In busy commercial kitchens, consistency and efficiency are the most important things. A combi oven is often the most important part of these kitchens because it cooks food perfectly using steam, convection, or both. But even the best combi ovens depend a lot on how well you use combi oven trays and other combi oven accessories. It’s surprising how many cooks miss the minor but important aspects that might lead to expensive mistakes.
If you own a restaurant, bakery, or catering business, avoiding these blunders will save you time, money, and stress while making sure the food is always outstanding.
Why Combi Oven Trays and Accessories Matter
It’s crucial to know why trays and accessories are more than simply “extras” before we talk about the most typical blunders. Combi ovens can do many things, but their performance depends on the quality of their accessories and how well you use them.
- Trays help food cook evenly by letting heat and steam move around freely.
- With accessories, you can grill, steam, roast, and bake without having to buy more equipment.
- Choosing the correct trays and taking care of them will make sure they last and are clean.
If you don’t pay attention to these things, your cooking will suffer, your kitchen will wear out faster, and your food will be less safe.
Mistake #1: Using the Wrong Type of Tray
Not all trays are the same. Many kitchens make the error of utilizing “one-size-fits-all” trays, yet combi ovens need different trays for different cooking methods.
Types of Trays That Are Common:
- Gastro Norm (GN) trays are standard trays that are available in different depths for roasting, baking, or steaming.
- Perforated trays are great for steaming veggies, dumplings, or seafood because they let steam seep in evenly.
- Non-stick baking trays are ideal for bread, pastries, and other things that tend to stick.
- Grill trays are excellent for cooking meats and veggies and leaving real grill marks on them.
Why This Is a Problem: Using the improper tray can hurt the quality of your meals and slow down your work. For example, steaming fish on a solid surface keeps moisture from moving around, which means the meal is just half cooked and sloppy. However, baking delicate sweets on pans with holes in them might lead to uneven cooking, cracked surfaces, or textures that are too dry. These blunders can annoy your chefs, slow down service, and make customers less satisfied over time.
👉 Solution: Always use the right tray for the cooking function. Invest in a diverse range of combi oven accessories designed for various cooking techniques. Teach your employees how to choose the right tray for each dish so that no one makes the wrong choice during hectic shifts.
Mistake #2: Overloading the Trays
A lot of the time, commercial kitchens have to make a lot of food at once, which makes trays too full. Overloading may seem like a way to save time, but it actually stops air from flowing properly.
Why This Is a Problem:
- Cooking that isn’t even:The food in the middle generally stays undercooked, and the food on the outside may overcook or burn.
- Longer cooking times: The oven has to work harder to keep the heat and steam inside, which raises energy costs.
- Loss of quality: Proteins can release too much water, which can change the flavor from roasted to boiled. Instead of getting crisp, vegetables might steam.
- Staff frustration: When dishes have to be sent back, it takes longer and more work to get the same outcomes.
Example from real life: If you stack a tray of chicken legs too tightly, the hot air won’t move around evenly. The top layer cooks rapidly, while the bottom stays pale and undercooked. This endangers food safety and means diners get a different dish each time.
👉 Answer: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the maximum load capacity of the tray. Spread food out equally, and don’t stack it unless you’re told to. If you have to cook a lot at once, use many trays instead of one to avoid crowding. This method is faster, safer, and always gives great results over time.
Mistake #3: Poor Cleaning and Maintenance of Trays
Even when you have a self-cleaning combi oven, trays often get left dirty. Food particles, grease buildup, and carbon deposits can all make food taste worse and limit the life of trays.
Risks of Not Taking Care of Things:
- Flavor contamination: The garlic butter left over from yesterday can easily get into today’s delicate pastries.
- Hygiene risks: Bacteria love to live in grease and other things that have built up.
- Damage to trays: Burnt carbon deposits can deform trays and ruin non-stick coatings.
- Unused accessories may deteriorate more quickly, necessitating frequent replacements.
- The Hidden Cost: Many kitchens don’t know how filthy trays make them use more energy. A greasy tray takes in more heat and spreads it out unevenly, which makes the oven work harder. The result raises energy costs and makes cooking take longer.
Solution
- Clean the trays right after you use them to stop residue from solidifying.
- Stay away from harsh chemicals and use gentle, food-safe detergents.
- Use plastic or silicone scrapers instead of metal ones to scrape trays.
- Change the trays around often so that they wear evenly, and replace them as soon as you see any damage.
Mistake #4: Ignoring the Role of Accessories
Many households get a combi oven but don’t think about important accessories that may make cooking easier.
Essential Accessories for a Combi Oven:
- Roasting racks lift meats up so that fats may drain off and the meat can brown evenly.
- Baking stones keep heat and moisture in, which makes the perfect crusts for bread and pizza.
- Drip trays catch extra fat and liquids, which keeps ovens cleaner.
- Skewers and grilling grids: Use them to make kebabs, satays, and other smoky-flavored foods to spice up your menus.
Why This Is a Problem: Kitchens have to make do without the necessary tools. For instance, roasting meat directly on solid trays keeps fat and moisture in, which makes the meat oily and unevenly cooked. Baking pizza on regular trays could also make the crust mushy instead of crisp. These compromises make your menu items less tasty and your combi oven less useful.
Answer: Look over your menu and choose tools that fit with how you want to cook. A few extra combi oven accessories can make your kitchen much more efficient, consistent, and creative.
Mistake #5: Neglecting Tray Placement and Rotation
Even if you have the proper tray type and load, bad tray placement might mess up the results. When you put trays too close together or fail to turn them while cooking, the heat doesn’t spread evenly.
Examples: The croissants on the top tray are getting too brown too rapidly, while the ones on the bottom tray stay pale.
- The top rack of roasted veggies is drying out, while the bottom rack is still cooking.
- The pieces of chicken are cooked differently depending on where they are on the platter.
Why It Matters: Combi ovens have superior ventilation systems, but if trays are not put in the right area, hot spots can still happen. Over time, these differences can make both cooks and diners frustrated because the same food can taste and look different from day to day.
Solution: Always make sure there is enough space between trays for air to move.
- When consistency is important, turn the trays halfway through cooking.
- Read the oven’s handbook to find out where to put the trays for each mode (steam, convection, or combi).
- Teach your team how to tell when they need to rotate things, especially baked products and fragile items.
Pro Tips for Maximizing Combi Oven Tray Usage
- Label trays by function—keep separate trays for sweet and savory dishes to prevent flavor crossover.
- Preheat trays—especially useful for bread and pizza, ensuring crisp bases.
- Invest in high-quality stainless steel—they last longer and resist warping.
- Train your staff—mistakes often happen due to lack of awareness.
One of the most useful tools in a professional kitchen is a combi oven. However, how effectively you use it has a big effect on how well it works and how efficiently it does its job. You need the correct combi oven trays and accessories to make sure that every item you serve is always of the same high quality, speed, and accuracy.
Your kitchen will run more smoothly, have more consistent results, and save on maintenance expenses if you avoid the five typical mistakes: using the wrong tray, overloading, not cleaning properly, not taking care of accessories, and putting trays in the wrong position. Every little change you make to the flavor, texture, and presentation makes it better. These are the things that keep your customers coming back.
Keep in mind that the best oven is only as excellent as the things you use with it. Taking the effort to choose, care for, and use your trays correctly turns your combi oven from a simple device into a real cooking powerhouse.
So, the next time you open your oven door, take a closer look at what’s holding up your food. The tray under your masterpiece is often the key to success in professional cooking.