Choosing the Best Bakery Oven: Guide to Oven Types & Features
The oven is the heart of any bakery. Afterall, it’s the place where all your delicious ideas for creations become reality.
Depending on the type of bakery you’re running, you may need different ovens to achieve the best results. Today, we’ll walk through each type of baking oven, its features, and its best uses to help you decide on the best bakery oven option for your operation.
All You Knead to Know: Different Types of Bakery Ovens
If you’re exploring your different bakery oven options, remember that many factors can play into your selection. Each type of bakery oven has different heat distribution and will yield different baking results.
In the world of baking, there are three main types of ovens:
- Convection Ovens
- Deck Ovens
- Rack Ovens
Which type of oven is best for which application? Here, we’ll break down the best bakery ovens for every kind of baking project and operation.
Convection Ovens: You Got What it Cakes
Convection ovens feature fans that circulate hot air within an oven chamber—the movement of the air results in even heat for fast, uniform baking. Most commercial convection ovens have adjustable fans and multiple racks, allowing you to fit in many different baked goods at once.
Convection ovens have consistent even temperatures thanks to the airflow. That means there’s no worry about hot spots or uneven browning—even when baking up multiple batches. Convection ovens are especially wonderful for cookies, muffins, and delicate small-batch pastries.
Small and medium-sized bakeries rely on their convection ovens to handle all of their delicious pastry projects. Convection ovens can do a wide variety of tasks, but they typically aren’t the best choice for certain artisan breads that need a more intense heat source to get a good crust.
Deck Ovens: The More You Dough
Get all your batches on deck with a deck oven. These ovens are the gold standard for making delicious, crusty bread. Deck ovens have multiple chambers (or “decks”) with independent heating controls. Many of these ovens have stone and ceramic baking surfaces for a uniquely intense radiant heat.
The stone surface of a deck oven is similar to a traditional hearth. Deck ovens work well for pizzas and flatbreads—items that call for high heat. You’ll get a delicious, thick, crispy crust with a moist and airy inside. In other words, deck ovens are the go-to pizza ovens for crust perfection.
Who uses deck ovens? Many classic bakeries and restaurants use deck ovens for their baguettes, pizzas, bread, and other projects. Because the decks are temperature-controlled, bakers can accommodate several different products at once.
Rack Ovens: History in the Baking
Rack ovens are ideal for high-volume baking and production in a commercial kitchen. A rack oven includes slots for multiple racks or trays. Load them up with product and rotate them during baking. Some rack ovens may use convection heat and steam injection for mass production.
Most racks rotate during baking, so everything turns out nice and even. Sometimes, your bakery team may need to rotate the racks manually.
Although rack ovens don’t quite have the same crust abilities as deck ovens, they’re an excellent choice for big batches of rolls, cake, bread, and other baked delicacies.
You’ll find rack ovens in large bakeries, supermarkets, and food production facilities requiring a high-volume baking solution. These are the ideal oven for operations where you need many batches of bread, rolls, or pastries at once.
Food for Torte: Oven Capacity and Bakery Size
So, how do you decide which type of bakery oven will be best for your business? You may need multiple ovens, especially if you’re producing a lot of baked goods each day. You’ll also want to look at the size of your kitchen and the space you can dedicate to an oven (or to multiple ovens.
A convection oven is a versatile choice. However, bakers can’t always get the perfect crust with a convection oven. Getting a sear on meats is also tricky, making them less versatile for restaurant-bakeries and facilities that produce many different foods. Convection ovens are also not always the ideal choice for souffles and custards, as the heat is distributed too evenly.
A deck oven will help you achieve that golden brown crust and “brick oven” taste your customers crave. However, delicate pastries and cookies may fare much better in a convection oven.
For high-volume baking, you can’t beat a rack oven. Catering, commercial bakeries, and food production facility workers appreciate the ability to time many batches perfectly all at once. For rolls, cookies, and multiple bread loaves, a rack oven will keep up with the pace.
Fortunately, most types of ovens, including standard ovens, are available in different sizes and capacities to suit your facility. Consider what you’ll need to hit as a daily output today as well as in the future (assuming that your bakery will experience growth over the next few years, and you’ll want an oven that can keep up).
Consider the number of batches you need to create each day and any other dishes or baked goods you’ll produce in your restaurant. If your kitchen does more than bake, you may need to invest in multiple ovens—some dedicated to baking and some conventional ovens for your other dishes.
Remember that an oven is an investment in your long-term success. A reliable oven is a make-or-break piece of equipment that’s needed in almost every kitchen. It’s worthwhile to spend a little more “dough” to get an oven that can handle your needs now and in the long run
Flour Power: Energy Efficiency and Utility Costs
Is a commercial oven a significant energy consumer? It can be. However, most modern commercial ovens are made to be as energy efficient as possible, as manufacturers recognize the importance of affordable, reliable operation.
Of the most common types of bakery ovens, convection ovens are the most energy-efficient choice. Thanks to their internal fans that circulate hot air, these ovens work fast and efficiently—reducing temperatures and baking times (as well as your utility bills).
Deck ovens are less energy-efficient than their convection counterparts. Radiant heat on stone or ceramic decks requires a longer time to preheat. However, because the deck ovens retain heat well, they can still be an energy-efficient option. Your choice also depends on your needs—you may need a deck oven to get the artisan-quality bread that your customers demand.
Finally, rack ovens use convection heat, similar to convection ovens. These high-capacity ovens can accommodate large quantities at once, making them also energy efficient. While their larger size may require more energy to preheat and heat, they are still an efficient choice if they are used to capacity.
While convection ovens are generally the most energy-efficient choice for bakeries, all modern commercial ovens are built to use energy as efficiently as possible. It’s essential to choose the oven that will best meet the needs of your customers and your bakery goals.
The biggest way to ensure that your oven is energy efficient is to stay up on scheduled maintenance and watch for any issues with heating and temperature. You should regularly check your oven’s temperature to ensure it works as expected. Address any concerns, like malfunctioning fans or cold spots, right away.
Keep your oven clean, including the seal around the door. A well-maintained oven will operate efficiently and last for years—even if you use it every day.
A Loaf Less Ordinary: Baking Performance and Results
How does your oven choice impact the outcome of your delicious baked goods? The type of oven you select can significantly affect the quality of your bakery items; that’s why it’s so essential that you choose the best oven for your particular situation. It’s not a one-size-fits-all decision.
Convection ovens have even heat distribution for uniform baking. Bakery convection ovens ovens cook items quickly and evenly. All items in your oven get done at the same rate—batches come out with consistent quality, making them the best option for many kitchens.
Convection ovens may not be the best choice for sponge cakes and souffles. The circulating air can dry them out or cause them to overcook.
Deck ovens offer direct, radiant heat. The stone deck or ceramic baking surface creates that amazing crust on different types of bread, rolls, and pizza. You get a crispy crust with an airy, moist interior. Rustic, classic breads turn out perfectly every time with artisan deck ovens.
Of course, with radiant heat, you can get slight temperature variations compared to the airflow in a conventional oven. This means that there’s more room for differences in the results across batches.
With rack ovens, you can cook high volumes of baked goods at once using convection-style heating. The air moves evenly across the multiple trays for consistent results time and time again, and the racks automatically rotate. Many offer the ability to inject steam, producing a good crust on bread and a glossy finish on pastries.
Rack ovens don’t have the same high-intensity radiant heat that you get with deck ovens. Artisanal bread, pizzas, and crusty rolls might not turn out quite as well in a rack oven.
Consistent heating is crucial for all baked goods. When the temperature is inconsistent, your results are also inconsistent. For the best control, convection ovens offer extremely even heat distribution, ideal for pastry chefs. Deck ovens may have temperature variations, but the consistent radiant heat of the cooking surface can be ideal for certain types.
The right temperature is essential for a good rise on dough, the perfect crust, and a delicious texture throughout your baked products. Bread’s springiness and chewy crust call for high heat. Delicate pastries may need to be a bit more low and slow.
Steam injection capabilities in deck and rack ovens help keep the dough moist during the first phases of baking. You get excellent, professional results with the added steam.
So, which oven is the best choice for temperature accuracy and consistency? Generally, convection ovens yield the most accurate and stable temperatures. However, all commercial ovens will feature built-in sensors and controls to ensure they hit the right temperature across the baking chamber.
Easy as Pie: Choosing the Best Oven for Your Bakery
At Eleven36, we carry all the commercial oven options to ensure your bakery serves up delicious, beautiful results. We understand that baking is truly an art form—one that requires a strong attention to detail.
The question of which type of oven is best for your business requires you to look at many different factors. You’ll want to balance the cost with the quality. Look at the upfront costs, the long-term expenses, and the durability and lifespan of the oven.
The upfront costs can vary significantly by the size, features, and type of oven you choose. While cost is an important factor, it shouldn’t be the only basis for your choice. The highest quality ovens may have a higher cost upfront, but you can get better performance well into the future.
High-volume bakeries may call for the efficiency and consistency of a rack oven. Artisan breads and brick-oven-style pizzas may call for a deck oven. An operation that primarily focuses on pastries and cakes may do best with a convection oven. It all depends on your goals and needs.
- Convection Ovens: range between $2,000 to $10,000 depending on the size, brand, and features.
- Deck Ovens: range between $5,000 and $30,000 (or more), depending on the size and materials.
- Rack Ovens: are often the most expensive, from $10,000 to $50,000+ for advanced features like steam injection.
Depending on the scale of your bakery and the needed output, an oven (or multiple ovens) is the mainstay of your kitchen. It’s important to look at them as an investment and to assess the long-term value of consistent, high-quality product.
No matter if you decide on a convection oven, a deck oven, or a rack oven, you’ll find what you need at Eleven36. We carry the top industry brands, so you always know you’re making a smart decision.
We carry over brands like:
These brands set the standard in commercial ovens and cooking equipment. If you’re choosing a good oven for your bakery and have questions, please reach out. Our team of experts is here to help you find the kitchen equipment you need!