One large oven or two smaller ovens?

If you need a lot of oven capacity, the largest oven is not necessarily the best solution. In some kitchens, one large 20-tray oven makes the most sense. In others, it is better to distribute the capacity across two smaller ovens.

The deciding factor is mainly what needs to be produced and whether different dishes need to be cooked at the same time.

When does one large oven make sense?

A large oven is particularly interesting when you often produce large quantities of the same thing.

This could be, for example, a catering kitchen, hotel, or production kitchen that needs to prepare many trays of potatoes, vegetables, or meat on the same program.

Here, a 20-tray oven has an important practical advantage: the trays can be prepared on a tray trolley and wheeled directly into the oven. After cooking, the entire trolley is wheeled out again, and the products can, for example, cool down directly on the trolley.

That is significantly easier than putting 12–20 hot trays in and taking them out individually.

At the same time, the investment is lower. As a rule of thumb, two 10-tray ovens will be about 30-40% more expensive than one equivalent 20-tray solution. The exact difference naturally depends on the oven model and accessories.

Two ovens offer far greater flexibility

The advantage of two ovens is that they can work independently of each other.

For example, you can slow-cook meat at one temperature in one oven and cook vegetables or bake in the other. You can also work with different levels of steam and humidity.

This can be more important than the total capacity.

If the entire kitchen's capacity is in one large oven, you can only run one oven process at a time. 20 available slots don't help much if half the products require a completely different temperature.

Baking and cooking is a good example

Two ovens are particularly interesting if the kitchen both bakes and prepares regular food.

For example, if you have roasted pork or other strong-smelling and fatty products, you wouldn't normally bake bread or cakes immediately afterwards. The oven must first be cleaned, and a thorough automatic cleaning program can easily take about an hour and a half.

With two ovens, one can therefore be used for meat, for example, while the other is kept for production where you do not want odors and grease from the other cooking.

You don't always need two ovens of the same size

The capacity can also be distributed according to the tasks.

If a small part of the production, for example, consists of slow-cooking, a smaller oven can be used for this, while the larger oven is kept free for other production.

It can therefore easily make sense to combine different sizes, for example, a 5-tray and a 7-tray oven, rather than automatically choosing two identical ovens.

Should the ovens be stacked on top of each other?

Smaller ovens can often be stacked. This saves floor space and can be a good solution with, for example, 5-, 7-, and 10-tray ovens.

However, you should be aware of the working height here. As a practical rule of thumb, the top shelf should preferably not be much higher than shoulder height – approximately 155-165 cm. This typically corresponds to a total height of about 170-180 cm to the top of the oven.

This is especially important when staff have to handle hot and heavy GN trays.

Two 10-tray ovens, on the other hand, we would normally place side by side.

What about range hoods and installation?

Two ovens also mean more installations. There must normally be a separate power connection for each oven, while water and drainage can often be combined in a convenient way.

If the ovens are to have an integrated steam condenser (range hood), the placement can also affect the price. With two ovens side by side, a solution must be used for each oven. With stacked ovens, one shared solution may be sufficient, depending on the specific configuration.

Should you choose two ovens for the sake of operational reliability?

It can be an advantage that the kitchen still has oven capacity if one oven develops a fault. However, we do not usually think this alone is a good reason to invest in two expensive combi ovens.

If backup is the primary purpose, it may in some cases be more sensible to supplement with a cheaper or used convection oven.

Only use the capacity you need

Two smaller ovens have another practical advantage: In quiet periods, you can manage with just one. When peak loads arrive, both ovens can be put into production.

This provides more flexible capacity than one large oven, which is always the same size.

300 covers don't tell you how big the oven needs to be

We sometimes encounter a request for a large oven because the kitchen needs to handle, for example, 300 covers.

But 300 covers over a whole day is something completely different than 300 covers within an hour.

Therefore, we do not size an oven based solely on the total number of guests. The interesting thing is how much needs to pass through the oven during peak load – and whether the products can be prepared on the same program.

If 15 trays need to be finished at the same time at the same temperature, one large oven can be ideal. If the production, on the other hand, consists of several different dishes with different temperatures, cooking times, and humidity levels, two smaller ovens can be the better solution.

One large or two smaller?

Therefore, there is no fixed rule.

• One large oven: often the cheapest solution and particularly efficient for large batches of the same product. A tray trolley makes handling many trays easier.
• Two smaller ovens: greater flexibility, the possibility of different preparations at the same time, and the ability to use only the capacity needed.

Before you choose, you should therefore look at the production in the kitchen's busiest period rather than just counting the total number of covers.

If you are still in doubt about the capacity, you can also read our guide on how large a commercial oven you should choose or see our selection of professional combi ovens.