To be successful and stand out in the Australian food industry, you’ll know that the food you prepare will only be as good as your equipment. With the oven often being the heart of the kitchen, choosing the right one is an important decision. Along with the make and model, you’ll also need to decide whether you want a benchtop oven or a wall oven.
Both have their own advantages and can deliver different benefits to your commercial kitchen. We’ll cover the pros and cons of each in the benchtop ovens vs wall ovens debate, helping you choose the right one for your needs and kitchen.
Oven Types:
When we’re referring to benchtop ovens, we’re including everything from Bench Top Convection Ovens, Deck Ovens, some models of Conveyor Pizza Ovens and small Combi Steam Ovens. Wall Ovens, however, typically include Oven Ranges and larger Combi Ovens.
Portability
When it comes to versatility and the ability to move an oven to suit your space, benchtop ovens are the obvious choice. They’re generally more compact and can be quickly shifted to suit your commercial kitchen, whether you’re in a restaurant, have a pop-up stall or are in a food truck.
By contrast, wall ovens are bulkier and will be installed in a designated space, meaning you’ve got less opportunity to move them if you want to reorient your kitchen. For both versatility in cooking functionality as well as the ability to move your oven to suit your needs, we recommend the Apuro 21L Convection Oven.
Space-Saving
Space-Saving Advantages of Benchtop Ovens
Along with portability, space is another major consideration for many kitchens. Space is always at a premium, and everything needs to fulfil a job in order to be worthwhile having in your commercial kitchen. Benchtop generally wins this over wall ovens as they’re typically more compact and are great at fitting into smaller spaces, leaving more room for your other important appliances, whether that’s a commercial fridge, under bench fridge, or a deep fryer. While they’re smaller, you won’t be sacrificing functionality either, benchtop ovens still offer exceptional cooking capabilities, making them a versatile choice for all your everyday cooking tasks.
Space Utilisation in Wall Ovens
While wall oven ranges do generally take up more space, they balance this minor drawback by offering additional features that may be lacking in benchtop ovens. They’re often easier to integrate into the cooking line, giving you a more streamlined operation that can make a huge difference in busy kitchens.
Cost-Effective
Cost-Effectiveness of Benchtop Ovens
Cost is often a major factor when it comes to making big investments in your commercial kitchen. Generally speaking, one of the best benchtop oven benefits is that they’re more cost-effective than wall ovens. You’ll still get plenty of performance, giving you the ability to get your kitchen up and running without having to commit to a high-ticket item straight away.
A great example of the versatility of a cost-effective option is the BakerMax Pizza Conveyor Oven HX-1E. It doesn’t just cook pizzas but can also be used for everything from nachos to steak and chicken. Along with being more affordable to purchase, benchtop ovens often don’t use as much energy, giving you more savings on power bills in the long run.
Investment in Wall Ovens
If you do have a slightly higher budget when you’re weighing up benchtop ovens vs wall ovens, wall ovens are still certainly worth considering. While benchtop ovens can do everything you need an oven to do, the price point of wall ovens is justified by their greater capacity and heat output.
Whether you’re making larger batches of food or need to be able to continuously cycle food through your oven, wall ovens offer a robust solution. Consider an option like the GasMax 6 Burner With Oven GBS6T, which can enable you to cook more in a shorter timeframe. In turn, greater output can translate into greater profit, helping offset the higher purchase price of these models.
Accessibility
Accessibility and Ease of Use
Due to their portability, you can realistically put your benchtop oven wherever is going to be most convenient for you. This makes them easier to access and can reduce the amount of bending down and reaching you need to do when you’re busy cooking or cleaning the oven after use. This factor is one of the many advantages of benchtop ovens, reducing strain on your staff while simultaneously improving productivity.
Accessibility in Wall Ovens
While wall ovens will require more bending due to their fixed nature, wall oven benefits include the fact that you can streamline the cooking process. With both a cooktop and oven in one, you can more easily switch between the two, and they’re ideal for pairing with other kitchen cooking equipment like chargrills.
Cleaning and Maintenance
Easy Maintenance of Benchtop Ovens
Just like every piece of kitchen equipment you have, you’ll need to regularly clean your oven - regardless of whether you choose a wall oven or a benchtop option. They each have slightly different setups, meaning the necessary cleaning is different too. Benchtop ovens can be a bit more straightforward to clean due to how small and accessible they are. If you choose an option with removable trays and non-stick interiors, this can make it even easier.
Steps for Cleaning Benchtop Ovens
- Daily Wipe Down: Unplug your benchtop oven at the end of the day and let it cool fully. You’ll then want to give it a wipe down with a cloth and some soapy water to remove any food or oil that’s been leftover from cooking.
- Remove and Clean the Trays: If your model of benchtop oven has removable trays, make sure you’re cleaning them on a regular basis. Take them out and let them soak in some hot, soapy water. Then, scrub them with a scratch-free scrubber to remove any residue. Rinse thoroughly and allow them to air dry before putting them back.
- Clean the Interior: If your benchtop oven has a non-stick interior, you can usually just give them a wipe down with some soapy water, and any grease will lift off fairly easily. If you’re struggling to remove tougher stains, you might want to use a baking soda and water mixture and let it sit on the stain for a while before wiping it off. Don’t scrub excessively, as you may damage the non-stick coating.
- Check and Clean Heating Elements: If there’s any food trapped around the heating elements, give them a clean with some washing liquid and a soft brush to help loosen any food debris.
- Clean the Door: The door is often a common place for oil to build up, so making sure you’re cleaning both the exterior and interior is important. We recommend a mixture of vinegar and water for glass oven doors or a simple spray cleaner and a soft cloth for stainless steel.
Maintenance Considerations for Wall Ovens
Due to the larger size of the average wall oven vs benchtop ovens, they’ll generally require a little more time and effort to clean. However, they also typically have some features that help streamline some of the process for you.
Steps for Cleaning Wall Ovens
- Self-Cleaning Function: One of the many benefits of wall ovens, like the Fagor Ikore Concept 6 Trays Combi Oven CW-061ERSWS, is that they come with a self-cleaning feature. When you activate it, it’ll raise the internal heat of the oven to an incredibly high temperature to burn off any food residue. After the cycle is complete, you’ll want to allow the oven to cool completely and then finish the job off by wiping the interior of your oven with a damp cloth.
- Manual Cleaning: For the stovetop, you’ll need to do some more heavy-duty manual cleaning yourself. Again, you can use a combination of baking soda and water to absorb and break down the oil and grease. Or, use a gentle detergent and wipe it down with warm soapy water.
- Cleaning Trays and Racks: Similar to benchtop ovens, you’ll want to remove any trays and racks so you can wash them properly. Soak them and scrub them down with hot, soapy water. Use a non-abrasive scrubber to clean them thoroughly.
- Cleaning the Door: To make sure you can see the contents of your oven easily, give your glass oven door a clean with a commercial oven cleaner or a homemade mixture of vinegar and water to clean the glass and metal parts of the door.
- Ventilation and Fan Cleaning: Ensure that the oven’s Commercial Exhaust Canopys are free of grease and food particles. You may also want to check the filters periodically to ensure they’re working well and aren’t blocked with residual grease. Use a soft brush to clean the fan blades and vents. This helps maintain proper airflow and prevents overheating.
Next Steps
While there are plenty of benefits to both benchtop ovens and wall ovens, choosing the right one will come down to the unique needs of your establishment. If you need further help in choosing the right one for you, you can book a free consultation with the team at Restaurant Equipment at any time. Or, you can contact Restaurant Equipment via email at sales@restaurantequipment.com.au or give us a call at 1300 35 25 45 now!