A commercial oven is the heart of the kitchen. It bakes, roasts, steams, regenerates and finishes more food than any other piece of kit on the line. Getting the choice right means picking the format that matches your menu, the fuel that matches your site, and the size that matches your covers. This guide walks through every common oven type (convection, combi, range, pizza, conveyor, bakery and steam), explains the gas vs electric trade-off, sizes them to covers per service, and lays out the power supply realities that catch out a lot of buyers at install. You can browse all commercial ovens at H2 once you know what you need.
What is a commercial oven?
A commercial oven is a heavy-duty cooking unit built for foodservice volume. It heats faster, holds temperature more accurately, and runs longer hours than any domestic oven. Most use stainless steel construction, heavier insulation, and gastronorm (GN) tray racking that takes 1/1 or 2/1 pans straight in. The control side ranges from a simple dial thermostat right up to full touchscreen with multi-stage programmes, automatic cleaning and humidity control.
The difference from a domestic oven is built in from day one. A home oven expects occasional use and roasting joints for a family. A commercial oven expects multiple bakes a day, constant door openings, and chefs running half-trays through it back to back. It is built tougher, recovers faster, and is rated to last in trade conditions.
Buying a commercial oven also keeps you compliant. UK food safety guidance requires hot food to be held above 63°C, and ovens that bake bread, regenerate frozen meals or cook large joints need to hit and hold consistent temperatures every cycle. A trade unit gives you accurate, repeatable cooking and the cleaning systems to keep it hygienic through a long service.
Types of commercial oven
There is no single best oven. The right choice depends on your menu, your covers, your kitchen space and your power supply.
Convection oven: the workhorse
A convection oven uses a fan to circulate hot air around the cooking chamber. Heat is even, recovery is fast, and the same oven can bake bread, roast meat, finish pastries and reheat tray bakes. Most commercial convection ovens hold 3 to 10 GN 1/1 trays and run from a standard 13 amp plug at the smaller end or a 16 amp supply at the larger end.
This is the right starting oven for cafés, gastropubs, care homes, schools and most independent restaurants. Browse commercial electric ovens for plug-in convection options.
Combi oven: the all-rounder
A combi oven adds steam to the convection setup. It can run dry convection, pure steam, or a combination of both, which means a single unit can roast, bake, steam, regenerate, low-cook and even hot-hold. Combi ovens are programmable, often touchscreen controlled, and many include automatic cleaning cycles.
The trade-off is cost and install. Combi ovens are roughly three to five times the price of a convection oven of the same capacity, they need a water supply, and most need a 32 amp or three-phase electrical connection. The payback comes from menu flexibility (one oven does the work of two or three), labour saving (programme it and walk away), and food quality (steam injection keeps roasts juicy and bakes light).
View commercial combi ovens by grid size: 6 grid combis suit most restaurants and pubs, 9 grid combis handle high-volume sites, and 20 grid combis are built for hotels, banqueting and production kitchens.
Range oven: oven plus hob
A range oven combines a multi-burner hob on top with a full oven underneath. Four-burner and six-burner formats are the standard, with gas or electric induction options. The range is the obvious choice when you need both hob and oven capacity in a single footprint, which is most pub kitchens and mid-size restaurants. See the commercial range oven category for gas, LPG and induction models.
Pizza oven: deck and conveyor
A commercial pizza oven runs at higher temperatures than a standard oven (250 to 350°C is typical) and is built for the rapid cooking pizza needs. There are two main formats.
A deck pizza oven has one or two cooking chambers with refractory stone bases. The pizzaiolo loads pizzas with a peel, cooks them in 6 to 12 minutes depending on temperature, and pulls them straight out. Deck ovens deliver the best crust quality and suit pizzerias, gastropubs and restaurants where pizza is a feature. Available in both electric pizza oven and gas pizza oven formats.
A conveyor pizza oven moves pizzas on a belt through a heated tunnel. The cook is consistent every time, requires no chef skill, and can produce 40 to 100+ pizzas an hour depending on belt width. Conveyor ovens suit takeaways, chain pizzerias and high-volume sites where throughput matters more than artisan crust character.
Browse all commercial pizza ovens to see deck and conveyor models side by side.
Bakery oven: high humidity, multi-tier
A commercial bakery oven is built specifically for bread, pastries and viennoiserie. It runs steam injection on demand for crusty bread, multi-deck stone bases for even bottom heat, and large capacity for batch baking. Bakery ovens suit dedicated bakeries, in-house production kitchens and any site running bread programmes through the day.
Conveyor oven: high-throughput tunnel cooking
A conveyor oven cooks food on a moving belt through a heated tunnel. Beyond pizza, conveyor ovens handle panini, toasted sandwiches, melts, jacket potatoes and bake-off products at high volume. They suit sandwich chains, cafés with heavy lunch service and any site that needs consistent, hands-off cooking through a peak.
Steam oven: vegetables, fish, puddings
A steam oven cooks with pure steam at controlled temperatures. It is the kindest oven for vegetables, fish, seafood and puddings, holding texture and nutrients better than dry heat. Steam ovens suit hotels, care homes and any kitchen running volume vegetable cookery or delicate items.
Microwave: speed reheating, not main cooking
A commercial microwave is not the main oven in any kitchen, but it earns its place for fast reheating, defrosting, and quick component cooking. Commercial models output 1,000 to 1,800 watts (well above a domestic 700 to 900 watt unit), have more durable cavities, and run programmable timers for staff use.
Gas vs electric vs LPG
The fuel choice usually comes second to oven type. Each fuel has its place.
A gas oven heats faster, recovers faster, and tends to cost less to run because gas is cheaper per kWh than electricity. The trade-off is the install. You need a natural gas supply, an interlocked extraction hood and Gas Safe commissioning. Gas suits busy sites already on gas, large range ovens, and any high-volume oven where recovery matters.
An electric oven plugs in (within the limits of your supply) and goes. No gas line, no flue, no Gas Safe engineer. Temperature control tends to be more precise, which suits baking, pastry and delicate cooking. Most modern combi ovens are electric for exactly this reason. The trade-off is running cost and the electrical supply needed.
An LPG oven runs on bottled propane or butane rather than mains gas. This is the standard choice for food trucks, event caterers, mobile units and any site without a mains gas supply. Most gas ovens are available in both natural gas and LPG variants, and the price is the same. You just pick the right model at order.
Power supply: 13 amp, 16 amp, 32 amp or three phase
This is the question that catches out the most buyers. UK commercial sites have different electrical capacities, and not every oven will run from every supply.
| Power supply | Typical use | What it powers |
|---|---|---|
| 13 amp (standard plug) | Most kitchens | Small convection ovens, microwaves, small electric pizza ovens, table-top units |
| 16 amp (commando socket) | Most commercial kitchens | Mid-size convection ovens, mid-size electric ovens, smaller combi ovens |
| 32 amp (single phase) | Larger commercial kitchens | Larger combis, 6 grid combis, electric range ovens, larger pizza ovens |
| Three phase (415V) | Large kitchens, hotels, production | 9 and 20 grid combis, double-deck pizza ovens, induction ranges, bakery ovens |
Check your supply before ordering. Upgrading from a 16 amp socket to a 32 amp supply is usually a few hundred pounds with an electrician. Bringing in a three-phase supply where there is none can cost thousands and weeks of waiting on the local network operator. If your site does not have three phase and cannot easily get it, focus on ovens that run on 16 or 32 amp single phase.
How to choose the right size
Sizing comes down to covers at peak and the type of cooking you do most. The table below maps oven capacity to GN tray count and a rough guide to covers per service.
| Capacity | GN trays | Indicative covers per service | Typical venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small convection (3 GN 1/1) | 3 trays | 30 to 60 | Café, sandwich bar, small pub |
| Mid convection (5 to 6 GN 1/1) | 5 to 6 trays | 60 to 120 | Gastropub, mid-size restaurant |
| 6 grid combi | 6 trays | 100 to 200 | Restaurant, care home, school |
| 9 to 10 grid combi | 9 to 10 trays | 200 to 350 | High-volume restaurant, hotel |
| 20 grid combi | 20 trays | 350 to 600+ | Hotel, banqueting, production kitchen |
| Single deck pizza oven | 4 to 6 pizzas | 40 to 80 pizzas per hour | Pub, café with pizza menu |
| Double deck pizza oven | 8 to 12 pizzas | 80 to 160 pizzas per hour | Pizzeria, dedicated takeaway |
| Conveyor pizza oven | 16″ to 32″ belt | 40 to 100+ pizzas per hour | Chain pizzeria, high-volume takeaway |
A practical rule: spec the oven for your peak service, not your average. An oven running flat out at peak will not last as long as one running at 70 to 80 percent of capacity.
Convection vs combi, which one is worth the extra spend?
This is the single most common question buyers ask. The honest answer depends on what your menu does and how much labour you have on the section.
A convection oven costs £600 to £2,500 and bakes, roasts and finishes anything that does not need steam. It runs on a 13 or 16 amp plug, needs no water connection, and is up and running in an hour. For most cafés, small pubs, sandwich bars and breakfast kitchens, a convection oven is all you need.
A combi oven costs £4,500 to £15,000+ and adds steam, programmable cooking, automatic cleaning and far better temperature control. It needs a 32 amp or three-phase supply, a water connection, and proper commissioning. For sites running volume regen, multi-stage cook programmes, batch roasts, fish, vegetables and pastry through the same oven, the combi pays for itself in flexibility, food quality and chef labour saved.
The decision usually comes down to volume. Above roughly 150 covers per service with a varied menu, a combi makes sense. Below that, a convection oven plus a separate steamer or sous vide bath is usually the more economical answer.
Deck pizza oven vs conveyor pizza oven
If pizza is on the menu, the choice between deck and conveyor sets the character of the kitchen.
A deck pizza oven needs a pizzaiolo. The cook uses a peel to load and turn pizzas on a hot stone, judging cook by eye. The result is the proper Neapolitan or New York crust, leoparded base, char from the stone. Deck ovens give you the best pizza but need skill at the section.
A conveyor pizza oven removes the skill requirement. Pizzas go on the belt, the temperature and belt speed are set, and the oven cooks every pizza the same. Output is higher and more consistent, but the crust is less characterful. Conveyor ovens suit takeaways, chain operations and sites where consistency beats artisan finish.
For most independent pizzerias, a double-deck electric or gas pizza oven is the right choice. For takeaways doing 60+ pizzas an hour with low chef skill, conveyor wins.
Key features to compare
Beyond format and fuel, a few features make a real difference.
Touchscreen vs dial control affects how easy the oven is to use. Touchscreen combi ovens come with pre-loaded recipes, multi-stage programmes and full HACCP logging. Dial-control ovens are simpler, cheaper and harder to misuse, which suits sites with high staff turnover.
Self-cleaning is standard on most modern combi ovens and saves hours of labour each week. Cheaper combi ovens skip this and add a chemical cleaning cycle later in the model life. Worth specifying if your site runs the combi hard.
Hood and extraction are required for most gas ovens and any oven generating steam. A combi without proper extraction will damage the ceiling and wall finishes within months. Factor extraction into the install budget.
Warranty ranges from one year on entry models up to five years on premium brands. Compressor and steam generator failures are the most common big-ticket repairs, so warranty matters on combis.
How much does a commercial oven cost?
Pricing varies with capacity, format and fuel, but the bands below cover most of what you will see when shopping for a commercial oven in the UK.
| Type | Capacity | Typical price range (ex VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Small convection (3 GN) | 21 to 50 litres | £400 to £900 |
| Mid convection (5 to 6 GN) | 80 to 120 litres | £700 to £2,200 |
| Range oven (4 burner) | 600 to 900 mm wide | £1,800 to £4,500 |
| Range oven (6 burner) | 900 to 1,200 mm wide | £2,800 to £7,000 |
| 6 grid combi | 6 x GN 1/1 | £4,500 to £9,500 |
| 10 grid combi | 10 x GN 1/1 | £6,500 to £14,000 |
| 20 grid combi | 20 x GN 1/1 | £11,000 to £25,000 |
| Single deck pizza oven | 4 to 6 pizzas | £1,500 to £4,500 |
| Double deck pizza oven | 8 to 12 pizzas | £3,500 to £9,000 |
| Conveyor pizza oven | 16″ to 32″ belt | £5,500 to £16,000 |
| Steam oven | 5 to 10 GN | £3,500 to £8,500 |
What pushes the price up: touchscreen controls, automatic cleaning, three-phase electrics, premium brands like Hobart, Blue Seal, Falcon, Lincat and Zanolli, and extended warranty packages. What pushes it down: dial controls, single-phase electrics, basic stainless construction and entry-level brands.
Finance is widely available on commercial cooking equipment. Lease and lease-purchase deals spread the cost over 36 to 60 months and let you treat the oven as an operating cost rather than capital outlay. Most VAT-registered businesses can also recover the VAT on the purchase.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a convection oven and a combi oven?
A convection oven uses circulated hot air only. A combi oven adds steam, so it can run dry convection, pure steam, or a combination of both. The combi gives you far more cooking flexibility (you can roast, bake, steam, regenerate and low-cook in one unit) but costs three to five times more, needs a water supply, and usually needs a 32 amp or three-phase electrical connection.
Do I need three phase electricity for a commercial oven?
Not necessarily. Most small and mid-size convection ovens run on a 13 amp plug or a 16 amp commando socket. Many 6 grid combi ovens run on 32 amp single phase. You only need three phase for the larger combis (9 grid and above), most double-deck pizza ovens, electric induction ranges and bakery ovens. Check the spec sheet on the oven you want before assuming you need three phase.
How many covers can a 6 grid combi oven handle?
A 6 grid combi oven comfortably handles 100 to 200 covers per service, depending on the menu. With multi-stage programmes and overnight low-cook cycles, the same oven can prep ahead for the next day too, effectively doubling its useful output. Sites running above 200 covers should look at 9 or 10 grid combis instead.
Can I use a domestic oven for a commercial kitchen?
Almost never. UK environmental health officers will generally fail a kitchen using a domestic oven for commercial cooking. Domestic ovens are not built for the hours, the temperatures or the cleaning regime a commercial kitchen needs. They also lack the gastronorm tray compatibility every commercial section assumes. A small commercial convection oven costs from around £400 ex VAT and will outlast three or four domestic ovens in trade use.
What size pizza oven do I need for a takeaway?
For a takeaway running 40 to 80 pizzas per hour at peak, a double-deck pizza oven (gas or electric) is the right starting point. For 80 to 160 pizzas per hour, look at a 16″ or 20″ conveyor oven. For high-volume operations above 160 pizzas an hour, a 26″ or 32″ conveyor oven or multiple deck ovens are the answer.
Shop commercial ovens at H2
H2 stocks the full range of commercial ovens for UK foodservice, from compact 3 grid convection units through to 20 grid combis, multi-burner range ovens and high-throughput pizza conveyors. Every unit is built for trade use, comes with a manufacturer warranty and is supported by our UK-based team for spec advice and aftercare. Browse all commercial ovens, see the commercial combi oven range for the most flexible kitchen oven, view commercial pizza ovens for deck and conveyor models, or check commercial range ovens for oven and hob in a single footprint. Pairing the oven with the rest of the cooking line? Read our commercial griddle buying guide and commercial dough mixer buying guide next. Need help sizing for your menu, covers and power supply? Call our team or send your kitchen plan and we will spec the right oven for your service.
