The Nuts and Bolts of Commercial Oven Parts & Accessories
As a restaurant business owner, you know that high-quality commercial or specialty ovens (like convection ovens, rotisserie ovens, or rapid cook ovens) are some of the most powerful workhorses in your kitchen. For some restaurants, like pizzerias or sub shops, it may be one of the only appliances in your kitchen. The last thing you want is for your oven to fail on you, which is precisely why keeping up with your oven's cleaning and maintenance protocols is essential.
At Eleven36, we know having access to high-quality oven parts and accessories is key to keeping your customers coming back, which is why we have put together this handy guide to oven parts, accessories, and maintenance for you to follow.
Your Heating Heart: Getting Familiar with Common Oven Parts
Ensuring that your oven parts and accessories are in good working condition is vital to keeping you and your kitchen staff safe! Faulty ovens and oven parts also pose considerable risks to your kitchen, customers, and equipment. Eleven36 cares about making sure your commercial kitchen is safe and successful, so let us help you get familiar with your oven's parts and accessories so you can care for them properly.
- Heating Elements: The heating element in electric ovens is the muscle behind its cooking power! As its name implies, the heating element, usually a coil or ribbon of heat-resistant metal (like Nichrome) at the bottom of your oven chamber, is what makes your oven hot by absorbing electricity that heats the metal. This process is known as "joule heating." On the other hand, gas ovens heat up with a slightly different process. They use natural gas to maintain flame heat in your oven chamber.
- Thermostats and Controls: The controls on your oven are directly connected to an oven thermostat that measures the temperature inside the oven. They are also connected to the heating element. This means that turning the control up or down regulates how much heat the heating element should produce. In gas ovens, your controllers dictate how much gas is released and how hot the flame gets. Thermostats need to be calibrated in order to work properly.
- Door Parts: Oven doors are more complicated than you may think. Seals along the door's edges keep the heat and steam in, which is important for kitchen safety. The hinges are also incredibly important for ensuring the door stays in place and doesn't accidentally fall open, exposing you to the heat. Lastly, the door handles are made to be heat resistant to avoid burns. If any of these parts start to fail, you risk serious injury, ruined food, and faulty equipment.
- Additional Accessories: Oven racks are the metal grates that you set your pans and trays on to cook. If oven racks fail, the food in your oven could fall to the bottom of the chamber, burn, emit tons of smoke, and even start fires. Some foods are better when baked directly on certain surfaces, like pizza stones (if you don't have a pizza oven), salt blocks, or soaked wood planks. When used correctly, these accessories produce incredible textures and flavors. When misused, you risk burns to your food, burns to the oven user, and worse. It's always a good idea to have extra oven racks and stones on hand, just in case.
It's no surprise that normal wear and tear happens. So, when you notice that any of your oven's parts and accessories could use replacement, Eleven36 has got you covered! We stock a large selection of replacement parts and new accessories to make sure you've always got what you need to keep your doors open.
Burning Curve: Tips to Keep Your Oven in Top Shape
In order to keep your oven in the best condition and extend its lifespan as much as possible, be sure to follow these basic guidelines:
- Regular Cleaning Protocols: Aim to maintain a daily and monthly cleaning routine to keep your oven clean and safe.
- Daily: Remove all food debris and residue from the oven chamber and exterior surfaces. Sanitize any oven parts that are regularly touched by kitchen staff. Make sure you're using the correct procedures and products for the materials you're cleaning (like stainless steel or cast iron).
- Monthly: Inspect electrical plugs, wires, and ports. For gas ovens, check on all gas lines and fuel parts. Pull out the oven (if possible) to clean around and underneath the appliance. Scrub stuck-on grease, soot, and other food residue that has built up over the last month. Clean your wheel casters as well to prevent bacterial growth in the cracks and crevices near the oven.
- Inspection Routines: You'll want to closely inspect your oven grates, heating element, thermostat probe, and electrical or gas connections for possible wear and corrosion every 2-3 months. Having a professional appliance service technician inspect your restaurant equipment yearly is also an excellent way to prevent any unnoticed issues from worsening and causing costly repairs or dangerous accidents.
- Lubrication and Tightening: In addition to your regular cleaning and inspecting, routine maintenance like lubricating squeaky hinges and tightening the screws on loose parts (like handles and electrical ports) are an easy way to stop unnecessary wear in its tracks and keep your oven working like new.
If you’re looking for a more comprehensive checklist of every oven part that needs to be checked, we recommend this one!
Between a Rack and a Warm Place: Signs It's Time for Commercial Oven Repairs or Replacements
Sometimes, normal wear and tear isn't visible to the naked eye. This is especially true with electrical malfunction and metal degradation. However, there are a few telltale signs you can look for that will tell when your oven is calling for help.
- Inconsistent Baking Results: If your food starts coming out unevenly cooked or takes longer than normal to bake, it's time to check your heating element and electrical components. If any of them are failing or beginning to rust, you'll need to replace them.
- Strange Smells: You can expect new appliances to have a temporary chemical smell (like burning plastic) the first few times you use them. However, if you've had your appliances for a while and suddenly notice a smell of burning plastic or toxic chemicals, then you may have a wiring malfunction, gas leak, or issue with the oven's insulation. Turn your oven off immediately and have it checked by a professional.
- New Noises: Sudden sounds like rattling, vibrating, or grinding can indicate that there's an issue with one or more of your oven's internal components. Blower fans, cooling motors, or electrical connections can all make sounds like these when they're breaking down. Humming, clicking, popping, and buzzing, on the other hand, can all be normal sounds caused by rapid heating and cooling. But if you notice a sudden onset of these noises in an oven that had always been quiet, it's worth checking it out.
- Increased Energy Consumption: Any significant and unexpected increase in your monthly energy bills could also indicate that your oven is using more energy than it should. This can happen for several reasons, including faulty wiring, corroding heating elements, and inefficient convection blowing.
Reaching New Heats: The Impact of High-Quality Oven Parts
Look, there's a reason they say that investing in quality commercial equipment is an investment in your food service establishment's success! Commercial equipment is far superior to residential-grade equipment when it comes to durability, energy efficiency, and raw power. But if you ignore your regular cleaning and maintenance or fail to address issues like wear and tear, you'll only be hurting your own pocketbook in the long run.
- Optimizing Operations: Similar to the quality difference between commercial and residential appliances, there's a huge leap in quality between premium and non-premium commercial oven parts and accessories. And yes, it's worth it to invest in premium quality! You'll be saving yourself money in the long run on operational costs, energy consumption, repair and replacement expenses, and appliance lifespan.
- Consistency in Food Preparation: Let's be real; you have a reputation to maintain! Another major benefit to keeping your oven in good operational condition is that your reputation will never take a hit from faulty cooking equipment that leads to inconsistent food.
- Energy Consumption: It may not be something you've ever thought to track before, but let us assure you, tracking your energy consumption is an absolute must! There are tons of small steps you can take to knock down your energy usage and costs—you just have to look for them. For example, only running your commercial warewasher when it's full can greatly reduce your overall energy usage in a given month.
Bringing All the Bits and Pieces Together with Eleven36
Your oven is one of the beating hearts of your kitchen, and you wouldn't neglect your heart health, would you? Keeping your industrial ovens, along with their parts and accessories, clean, intact, and in good working condition is absolutely essential to helping your restaurant run smoothly, efficiently, and at the high standards your loyal customers have come to expect.
Eleven36 knows you want to stay proactive with your commercial oven cleaning and maintenance routines, which is why we only stock the highest quality ovens, parts, and accessories at competitive prices for you to choose from. Our expert team is always on deck to get you the long-term solutions you need to avoid unnecessary costs in your business, so browse our online showroom today and grab the right part to keep those ovens firing on all cylinders!