A guide to the essential Equipment to run a Pizzeria

An average of 350 slices of pizza is sold every second.

The global pizza market is expected to hit $233.26 billion by 2023 with a CAGR of 10.17%, year on year from 2019 through 2023.

Pizzas are one of the most popular fast foods across the world and the Australian pizza market is growing at a rapid pace. While having the right equipment is essential to run a pizzeria efficiently, we cannot overstate the fact that the most essential tool is, the hands of your chef. The range of equipment is there just to hasten up the process.     

When you are planning to open a new pizzeria, one of the most important considerations will be the commercial kitchen equipment, particularly because of the financial aspect related to it. While the number and specific type of tools needed will naturally depend on the type of pizza you want to serve and the expected size of the business, ultimately you will find a proper oven, a mixer, one refrigeration unit and some essential smallware will suffice the preliminary needs to make the leap. You can always add on as you go and grow. 

Want to know more about the essential equipment you will need to run a pizzeria and don’t mind spending a few minutes on a good read? Here we go,  

What are you cooking?

Well, this is the first thing you need to decide. If you are opening your first pizzeria, you might plan to go with just two varieties of pizzas for the moment and get the equipment accordingly. On the other hand, if you are already a bit seasoned in the business or you don’t need to worry much about the budget you can roll out a full menu right from day one. 

The oven

To start a pizzeria you need an oven, that’s plain and simple but choosing the right oven is a little more complicated. If you are going to start with only New York and Neapolitan styles, you can choose between a convection and a conveyor oven. A conveyor oven will do the same task in less time (both pre-heat time and cooking time) than the convection but the first variety needs more operational skills.

However, deck and brick ovens are often preferred by seasoned chefs over the convection or conveyor variety. They give more power to the chef and can be used for cooking most of the styles including New York, Neapolitan, Chicago, and Sicilian, irrespective of their toppings or crust thickness. More to the point, for a well-running artisan pizzeria, brick ovens are best suited as they produce a higher number of pizzas per hour and give complete flexibility in different styles. But to use a brick oven efficiently, you need nothing less than the best operational skills.  

Mix it up

You cannot run a full-scale pizzeria without a mixer. This simple machine can considerably reduce your workload and quicken up the whole process. When it comes to the mixer for your pizzeria, the options on the plate are – spiral and planetary. Both come with their specific pros and cons and one is more suited over the other under conditions that vary from one business to another.

The basic difference between these two varieties are - Planetary mixers come with a mixing hook that runs around the mixing bowl while Spiral mixers have a fixed, spiral hook, the bowl moves around it. The first variety is widely used in restaurants and bakeries owing to their versatility – just change the attachment and you can use the same mixer for multiple purposes like shredding, slicing, and grinding.

However, if the quality of dough is more of your concern, you might like to differ. The spiral mixer creates less heat which is favourable for better pizza dough quality. The speed also compensates for the lack of versatility. For a high-volume pizzeria, you should get both. Use the spiral mixer for the dough and the planetary for other purposes. However, instead of opting for a bigger size, stick to a medium one around 25kg for optimal dough quality.    

Prep fridge

If you are opening a pizzeria, a prep fridge is something you cannot do without. It comes as a compact unit and combines a prep tabletop with a refrigerator below. Pizza prep tables make the perfect station to arrange the toppings before they go into the oven.  The combined unit enables you to top a pizza quickly while ensuring that all the ingredients are within easy reach and are kept within a maintained temperature range.

The refrigeration unit of the Commercial Pizza prep tables is ideal for storing the dough boxes and all types of sauces you may need in one place. The prep fridges are an ideal 2-in-1 solution that saves cost and space in the kitchen while adding up to the ease.  

Simco offers the widest range in refrigerated pizza tables. Starting from 1,2 or 3 door variants to a combination of drawers and doors, the collection covers it all. The door variants are more suitable if you prefer to store ingredients like cheese or sauce in bulk, while the drawers are perfect for proofing dough. The brand also offers pizza cabinets with granite top, stainless top, or chopping board to make your pick.  If you are in search of Pizza prep tables for sale to save on budget, get in touch with Simco.

Burners and Grill

A burner is necessary for the kitchen of a pizzeria for preparing the pizza sauces that are your ‘secret ingredient’ for the trademark taste and flavour. Simco offers a range of stainless-steel, heavy-duty burner cooktops with 2 to 6 burners to meet all-round sauce or topping preparation needs. These manual ignition burners with manual controls give high flexibility, are resistant to corrosion, and easy to maintain.

A grill is an optional kitchen appliance for pizzeria but if your range of menu includes certain specialized toppings, char grills can make a huge difference. Spend on stainless steel made, superior quality char grill as per the decided menu.     

Refrigerator

If you are going to run a high-volume business, you might need a separate refrigerator along with the prep fridge. Adding bar fridges or upright storage fridges and freezers in your kitchen can be always helpful to cater to any storage and refrigeration needs. Refrigerators are available with extensive variations in size, shape, and type.

Make your choice considering, the volume of ingredients you purchase at one time, how quickly you finish the inventory, energy efficiency, and associated cost. You can also opt for a walk-in or a floor standing refrigerator.

Canopies

There are some electric ovens that might not need a canopy, but for every other type, a canopy is essential. You cannot use the burners and grills without a canopy either. In canopies, there are two basic types, the ducted and the ductless. Ductless exhaust hood systems will work great if you are using electrical equipment under it. On the other hand, a ducted exhaust canopy of sufficient capacity is suited for pizzeria of all sizes and types.  SimcoHood Pizza Canopy is designed particularly for pizza ovens. 

Small wares

To run a pizzeria the list of small wares that you need can be long and it will also depend on how you will prefer to serve your customers. The list will vary depending on the business type - takeaway or eat in. Some of the most essential in the list will be, pizza peels, dough trays, pizza trays, serving boards, wheel cutters, other utensils, and accessories.  

Depending on the number of customers you will serve daily, you might also need dough rounders and dough rollers to automate the process which will save hugely on time. If you are launching your first pizzeria and going to be the head chef for it, experts suggest keeping the number of large equipment minimal and relying more on your two hands. If you are hiring a chef for your business, always consider his suggestions before finalizing the list of equipment.

If you are looking for any large equipment like canopies, refrigerators, burners, grills, or commercial pizza prep tables in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth or Hobart to start your pizzeria, get in touch with Simco - the top commercial pizza prep tables supplier, today!

The brand also has a wide collection of salad bars, square glass cake displays, curved glass cake displays, and all other commercial kitchen equipment.