Club kitchens need to be organized and equipped with certain components, such as a combi oven, to help optimize performance and efficiency. Utilizing a combi (short for combination) oven can add a whole new dimension to a club’s menu and the way food is being prepared, especially for high-volume kitchens. With a combi oven, chefs can steam, poach, bake, roast and cook different products without having to purchase multiple pieces of equipment.
A combi oven uses three methods of cooking in one appliance: convection, steam and a combination of steam and convection. Combi ovens are multi-function with a range of versatile features. Besides cooking with dry heat and steam, combi ovens can take on the workload of fryers, griddles, chargrills, convection ovens, steamers, proofers, sous vide appliances, and more. Convection, or the circulation of dry heat, can be used to bake bread or roast meats. The steam function delicately poaches fish, steams rice or cooks vegetables so they have the perfect texture. When using the combination function, both steam and convection work together to produce results that are moist, flavorful and have minimal shrinkage.
Combi ovens are a big investment, and while the upfront investment is more than any single piece of equipment, it’s usually still more cost-efficient than buying multiple pieces of equipment. The purchase is worth the initial price, considering how combi ovens can save time, space and money. A combi oven can help reduce your cook line, can cook more with one oven, has precise temperature and moisture control, can create consistency, has programmable menus, and it can decrease costs by increasing food yields.
As an alternative to using a separate steamer or convection oven, a combi can be used to replace both appliances and clubs that implement a combi oven see multiple day-to-day benefits from such an investment.