Change continues to drive the commercial and non-commercial foodservice industries. There’s a growing market need for high production, space utilization, energy efficiency, and consistent higher quality cooking results. For these reasons, Marra Forni, the American manufacturer of award-winning Italian-inspired brick ovens, is introducing the ELECTRO Series Models ELST5532-1 through ELST5532-4.
These electric stackable ovens allow restauranteurs to save precious space in order to offset sky-rocketing operating, food, labor, and real estate costs. Marra Forni has also responded to the current state of the industry by creating a modular design that enables ovens to be independently stacked to increase capacity as production demand increases.
Setting the benchmark
“With the ELECTRO Series Models, Marra Forni fills three client needs with an oven that reflects the evolution of cooking based upon menu application regardless of whether the business focuses upon pizza, bakery, and pastry, or traditional foodservice production. The industry is changing and there is a changing direction to electric appliances based upon clean energy legislation initiatives. We’re working hard to get ahead of this trend and develop products that will not only be in compliance with these programs but set the benchmark for our category,” says CEO and Co-founder Francesco Marra.
By 2030, all new commercial kitchens in the state of California will not be allowed to use gas-fired equipment, which is currently the fuel of choice by many pizza businesses. Marra Forni is committed to the development of new electrical appliances to meet this change in specification and eventual demand. Fortunately for restaurateurs, electric utility costs are projected to be offset by energy rebate programs as well as State and Federal tax incentive programs.
“With our core business still being the traditional pizzeria, our customers can now offer a variety of styles regardless of pizza type, cooking temperature, hydration, all in a common footprint in the kitchen. Vertical integration of cooking decks lets our customers cook in one oven cavity at 950 degrees for Neapolitan Pizza and at 600 degrees in the oven cavity directly below for New York and Roman Style Pizza, which couldn’t be done before in a single cavity oven.”
Featuring the MarraSmart ® digital control touchscreen, each individual stackable oven oper- ates using high-efficiency radiant heating technology located within the refractory ceiling and deck brick plates to maximize thermal control for the best cooking and baking results. COO and Co-founder Enzo Marra adds, “we have been working on this project for a few years now and we are very satisfied with the result and we look forward to expanding the line.”
The pizza-based businesses in the United States currently include more than 84,000 pizzerias and pizza-centric restaurants
Versatility and precision
Marra Forni’s new full-size stackable ovens will be available in 4-model size configurations (currently offering the 55-inches wide x 36-inch depth) and able to be vertically stacked up to four decks in height. Notable features of the ELECTRO Series stackable ovens include multiple decks that can be set to different temperatures ranging from 250F degrees and 950F degrees (which is a much higher temperatures than most electric ovens reach).
The versatile ovens are ideal for high-volume pizza making as well as artisan baking and traditional cooking. The easy- to-use deck ovens can be configured as multi-deck ovens using a common chassis, or independently stacked as needed based upon production demands. Precision top and bottom infrared radiant heat control provides rapid cooking, high productivity, and increased efficiency. In addi- tion to pizza, hot sandwiches and panini, pastries, bread, and any other baked item can be prepared on the large MarraStone® cooking surface.
With labor quickly becoming a scarce commodity, both in terms of skill-level and staffing shortages, reliance upon technology as a means to compensate for lack of labor and skill-set continues to be an important factor as operators evaluate equipment purchasing options. In addition, the ovens offer enhanced thermal control which performs efficiently at a wider range of temperature settings. This enables operators the ability to expand their menu applications and offer a greater variety of foods from the brick oven.
Marra Forni is based in Beltsville, MD, is a leading domestic manufacturer and global supplier to the commercial foodservice Industry. The product line includes a full line of brick-oven cooking solutions, refrigerated prep tables, mixers, slicers and direct venting. Marra Forni currently sells and supports its products in five continents and 23 countries worldwide.
