Commercial Countertop Convection Oven Suggestion?

I'm considering offering Jamaican Beef Patties. They come frozen in cartons, so I'd need to bake them and am considering a countertop oven for my trailer. Any one know any good ones?

Here's what I THINK I need:
1/2 size, 120V, well insulated so my trailer doesn't feel like an oven instead of a sauna during the summer.
For those that do not know. Jamaican Patties are more like Empanadas than hamburgers. Basically its meat or other filling in a golden flaky crust. It's got to be baked and then held in a dry hot display to remain just right.

Hello
You might want to consider a counter top pizza oven.
here is a link
http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/pizza-supplies/countertop-pizza-ovens/c3656.aspx
 
Not sure about keeping cool, you might have to build something around it or provide for some good exhaust venting
 
Al

I've had an older 110V model half sheet OV-350 Cadco that I bought used about 6 years ago or so. It's a bit more then 10 years old and I've had one minor repair so far. The oven is excellent and I use it a lot in place of my kitchen oven. It's very even and bakes and roasts far better then the home unit. Mine is all analog with manual controls. It's been succeeded by another in the past few years that looks pretty much the same.  What I thought was going to be a very costly repair turned into a relatively minor one. I'd give this one a thumbs up. The Cadcos are a bit costly new, but can be found relatively cheaply used. They're quite popular down here in the Bodegas doing three sheets of cuban bread at a time and in the Grocery store deli's. The fact that they can do loaves of cuban bread as evenly as a deck oven speaks well of them. 

Problem with going with the countertop pizza ovens is you'd have to go with a 16" size for anything useful. The Wisco and related types are only suitable for warming things up like frozen pretzels and food. They don't have a stone surface or a radiant stone lined chamber. Going to a 16" countertop mini deck oven that are usually 2 deck is not only going to be expensive, hot, and heavy, they most likely are going to be 220V for one that's useful. Nice to have if you're doing small volume Pizzas, but not practical for general baking in a trailer or small concession as an all purpose oven.

Vollrath makes a Mini Prima Pro model. Not too heavy in weight or price.
 
http://www.prizerestaurantequipment.com/store/vollrath-40703-mini-prima-pro-half-size-convection-oven-broiler-120v-anvil-coa7002.html

First of all I would go with a gas fired oven. Even a 120V electric is going to pull 15 amps. If you do festivals it doesn't take long to use up more amps then they supply. Comstock Castle makes a couple of different sizes of gas fire counter top pizza ovens. They range in size from 24" to 36". Depending on what model you may want some kind of exhaust. Also the gas units should get up to temp faster.

I've been eyeing a small, single deck oven and have taken a look at the doubles too in electric. They're mighty expensive even used. They also weigh a ton and I don't think that a couple of hundred pounds is appropriate for a trailer or the radiated heat. Ideally, you'd want to keep these on too. I have no idea how much gas a 30K burner consumes relative to a tank. My Cadco pulls about 10-12A, low enough to run other appliances on the same circuit. It does get up to temp pretty quickly and has the added benefit of a broiling element if one needs to finish,brown,or melt over a small deck oven. I'd be the last person to dismiss the usefulness of a deck oven, but in this case I think he'd better served by a light weight convection oven especially if he's preparing by the pan. Most all of these small, footprint convection ovens will accept 3 or 4 sheet pans.

Go to E-bay and search "wisco oven"-currently they have more than 20 available. I use the model 616 in my trailer. This unit will take a half sized pan and is small enough to sit on a shelf above my sandwich prep box alongside my microwave. By mounting it higher in the trailer most of the heat goes directly to the roof vents and adds little heat to the interior. There is currently one used 616 on auction currently bid below reserve at $41 plus $35 shipping.

Do you have a linK? I can't find a 616. I thought the model was a 560X that was the 16"unit.

Thanks All!  I'll check those brands out.  Heat won't be much of a concern as I'll have it on the smoker deck anyway.  The heated display will be on the interior.

I have a Lang 1/2 pan 5 rack convetion oven , its digital and has a manual override, It weighs about 250lb. I had hell picking it up , cos its so awkward. I would recommend a gas oven in a trailer though as this uses 7.5 kw - about 38A at 220v that would suck all the power out of a 16hp generator

Heck, the Cadco is so light, they used to sell a padded carrying bag with a shoulder strap to transport it for caterers. It only weighs about 50 lbs for a 1/2 pan, 4 rack capacity and 110V. IIRC, at the time we were looking at these, the only two commercial 1/2 racks that were available at the time in 110V were the Cadco and Anvil (Vollrath) that CC mentioned above.

Alto-Shaam is 220v and looks small. I think that little baby  is over 250 lbs.

That's one beauty of a machine CC. Between the multiple zones, programmable cycles, I think they even have a smoke or steam option. The Publix's down here have re-fitted their delis with those units and removed everything else except the microwaves and rotisseries. 

They make great stuff that usually can be picked up used at a real bargain for the quality. Just try to pick them up...and move them.

catnhatnh


Go to E-bay and search "wisco oven"-currently they have more than 20 available. I use the model 616 in my trailer. This unit will take a half sized pan and is small enough to sit on a shelf above my sandwich prep box alongside my microwave. By mounting it higher in the trailer most of the heat goes directly to the roof vents and adds little heat to the interior. There is currently one used 616 on auction currently bid below reserve at $41 plus $35 shipping.

 
From what I gather, these handle no larger then a 12" x 13" insert and not 1/2 sheet pans.

Correct...
 
http://www.thepizzaoven.biz/myhtml/ovens/616man.pdf

I searched around last evening and noticed some new offerings in reasonable priced and light CO's. Most notably Adcraft which usually indicates that soon there's going to be a several no-name similar looking models also made in China for hundreds less. Not a bad thing either. I've been very impressed with the quality of some of the recent knock-offs that I've purchased.

Speaking of knock-offs the Ninja Kitchen System by Euro-Pro  is a pretty good knock-off. It is not a Vitamix...but for the price very good. It will not heat soup but kick it to a pot to save a few hundred if Vitamix is out of the price range.

We have a older version of the Wisco digital we use in the auction house kitchen. (Ours has a manual timer,)We use it to cook small rectangular pizzas we buy at BJ's. It works ok, takes about 10-12 minutes to cook a pizza. The heat is not as even as you would have in a pizza oven with ceramic shelves. We have had problems with in if we get real busy (doesn't happen often) and it shuts down to cool down. If electric usage is not a problem go with a 1/4 size convection oven or a real counter top pizza oven.

Last year I bought one of the original Ninja's as an under 30 buck refurb at Big Lots originally marketed as a iced drink maker. It performed very poorly in it's intended use or as a blender. It does however work better then any food processor I've owned including my KA. I don't get their marketing though. They came out with an improved version of mine around Christmas as the Ninja 2 then after the holiday season, started selling the current one reworked as a blender system with the motor in the base. My old 2 speed Waring put's the original to shame blending, so does my KA immersion blender. The big blades of the Ninja make for a very granular iced drink or smoothie and a grainy textured pea soup. From what I see, the new model uses the same blade arrangement and probably doesn't do any better.
 
The Chinese knock off market has several commercial blenders now that look like a Vita Mix and some of the commercial blenders that have the high torque pulse-width motors in the 100-200 range. Several models on e-bay.

My Mother was not jumping on a Vitamix so when the 1100 came out...she was on QVC in a hurry. I am still trying to teach her how to program the VCR  to tape All my Children.
 
They shot through the 1000 rather quickly.

have you seen the Shelly manufacturing model BR-1
its a small 2 deck pizza oven with a fridge beneath it, a combo unit, 115v, 11.9a
12x12x6 oven area, 140-600 degrees, has two timers, fridge area is 17.5x12x7, i would think perfect size for holding something like beef pies waiting to go into the oven
i dont know if they are still in business or not, i cant seem to be able to find a number for them, they are/were located down in miami florida 

Anybody have any experience with the Waring WCO500?  Seems like it is the cheapest by far at $433 new.
 
 

You might want to check out some of the reviews on the Warings. I looked at that one as a possible replacement when I received some very high inital estimates on repairing our Cadco. Most of the reviews that I read at the time weren't favorable especially among those that baked cookies. I think that I posted this same question a while back here in the pro fourm. Have you checked out that Adcraft unit yet?

Thanks Dawn.  Adcraft appear to be 220V only.
 
Looks like my options for 110V are:
Cadco OV-350 or OV-013
Anvil COA7002
Vollrath 40703
Star Holman CCOH-3
Toastmaster Omni XO-1N
???

What would happen if you fried those jamaican patties? Wouldn't it make the crust nice and flakey? If I recall the ones I had in Jamaica seemed fried.

Don't own a fryer.  Jamaican Patties are always baked.  Spanish Empanadas are fried.
 
Thanks for the suggestion though.

i have two moffats g32's for sale. both BRAND NEW. one is a double stack on wheels and the other is identical but a single unit. $5800 for dbl & 3300 for single on factory rack w/wheels. delivered FREE anywhere in east of the miss. or at least to there. paid 7100 & 3990.
 
either would do the job, both have steam also, lp gas, that can be converted, have those parts too included!
 
mark
 
843.270.1345

Thanks All!
 
Got one like DawnT - Cadco OV350 used of Craigslist for $250.  It should fit my needs perfectly and can be lifted easily by one person.