[foodpump]

They all suck, but at least Blodgett has a really good warranty.

Look, convections are not ideal for small thin items like cookies. The fan blows clockwise, so product on the r,h. side of every rack will be darker. Don' t know of any convections where the fan blows both ways except for Rational ovens, but Rational is a waste of money for your purposes. If its a gas oven the bottom racks will darken faster because of where the firebox is located. This becomes apparent with small, thin, well portioned items like cookies moreso than larger items like bread.

The best oven would be a deck oven. With convection, you will be opening the doors every 5 mins to rotate the trays. Every time you open those huge doors, you blast out hot air into your kitchen, and your oven has to work harder to maintain temp.

 

[foodpump]

Yeah, decks are more expensive, no you can't stack any trays inside of them. Decks have " crowns" or cielings, typically 8-10" high. You can get decks to accommodate 1,2,4, or6 sheet pans. You can stack the decks ontop of each other though.

A convection is a workhorse, not a thoroughbred. It has only one tempertaure zone, most don' t have a damper or any way to control humidity, and as I said the fan only blows one way, so you MUST rotate the pans at least once, and depending on the oven, might have to move the lower pans to the upper racks. Most convections accomodate 5 racks or trays, and to do this means you need HUGE doors. Every time you open those huge doors, you loose heat, the fan continues to blow hot air into your kitchen. While its true that convections use less energy and less time than decks, that advantage is pretty much neutrilized every time you open those huge doors.
This is a workhorse oven and is all about formulating your product to suit the oven.


Decks have separate controls for top heat and for bottom heat, controls for heat intesity, controls for humidity, and the better ones have controls for the first 1/3 of the oven, as well as choice of steel or stone hearth. The doors are only 8"high, so you don't loose any heat when you open the doors
This is a thoroughbred type of oven, and is all about making the oven suit the baked good's requirements.

Kinda like comparing a F150 to a Lexus. Both have 4 tires and a steering wheel, but performance is very, very different.

 

[foodpump]

A deck? I've baked everything from quiches to lemon meringue tarts in them. Lots of cookies, cheesecskes and terrines in waterbaths, too.

 

[foodpump]

Rational ovens sre best used in catering, they earn thier keep with roasting meats with less than 10% weighg loss, and make money for you by re thermalising fully dressed bsnquet plates. Yes they can be used for baking, but they are still a convection oven.

At work I have a rational oven, usually once a week I need to make 6 deep dish 12" quiches. In order to have a nice product, I need to bake the quiches blind- linjng it with paper, filling with stones, baking, remiving paper and stones, baking a bit more to dry out the bottom, then putting my filling and custard mix in, and bsking until the custard has set.

With a deck, I set the bottom heat to 3, the top heat to 1, plunk my filling and custard into the raw shell, and walk away.

As I've said before, with a convection, you alter the ingredients, technique, and work flow to suit the oven. With a deck, you alter the controls to suit the product.

 

[foodpump]

Well, a convection will give you good to decent results with banana bread, scones, cookies, muffins, and cheesecake. It will give you less desirable results with pies, tarts, and quiches. The main selling point of a convection is 10% faster baking times (and therefore 10%less energy) which, currently is not really bothering you.

Deck ovens can be stacked. Many bakeries start with one or two decks, then buy additional decks when needed. However almost all decks are electric.

On the other hand, many municipalities are demanding a ventilation system with any gas appliance, and many municipalities don’t demand a ventilation system for electric ovens. Depending on your local codes and the infrastructure you have or don’t have in your bakery, this can be a deciding factor, as a ventilation system and obligatory fire suppression system (a.ka. Ansul )can get very pricey. Oh, and convections are available in electric as well.

What I suggest is finding a bakery eqpt. supplier in your immediate area and kick some tires. DO NOT confuse a restaurant supplier with a bakery eqpt supplier, the two are not the same.

Hope this helps

 

[foodpump]

Blodgett has the best warranty, but check out the warranties on the other brands anyway, they might have changed. The doors take the most abuse on a convection, and this is where a 5 yr warranty on doors is nice. Oh, and gas convections will need more maintainence than electric convections. You can also check out the Moffat brand, they have one with a smaller footprint, albeit still full-size.

One other caveat with convections— now that it’s so toasty hot in August... Every time you open those huuuuge doors on a convection, you’ll get a blast of hot air directed at you and warming up your bakery. This might sound like nit-picking, but in a small, un ventilated bakery on a hot day, it ain’t nice..... Also, the more you open the doors, the more heat you loose, and the harder the oven has to work to “ catch up”.

Take your time and do your research, once you buy, you’re stuck with it, so you better like it....

 

[foodpump]

And which one is that ?

 

[foodpump]

Fair enough. Thanks.