convection ovens in the pastry shop

[tim brock]

Hi, I'm about to start up a new pastry shop and am undecided as to which oven I should choose. I don't plan to be doing huge volume and so am not considering a full rack oven. Also my space is really tight. One option I've been considering is a mini-rack oven such as tha one made buy Baxter. It looks good on paper and the undermounted proofing cabinet is a good plus for space saving. Another oven along these lines is the mini-rack by Guyon West. This one is a little more expenxive though. Alternately, I'm thinking why not start low, save some money in start-up costs and maybe upgrade a little further down the road. In this regard I'm considering a convection oven like those by Blodgett or Vulcan etc. I know these have drawbacks, but I've used them before and I'm still standing. This option is interesting in that it could save me around $10,000 at the beginning.
Does anyone have an opinion or a recommendation for one brand. A review of the Baxter rotating mini-rack oven would be real helpful.
Thanks
tim

[foodpump]

Don't know what you mean by mini-rack ovens, but if they're the kind that only accept the 1/2 trays, don't bother. If your business grows you will have to replace them, and you won't get your money out of them when trading them in for full size ones. Also the 1/2 tray ovens won't accept many sizes of muffin pans or larger cake pans either.

When checking out ovens on line, look a the guarantees and warranties. The things that go first is the doors, beware the mnfctr that only has 1 yr warranty on the doors!!!! Don't go with super-deluxe control panels, the electronics on these panels usually go after the warranty expires and can get very costly to replace. Blodgett, Baker's Pride and Bakbar (Montague too, I think)ovens have a water injection feature which comes in handy for breads and rolls. All this is is a squirt gun aimed at the squirrel cage fan, the water evaportes on contact with the oven walls producing steam. However this cools down the oven quickly as well.

[tim brock]

Originally Posted by foodpump

Don't know what you mean by mini-rack ovens, but if they're the kind that only accept the 1/2 trays, don't bother. If your business grows you will have to replace them, and you won't get your money out of them when trading them in for full size ones. Also the 1/2 tray ovens won't accept many sizes of muffin pans or larger cake pans either.

When checking out ovens on line, look a the guarantees and warranties. The things that go first is the doors, beware the mnfctr that only has 1 yr warranty on the doors!!!! Don't go with super-deluxe control panels, the electronics on these panels usually go after the warranty expires and can get very costly to replace. Blodgett, Baker's Pride and Bakbar (Montague too, I think)ovens have a water injection feature which comes in handy for breads and rolls. All this is is a squirt gun aimed at the squirrel cage fan, the water evaportes on contact with the oven walls producing steam. However this cools down the oven quickly as well.

A mini rack oven is similar to a roll-in rack oven but stands on legs and usually naccomodates around 8 full size sheet pans. Mondels are available from Baxter, gemini, blodgett and others.
If anyone has anything to say about any of these ovens, or has feedback about a good convection oven for the pastry shop, please let me know.
thanks,
tim

[Sadie1]

Hi Tim...did you ever get the information you were looking for? I am also looking for ovens for a small bakery, just cakes and cheesecakes, and I am getting conflicting information from both restaurant owners and equipment salesmen. Some say that convection is absolutely the way to go, others say no way should I consider baking cakes or cheesecakes in a convection oven. I'm confused.

[m brown]

what type oven have you had success with?
well then, buy that type and keep the streak alive.

[tim brock]

hi sadie1,
I've decided to start with a double vulcan gas convection oven. I'm expecting it to work acceptably even though it should prove to be more labor intensive (rotating pans, etc.). As soon as I feel comfortable making a big purchase, though, I have my eye on the Baxter mini-rack rotating oven, it looks good and I've gotten good reviews for it.

[Sadie1]

Hi Tim,

Did you check out the Doyon Jet Air Ovens? It doesn't have rotating racks, but the "jet air system" is supposed to change direction every two and a half minutes or so, so you don't need rotating racks. Ever heard of it? Vulcan is supposed to be great! I'd love to hear how it goes..roughly where are you located?

[tim brock]

Hi Sadie,
I have heard of Doyon and they are supposed to be very good. Unfortunately they're also very deep (upwards of 50") and are too big for my puny bakeshop. Vulcan is a top brand but I do expect that any conventional convection oven will represent a compromise. Anyway a compromise if fine for now, we'll see how things go.
tim

[tim brock]

Hi Sadie,
I have heard of Doyon and they are supposed to be very good. Unfortunately they're also very deep (upwards of 50") and are too big for my puny bakeshop. Vulcan is a top brand but I do expect that any conventional convection oven will represent a compromise. Anyway a compromise if fine for now, we'll see how things go.
tim

[breadmeister2]

My 2 cents:

Basic & Simple to start.

The more bells and whistles, the more that breaks. I have a Vulcan gas convection oven, and after 8 years, I had to replace the electronic gas control. I did have to replace the bulb socket earlier. I'm at home now and will try to get the website for the commercial part company. They have a lot of the commercial brands and models listed along with exploded diagrams and parts lists. It is a good resource for buying replacements parts.

As for baking cakes and cheesecakes, I avoid a convection oven like the plague! I'm sure I could modify a cake recipe's method so it would work in a convection, but I've had the best results with a conventional oven.

When my partner and I first opened, we were buying our equipment from an local, established restaurant supply. They knew we wanted a oven we could bake bread in, and they asked $75. to drop off two old blodgett deck ovens which were in pretty bad shape (saved them from taking them to the dump). We chose one to keep and gutted the other for parts. We invested about $2,000.00 for 'stone' slabs and new gas controls. I then had a local metal shop make me two long, 1/4" thick iron troughs in which I pour hot water when steaming bread. It works great, but boy, I bake at a high temp, and gas deck ovens put out a lot of heat!

Good luck

[breadmeister2]

My 2 cents:

Basic & Simple to start.

The more bells and whistles, the more that breaks. I have a Vulcan gas convection oven, and after 8 years, I had to replace the electronic gas control. I did have to replace the bulb socket earlier. I'm at home now and will try to get the website for the commercial part company. They have a lot of the commercial brands and models listed along with exploded diagrams and parts lists. It is a good resource for buying replacements parts.

As for baking cakes and cheesecakes, I avoid a convection oven like the plague! I'm sure I could modify a cake recipe's method so it would work in a convection, but I've had the best results with a conventional oven.

When my partner and I first opened, we were buying our equipment from an local, established restaurant supply. They knew we wanted a oven we could bake bread in, and they asked $75. to drop off two old blodgett deck ovens which were in pretty bad shape (saved them from taking them to the dump). We chose one to keep and gutted the other for parts. We invested about $2,000.00 for 'stone' slabs and new gas controls. I then had a local metal shop make me two long, 1/4" thick iron troughs in which I pour hot water when steaming bread. It works great, but boy, I bake at a high temp, and gas deck ovens put out a lot of heat!

Good luck