When 13-time James Beard Award-winning food journalist Steve Dolinsky wanted to bring his acclaimed Pizza City Fest from Chicago to Los Angeles, he called local “pizza consigliere” Noel Brohner to help put it together.

And when Brohner, widely considered LA's pizza dough guru, needed an assortment of ovens and other equipment to power up his "Collab Lab," joining more than 40 hand-picked vendors representing the best of Southern California’s burgeoning pizza-making scene, he called SCE’s Foodservice Technology Center in Irwindale.

“We loaned 17 pieces of electric equipment for the show,” said SCE senior engineer Andre Saldivar, who oversees the Foodservice Technology Center, a one-of-a-kind demonstration kitchen for the latest energy-efficient commercial food service equipment and technologies.

SCE was the primary sponsor of Brohner's “Collab Lab,” a popular booth at the recent festival. It featured a fully functional, all-electric demonstration kitchen showcasing unique collaborations between local chefs and their favorite food artisans, farmers and vendors.

“Some of these top chefs were using electric pizza ovens, fryers and griddles for the first time and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive,” Saldivar said.

The Lab’s workhorse oven, a triple-deck, stone hearth, electric PizzaMaster 933, reaches 932 degrees F and can hold different temperatures on each deck.

That versatility — along with higher output, consistent temperature control and sheer ease of use — are what sold Brohner on electric over the gas ranges and wood-fired ovens he’d used for years.

“A number of my clients were stunned by how many different pizza styles you can create in one electric oven,” he said. “Top heat, bottom heat, vented, unvented, steamed, there’s so much you can do.”

“Let’s say you open at 11 a.m. for lunch,” Brohner said. “You start baking bread at 7 a.m. using steam at 500 F, then you par-bake a few [Roman-style] pan pizzas at 615 F, and you end with a beautiful Neo-Neapolitan at 700 F.”

As for wood-fired? “If you want to steam, try getting a bucket of water inside a scorching hot fire. With an electric, you just push a button,” Brohner said.

Neal DeNardi, chef and co-owner of San Francisco’s Long Bridge Pizza Company, agrees.

“When you’re busy and start loading a bunch of pies, opening and closing the door, gas ovens stay around 450 F — but we like to cook at 650 F,” DeNardi said. “You can’t beat electric ovens for the [temperature] recovery time and how hot you can get them.”

They’re also healthier — an important consideration for Joe Vitale, the Sicilian-born owner of Joe’s Pizza, with six LA locations.

“When you’re using gas ovens all day, every day you’re breathing in those fumes,” Vitale said. “I’ve been doing this for 45 years, but for the younger generation, I say go electric.”

Eight PizzaMaster units churned out 75% of the 40,000 slices Pizza City Fest vendors served up at L.A. Live’s Event Deck in downtown Los Angeles. An electric conveyer and a couple of wood-fired ovens rounded out the lineup.

Brohner wasn’t the only industry insider at the festival who relies on the SCE Foodservice Technology Center’s non-biased research and efficiency testing. Saldivar’s crew also drew praise from Drew Richards, the Denver-based regional sales manager for Marra Forni, a leading manufacturer of handcrafted commercial pizza ovens.

“I bring people in from all over the West to SoCal Edison because the [Irwindale] facility and its technical team are the best I’ve ever dealt with across the U.S.,” Richards said. “They make my job much easier.”

Brohner gave Edison International President and CEO Pedro J. Pizarro and his wife, Monica Kohler, a guided tour of the event, sharing stories and insights — along with exquisitely delicious pizza.

“I love making pizza, I love eating pizza, so this has been great,” Pizarro said. “It’s fantastic to see Edison partnering with the community and the number of pizzaioli using electric ovens — that’s the future.”

To learn more about cost-effective, energy-efficient appliances for your home or business, visit sce.com/classes and take a free online or in-person class at SCE’s Energy Education Centers.