Commercial Foodservice Ovens Key Terms

Learn food terms associated with the different types of commercial food service ovens

Commercial foodservice ovens are the backbone of many commercial kitchens and bakeries. They allow everything from pizzas to cakes to be made in mass quantities at a faster pace so that customers can enjoy the wonderful fare a restaurant or bakery has to offer.

Take a moment to learn about the many different kinds of commercial foodservice ovens and associated key terms so that you can determine which is right for your business. Here are some common terms along with quality resources to help you along your way.

Deck ovens

Deck ovens refer to a kind of commercial oven that has multiple shelves or "decks" on which a chef may prepare food. Deck ovens are popular for baking bread, making pizzas, baking cookies, and other similar items.

Combination oven

A combination oven is a type of commercial food oven that allows the kitchen to perform two distinct forms of cooking on the same machine. Most combination ovens consist of a traditional oven along with a steamer. In this way, a restaurant can prepare meat and vegetables at the same time.

Pizza oven

A pizza oven, in the commercial sense, is an oven geared for baking pizzas, breads, calzones and other fare normally associated with Italian food. Commercial pizza ovens range from wood chip fired to gas, from brick to stainless steel. However, one common theme is that they all have a high temperature threshold since pizza is usually baked at a high heat.

Conveyor oven

A conveyor oven is an oven that has a conveyor belt attached to it. After a product, such as garlic bread, is placed on the conveyor oven, it passes through the oven and emerges fully baked on the other side. These commercial ovens are popular in sandwich shops for toasting breads.

Convection oven

A convection oven utilizes a fan to move hot air around the oven from its initial heat source. Convection ovens are either electric or gas. The large size of commercial convection ovens allows a kitchen to prepare large quantities at once.

Proofer oven

A proofer oven is a specific kind of combination oven with two compartments. The proofer side contains a climate that encourages dough to rise, while the oven compartment bakes the bread. Proofer ovens are ideal for bakeries and sandwich shops.

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