Why You Should Swap Your Pizza Oven to Infrared
Most commercial pizza ovens work the same way: they use those old-school resistive heating elements. They heat the air, and then the air (hopefully) heats your dough. It’s a slow, clunky process. We do things differently. We swap those out for short-wave infrared (IR) quartz bulbs. It completely changes how the heat actually hits your pizza.
IR vs. The Old Way
Think about it like this. With resistive coils, you’re spending a ton of energy just heating up the empty air inside the oven. It’s a waste. Infrared is different. It sends out electromagnetic radiation that goes straight into the food. You aren’t waiting around for the air to get hot because the heat transfer happensinstantly. In a busy kitchen, that’s a huge win. Your pre-heat times vanish, and your electricity bill takes a hit because you’re using fewer kilowatt-hours per cycle.
The Nitty-Gritty
These aren’t your average lightbulbs. We use halogen-filled quartz tubes. The halogen keeps the tungsten filament from evaporating, which means the bulbs actually last. We’ve dialed in the wattage so the heat coming from the top feels just like a traditional wood-fired stone oven. The best part? They usually fit right into standard R7s or SK15 sockets. It’s a simple drop-in replacement. Plus, the quartz glass is tough. It handles the rapid heating and cooling of a professional kitchen without cracking under the pressure.
A Few Things to Watch Out For
IR bulbs are smaller and react way faster. You can even hook them up to a PID controller if you want total control over your temperature zones. But here’s the catch: IR heat is intense and it moves in a straight line. If you stack your pizzas too high, or if the bulb is sitting too close to the crust, you’ll torch your toppings before the bottom is even cooked. You’ll need to spend a little time adjusting your rack height to find the “sweet spot.” And one last tip:Keep the glass clean. If grease builds up on the tubes, it blocks the heat. That doesn’t just mess with your cook—it makes the tube overheat and burn out way sooner than it should. Keep them sparkling, and they’ll take care of you.