What the plate tells us before we arrive
The rating plate, which some makers call a serial plate, data plate or identification label, is the oven's birth certificate. Lynx describes its plate as listing the serial and model numbers and the gas type. Middleby Marshall says its conveyor's serial plate gives the specifications that affect installation and operation, and it keeps additional electrical information there too. Blodgett asks installers to check the plate before connecting anything, so that the gas and electrical service match what the oven was built for.
For a repair that matters in three ways. Parts are ordered by model and often by serial number, because makers change burners, valves and boards partway through a model's life. The gas type tells us whether the oven burns natural gas or propane, and whether a conversion was ever done. On deck and conveyor ovens, the voltage and phase decide which elements, motors and boards fit.
- Model number, exactly as printed, dashes and letters included.
- Serial number, which often encodes the build date.
- Gas type and, on gas models, the input rating and manifold pressure.
- Voltage, phase and amperage on electric decks, conveyors and lit outdoor ovens.
Source: Lynx — Napoli outdoor oven use and install guide — The rating plate lists serial numbers, model numbers and gas type; it is attached to the bottom of the pullout tray and on the back of the use and care manual; Blodgett — 1060 gas deck oven installation, operation, maintenance — Check the rating plate before utility connections; the plate is attached to the inside of the control compartment behind the pull-out control panel; Middleby Marshall — PS640 gas conveyor oven owner's manual — The serial plate provides specifications that affect installation and operation and additional electrical information; shown in the oven components figure
Outdoor gas pizza ovens
Lynx fixes the rating plate for its Napoli oven to the bottom of the pullout tray and repeats the serial and model on the back of the use and care manual, which makes it one of the easier ones to read. Kalamazoo points owners of its Artisan Fire oven to the serial plate on the back of the oven. Alfa's North American manual says the identification label on its home ovens is on the back of the product, and Alfresco's service page puts its pizza oven serial number behind the unit.
Coyote's manuals open with a box marked for the serial number label, so the sticker supplied with the oven may already be on the cover of your booklet if whoever installed it followed the instruction. Look there before looking anywhere awkward.
When the back is built into an island
An oven set into masonry hides its back panel for good. Do not lever it out of its opening to read a label. Check the manual, the original invoice, the dealer's delivery paperwork or a photo taken during installation, and look for any plate inside a pullout tray, a crumb drawer or a lower access door that opens without tools. If none of those turns it up, tell us the maker and roughly when it was bought; we read the plate on site.
Countertop and cart models
A countertop oven can be turned carefully when it is cold and disconnected, so that the back faces you; on a cart, the plate is often visible from behind without moving anything. Keep the gas off and the hose free of strain while you look, and never move an oven that is still hot.
Source: Lynx — Napoli outdoor oven use and install guide — The rating plate lists serial numbers, model numbers and gas type; it is attached to the bottom of the pullout tray and on the back of the use and care manual; Kalamazoo — Artisan Fire pizza oven use and care guide — The serial plate is on the back of the oven; Alfa Forni — User manual, domestic ovens (North America) — The identification label is on the back of the product; a removed, altered or destroyed rating plate voids the warranty; Alfresco — AXE-PZA pizza oven care and use manual — Pizza oven model and serial number located behind the unit; Coyote — Hybrid multi-fuel outdoor pizza oven manual — The manual's cover carries a box marked for the serial number label
Wood-fired and hybrid domes
Factory-built domes normally carry a label on the metal parts rather than the masonry: the base or stand, the back of the housing, the door frame or the chimney collar area. Makers that build refractory ovens still depend on the plate. Marra Forni points installers to the nameplate for control settings, and Alfa, like Marra Forni, lists a rating plate that has been removed or obliterated as one of the conditions that void its warranty.
A site-built brick oven assembled from a kit may have no plate on the dome at all. In that case the kit's paperwork, the gas burner's own label on a hybrid, or the invoice from the builder is the record we need.
Source: Alfa Forni — User manual, domestic ovens (North America) — The identification label is on the back of the product; a removed, altered or destroyed rating plate voids the warranty; Marra Forni — Static oven manual — Refer to the nameplate for the control setting; a removed, altered or obliterated rating plate is a warranty exclusion
Deck ovens in a pizzeria
Bakers Pride says the rating plate on its countertop deck ovens is at the rear of the oven, and its electric deck manuals enclose a copy of the plate for the owner to keep, with a page to record the details. Blodgett's 1060 gas deck oven keeps its plate inside the control compartment behind the pull-out control panel. That position is protected for a reason: the panel covers the gas valve and controls.
So on a Blodgett or any deck oven whose plate sits behind a panel, read it only when the oven is off, cold and disconnected, and only if the panel opens without tools; otherwise leave it for us. The copy in the manual, a purchase record or the equipment list from the kitchen's installer usually carries the same numbers.
Stacked decks and double sections
Each section of a stacked deck oven is its own appliance with its own plate, and the two can differ in age, gas input or voltage. Photograph each section's plate and note which is top and which is bottom.
Source: Blodgett — 1060 gas deck oven installation, operation, maintenance — Check the rating plate before utility connections; the plate is attached to the inside of the control compartment behind the pull-out control panel; Bakers Pride — DP, BK, PX and P series countertop deck ovens manual — The rating plate is located in the rear of the oven; the serial number rating plate must not have been defaced or removed; Bakers Pride — EP, EB and ER series electric deck ovens manual — A copy of the rating plate is enclosed to keep for future reference
Conveyor and gas-fired stone-hearth ovens
Middleby Marshall shows the serial plate on its PS640 conveyor in the oven components diagram at the front of the manual, and the manual has a box for the model and serial number on its opening pages. Wood Stone's installation manual for its gas-fired stone-hearth deck ovens tells the reader to check the equipment data plate on the outside left of the oven to verify the voltage. Stacked conveyors, like stacked decks, carry one plate per oven.
Source: Middleby Marshall — PS640 gas conveyor oven owner's manual — The serial plate provides specifications that affect installation and operation and additional electrical information; shown in the oven components figure; Wood Stone — Fire Deck Automatic 9660 installation and operation manual — Check the equipment data plate on the outside left of the oven to verify the voltage
Reading a plate that heat and soot have darkened
Plates near a flue or a mouth tarnish, and foil labels bubble. Clean it with nothing wetter than a soft dry rag; solvents and scouring pads strip the printing. Next, shine a light across it at a shallow angle so the stamped figures cast shadows, and photograph it from several angles; a phone picture often reads what the eye cannot.
If the plate is missing, say so in the booking. Several makers, Bakers Pride among them, require the serial plate to be intact and not defaced before they will stand behind the oven, so never pry one off to read it more easily.
- Dry cloth only: no solvent, oven cleaner or scouring pad.
- Light raking across the metal from one side.
- Several photos from different angles, zoomed in rather than cropped later.
- A missing or unreadable plate mentioned in the booking, not pried off.
Source: Bakers Pride — DP, BK, PX and P series countertop deck ovens manual — The rating plate is located in the rear of the oven; the serial number rating plate must not have been defaced or removed
