[bibi]

hi all! im planning to sell on farmer's markets and online. i have been developing and testing my baked products and recipes at home using only the old standard conventional oven that came with the house we are renting. so far im almost done with perfecting my recipes. it took me such a long time. the things im baking are cookies,meringue cookies,bread(soft bread rolls),cookie bars,muffins,cream puffs.
and so i really need help with some questions regarding ovens. im planning on buying a heavy duty or commercial countertop oven to make baking faster.
1)what kind of oven should i get? convection or a deck oven?
i really liked the thought of a convection oven being able to bake multiple trays at the same time.
but im worried my items wont come out as i baked them before.
2) for deck ovens,i've searched online but they say they are pizza ovens? lol but if you could use them for things other than pizza. does it work like the conventional house oven?
also how do you deal with it having no racks? i always bake at middle rack. so how do i do that on a deck oven?
wont the bottoms burn?
i just want to avoid wasting money buying an oven that wont work for me. i see online i could purchase a convection for around 500 and a 2 deck oven for about 2k.
thank you!

 

[chefross]

The topic of convection ovens has been talked about here on the threads.
Consensus is that convection ovens are an oven with a fan that blows the hot air around. They all have hot spots and are useless for things like meringues, cream puffs, and muffins as they fan blows on them making them lean to one side.
Convection ovens are best for roasting not for delicate baking.

 

[JohnDB]

What Chef Ross said.

 

[bibi]

thank you so much for the response! thats what i have read on other threads but somewhat read conflicting answers too. do you know how to deal with deck ovens? like how do you use it when baking muffins,cookies and cakes? it touches the bottom of the deck oven right? do i need to put the pans on some rack or something?
also the counter size deck oven i saw online mostly specifies it for pizza use. can i use that as well for baking my things?

 

[JohnDB]

thank you so much for the response! thats what i have read on other threads but somewhat read conflicting answers too. do you know how to deal with deck ovens? like how do you use it when baking muffins,cookies and cakes? it touches the bottom of the deck oven right? do i need to put the pans on some rack or something?
also the counter size deck oven i saw online mostly specifies it for pizza use. can i use that as well for baking my things?

A regular deck oven is going to be expensive and is not for frozen pizzas. The chamber is between 8-12 inches tall. The best floors of the ovens are made of a type of stone. And they don't burn the bottoms because you control the temp of the bottom and the top heat. Also the venting or injection of steam.

 

[coluccianthony48]

Convection ovens are generally accepted to be ovens with a fan to circulate the heated air. For items like meringues, cream puffs, and muffins since the fan blows on them and causes them to lean to one side, they are all hot spots and unusable.

 

[surfcast]

This is a great thread so what oven do you suggest for baking.

 

[JohnDB]

This is a great thread so what oven do you suggest for baking.

There are many various brand names....
A bakery sized deck oven will have just about any brand name slapped on it...Polson, Doyon, Thomas, and etc. (Made in HK and Shipped everywhere)

The best way is to look it over carefully to see the chambers that have a heavy stone/steel bottom, sealing for injection of steam or venting of that steam. Controls for each chamber of top and bottom heat...and possibly more zones than that but that's the minimum.
These ovens take an hour to heat up...but then they don't require rotating the baked goods to get an even bake. The doors are often counter weighted and heavy. They open in and not out.

Most are electric...there are a few that are gas or gas/steam...but horribly huge.

Google up a "Doyon 4T4" for a typical bakery oven. $120K. (Plus assembly and installation)

Do NOT get a new "combi" oven that can do convection plus bread baking. They are too fiddly with the electronics...they blow up because the water pressure feeding the steam injectors was off by 10psi....and you weren't even using the steam that day. They are computers that have an oven attached as an afterthought.