4 Advantages of Dining at Restaurants With Cordierite Pizza Ovens

The way pizza is cooked varies from restaurant to restaurant, and the options you select can make a big difference with the type of pizza you receive. When you dine at an Italian restaurant, one of the options you may come across is a cordierite pizza-baking oven. The all-natural stone has been used for years in pizza ovens and comes with many advantages.

Learn what to expect with this form of a pizza oven and how it can positively impact your dining experience.

A typical pizza includes a lot of setup with the dough, sauce, and toppings, but you do not want to sit in a restaurant waiting forever for the pizza to cook. One of the biggest advantages of a cordierite pizza oven is the fast baking times. Cordierite stone has the ability to withstand high temperatures and can bake a pizza at over 500 degrees.

The temperatures mean that your pizza will cook much faster and reduce the time you have to wait to enjoy your meal. The stone retains heat well so it can maintain temperatures throughout a whole business day and continue to supply fast cook times as the kitchen orders roll in.

Unlike other stone options like brick, the slab of cordierite stone doesn't need to be super thick to retain heat and be useful inside a pizza oven. The lower profile gives restaurants a lot of options when cooking pizzas. You can order pizzas with toppings piled on top and not have to worry about the pizza being too thick for the oven.

Restaurants also have the option to experiment with different crust sizes and thicknesses. You may see more pizza options available when you dine at a restaurant that relies on the lower-profile pizza oven.

The flat style and properties of cordierite stone also include the advantage of even heating. The stone will heat consistently around the whole pizza. You will not have half of a pizza that is cooked more than another half. The stone creates a nice even cook on the bottom of the crust that helps create crisp edges while maintaining an even cook for the cheese and toppings.

Many restaurants will cook the pizza directly on the stone, but others rely on a pizza pan for thicker pizza options. Both options still provide an even cook across the stone as temperatures are transferred. Restaurants do not need to worry about cold spots or sections of the oven without enough heat.

When multiple pizzas are cooked at once, the even heating continues due to the heat transmission provided by the cordierite.

Pizza ovens made with cordierite will typically have two separate oven bays. The separate ovens allow a restaurant to set different temperatures in each one. While one oven is dedicated to cooking pizzas at high temperatures, another oven can provide heat options for multiple Italian dishes.

For example, if you order a baked pasta dish, the cordierite stone will help add an even heat to the pasta and create a nice melt for the cheese on top of the dish. The quick addition of heat will help meals taste fresh and ensure everyone's dinner is served at an ideal temperature.

Check out the pizza menu and extensive Italian food options available at Picano's Italian Grille. We cook in our pizza oven daily and have a variety of specialty pizzas and toppings. For example, our Picano's special includes pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, bacon, ham, green peppers, and onions. You can also select your own pizza toppings.