Running a bakery can be back-breaking hard work, especially if you don’t have the right equipment. But what is the “right” equipment in a bakery? Ideally, one that can enable you to multitask-like a commercial convection oven. A convection oven has to potential to become the backbone of your bakery, boosting efficiency and consistency, and also allowing you the versatility you need to produce a wide array of baked goods. Let’s explore all the ways in which a commercial convection can make all the difference in your bakery, and why they are indispensable to the baking process.
BREAD AND PASTRIES M ADE EASY
Bread and pastries rank first among the top 5 most profitable bakery items. So, if you are like most bakeries, you have to perfect the art of baking bread because the success of your bakery depends on the quality of your bread. The last thing you want is to take the bread out of the oven only to find that one side is properly baked, but the underside is still undercooked. This is where a convection oven comes in.
A commercial convection oven has the ability to circulate hot air evenly throughout the entire oven chamber. With even heat distribution, each loaf of bread or tray of pastries bakes uniformly, and the risk of one side being undercooked while the other is overdone is eliminated.
But it doesn’t end there. The steady airflow helps create a consistent crust on your bread, giving it the perfect texture and flavor, and enhancing overall appeal for customers.
For pastries, even heat helps achieve that delicate, flaky structure that customers love to see. It doesn’t matter what kind of bread or pastry you are making， whether it’s a batch of crusty baguettes, buttery croissants, or puff pastries, the convection keeps the temperatures consistent and airflow even, allowing you to bake effectively and attractively.
Perfecting Cookies and Biscuits
A bakemag.com survey found cookies to account for up to 12% of all bakery sales in the U.S., and it is really no surprise. Cookies and biscuits are among the most popular items in any bakery. But in order for you to level up your cookies and biscuits game, you have to bake them properly.
Again, you need a commercial convection oven. Like with breads and pastries, what the convection oven gives you is even baking. Uneven baking is especially common when it comes to cookies, and chefs constantly need to work the trays and flip the cookies. In a conventional oven, heat may still not be distributed evenly despite your best efforts, and your cookies may still end up overcooked on one side and undercooked on the other.
The convection oven’s fan circulates the hot air, ensuring that each cookie or biscuit receives the same amount of heat. The result is uniformly baked cookies with a consistent texture and temperature and a grateful baker who still has the energy and willingness to line them up for packaging, serving, or display.
Whether you’re baking classic chocolate chip cookies, delicate shortbread, or spiced ginger snaps, the convection oven will help you achieve the perfect balance of crisp edges and soft centers, which are the hallmarks of a well-made cookie.
Achieving Consistency in Cakes and Cupcakes
What makes cakes and cupcakes complicated to bake is that the baker needs incredible precision. You must achieve the perfect rise, crumb structure, and moisture content, and any mistake can lead to doming or cupcakes that sink in the center. Here again, convection ovens excel. Convection ovens are highly effective in baking these delicate items as the evenly circulating air ensures that cakes and cupcakes rise evenly.
Also, the consistent temperature in a convection oven helps maintain the integrity of the cake’s crumb. When baked under consistent temperatures, cupcakes and cakes come out tender and the perfect texture.
If you are baking layered cakes, this consistency in each layer is crucial for both aesthetic and structural reasons. Whether it’s a simple vanilla cupcake or an elaborate multi-layered cake, the convection oven delivers the even heat that is essential for creating a professional-quality product.
Versatility in Roasting and Broiling
Another important reason why you should get a commercial convection oven is that it offers other functions apart from baking. Yes, baking is the primary function, but its versatility extends to roasting and broiling as well. If your bakery offers savory items like quiches, meat pies, and roasted vegetables, these items would cook more quickly and evenly.
For example, vegetables and meats that are roasted in a convection oven come out with a beautifully caramelized exterior while maintaining moisture and tenderness inside. If you are making an item such as a quiche, where a well-roasted filling complements a flaky, buttery crust, there is no more ideal equipment than a convection oven.
Additionally, you can use the broiling function to add a golden, crispy finish to the top of casseroles, gratins, or open-faced sandwiches. With a convection oven, the options are unlimited.
Reheating and Keeping Products Warm
In a busy bakery, timing is everything, and there are often instances when items need to be reheated or kept warm before being served to customers. Several restaurants use microwaves, but a microwave can sometimes make bread or pastries soggy.
Here again, what you need is a convection oven. A convection oven reheats food without drying it: what it does is gently warm items, maintaining their texture and flavor.
The ability to keep items warm is invaluable in a bakery setting. For example, if you’ve just baked a batch of croissants but aren’t ready to display them yet, you can keep them warm in the convection oven without worrying about them becoming overcooked or stale. Your customers will receive freshly warmed products, enhancing their overall experience and satisfaction.
Maximizing Efficiency with Multiple Tray Baking
Multi-tray baking can be a nightmare with a traditional oven. It is almost impossible for the heat to reach all trays with the same intensity, and the pastries usually end up unevenly baked. If you have to bake multiple trays at once, what you need is a convection oven.
One of the standout features of commercial convection ovens is their capacity for multiple-tray baking. Not only is this possible, but the circulating air oven allows you to bake several trays simultaneously without compromising on quality.
Being able to bake multiple trays of cookies, muffins, or bread at the same time will increase your production capacity and allow you to meet high customer demand without sacrificing quality. Also, being able to bake large batches in a shorter amount of time frees saves time and frees up the oven for other tasks.
OKAY, WHERE DO I GET ONE?
If you own or operate a commercial kitchen of any capacity, Wilpreps Kitchen must be your friend. Wilprep’s Kitchen provides high-quality commercial kitchen equipment from refrigerators to food warmers to soup kettles and everything in between. Wilpreps products have a reputation of being solid, dependable, and practical in use. Check out the following convection oven by Wilprep.
WILPREP’S Commercial Gas Convection Oven Double Deck
Large Cooking & Baking Capacity: Wilprep's double-deck gas convection oven offers two spacious 7-cu. ft. chambers with 10 racks that can rest on 22 sets of brackets to best accommodate your food, from cakes to pizzas.
Powerful Performance: With 54,000 total BTU for each chamber and automatic thermostats, this natural gas convection oven precisely reaches temperatures from 150 to 500°F for baking diverse foods.
Dual Modes & Speeds: Switch the convection fans between 2 modes (cook and cool modes) and 2 speeds (high and low) to ensure fast, even heating across a variety of recipes.
User-Friendly Designs: The 60-minute timers provide quick reminders without cutting off the power, enabling continuous and efficient cooking. The built-in LED lights and glass doors allow clear monitoring of your dishes without releasing hot air.
Commercial-Grade Construction: The porcelain interiors of the commercial convection oven provide non-porous surfaces for easy cleaning, while the stainless-steel exterior offers maximum durability and corrosion resistance
From baking bread and pastries to roasting savory items, these Wilprep’s ovens offer the versatility and reliability needed to produce high-quality products day in and day out.Check out Wilprep’s kitchen for more commercial kitchen equipment,and if you are a restaurant owner, you might be interested in 7 ways you can use a commercial convection oven in a restaurant.
