutes, and electric deck ovens typically operate at 250–350°C. The deck must hold heat consistently or bases will undercook mid-service.
How much does a commercial pizza oven cost in the UK?
UK commercial pizza ovens range from £500 for a countertop electric model to £15,000+ for a high-output gas or wood-fired oven. Countertop electric costs £500–£2,500, conveyor ovens £3,000–£10,000, gas deck ovens £2,000–£8,000, and wood-fired £5,000–£20,000. Output, venue type, and available fuel decide the right bracket.
How many pizzas per hour can a commercial pizza oven produce?
A single-deck countertop oven produces 8–12 pizzas per hour, a double-deck 16–24, a conveyor 40–120 depending on belt speed, and a large wood-fired oven 30–60. For a pizzeria serving 80+ covers a night, specify a minimum of 30–40 pizzas per hour.
Gas or electric commercial pizza oven — which is better for a UK restaurant?
Gas recovers heat faster and reaches 500°C+, making it preferred for Neapolitan and stone-baked pizza, and it costs roughly a third as much to run. Electric installs without a gas connection or flue, controls temperature more precisely, and suits tight kitchens and restaurants adding pizza to an existing menu.
Do I need planning permission for a wood-fired pizza oven in a UK restaurant?
Usually yes. Wood-fired ovens need an approved flue, which generally requires local authority approval and often an environmental health assessment. In smoke control zones — most UK cities — burning wood requires Defra-approved equipment or an exemption certificate. Consult planning and environmental health before installation.
Where to buy commercial pizza ovens in the UK
Caterzone stocks commercial pizza ovens from countertop chambers to refurbished conveyor systems. Browse the full pizza oven collection, or consider the 16" single-deck chamber oven for a pub adding pizza, the twin-chamber model for a growing takeaway, or the double-deck electric oven for a dedicated pizzeria.
For wider kitchen planning, read our complete commercial oven buyer's guide and our detailed piece on choosing the right size pizza oven for your restaurant. For help matching an oven to your covers and supply, call Caterzone on +44 7787 069044 or email info@thecaterzone.co.uk.
