Commercial convection ovens have a great number of advantages over their domestic counterparts – they are quicker, hotter and all-round more efficient. To operate at maximum efficiency, though, they require careful maintenance. Frequent cleaning forms an important part of oven care.
As a professional caterer, you will also find that there are all sorts of rules around food hygiene, and keeping a spotless commercial oven goes a long way to complying with these regulations.
Make sure the oven has cooled since its last use.
This is an essential step for your own safety and will help you avoid burns.
Remove racks
This is partly to make it easier to clean the sides and back of the oven and partly because the racks catch food spills and drips and need careful cleaning themselves. Give them a good scrub until they are free of food debris and put to one side to dry thoroughly.
Clean inside of oven
Concentrate on the bottom of the oven where there may be spilled food, but don’t neglect the top and sides, as they might well have been splattered with oil or other foodstuffs. Fans can accumulate debris and this needs removing to ensure that your equipment is operating at optimum efficiency. If you clean your oven often enough, it’s unlikely you will need much more than soapy water and a bit of elbow grease but, if you have stubborn patches of “cooked in” food, there are several excellent preparations on the market for cleaning domestic and commercial ovens. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, because these contain fairly powerful chemicals
Reinsert racks
Make sure the racks are properly inserted into their respective slots, then leave the oven open, ideally overnight, so it is completely dry when you next use it. As users of commercial ovens, like those offered by https://www.247cateringsupplies.co.uk/catering-equipment/heavy-cooking-equipment/commercial-ovens-ranges will testify, damp ovens generate steam, which can scald you and hinder food preparation.
Frequency
There is so much to do when you run a catering operation, from food preparation to buying supplies and doing accounts, that the temptation to put off jobs like cleaning the oven is understandable. Do keep on top of this particular task, though, as it can save hours of work at a later stage and help you keep a safe and clean food business.