Why are Baker's Pride Deck Ovens the Choice?

[Pizza De Puta]

In the center of the pizza universe, New York City, the vast majority of the established shops cook with Baker's Pride deck ovens to make a NY pie.  What qualities/features does the BP ovens have that make them superior to Blodgett and the others?

[Pete-zza]

In the center of the pizza universe, New York City, the vast majority of the established shops cook with Baker's Pride deck ovens to make a NY pie.  What qualities/features does the BP ovens have that make them superior to Blodgett and the others?

RE,

According to what member pizzablogger (Kelly) reported at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,14920.msg148001.html#msg148001, in respect of the evolution of the NY pizza style in NYC, the first deck oven was designed by Bakers Pride in 1945, which is a date that is consistent with what is reported at the Bakers Pride website at http://www.bakerspride.com/about.asp. By contrast, according to the Blodgett website, at http://www.blodgett.com/history.htm, the Blodgett pizza deck ovens were introduced in the 1950s. The fact that Bakers Pride was a New York company (Blodgett was in Vermont) and got a several-years head start on pizza deck ovens, it is possible that it got a first mover advantage over Blodgett and the other oven companies (including Bari: http://www.bariequipment.com/) that persists to this date. However, I'm sure that if you go over to the PMQ Think Tank (at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewforum.php?f=6) and register (if you haven't already done so) and pose your question specifically to the pizza operators working in the metro NYC area, you will no doubt get favorable opinions on the deck ovens from both Bakers Pride and Blodgett (and maybe others).

Peter

[scott123]

While, if you walk into various pizzerias in the NY area, you'll probably find a few more Baker's Pride ovens than other brands, I wouldn't consider them to be the 'vast majority.'  There's plenty of Blodgetts, Bari's and Marsals, as well as other lesser known brands. Perhaps if you go back far enough, to perhaps the 60s or 70s, BP might have put out something superior to Blodgett, but, as far as the last 30 years goes, you find just as many old Blodgetts hanging around as BPs (or other brands).

As far as I'm concerned, whether or not you're buying an old oven or a brand new one, brand is not really that critical.  What is critical, is the specifications.  Years back, quite a few ovens could do fast bakes, but, now, that number is two- at least on the gas side.  Things like BTUs, watts, peak thermostat temp, stone thickness and material, oven chamber height and brick lining are far more important than brand.