# Combi Oven - Yes or No



## saucygirlb (Nov 14, 2014)

Hi Gang:

Wanted to get any thoughts or input about Combi Ovens. We are considering making this the workhorse of our new kitchen and would love to hear your thoughts?


----------



## avalanchemm (Nov 27, 2014)

We have used a Combi by Henny Penny in our kitchen for 12+ years, invaluable piece of equipment. In fact, ours is due to be replaced, I was going to poke around this forum to see what everyone is using.

  We use our Combi approximately 8-10 hours of the day, for steaming potatoes, cooking pasta, hard boiling eggs, baking cheesecakes, shortbread, wings, meatballs, roast beef and turkey, sausage, rice - we use it for pretty much everything except char broiling. 

  I have set up several programs to ensure consistency, and to save staff from having to fuss too much, they press the program button, turn the dial to select the program, and push the button again start. It preheats, cooks either moist or dry heat, and buzzes when done. Great for a busy kitchen, or a place where training time is premium.

  They really are remarkable machines, make sure you get something with a self cleaning cycle, you will be thankful.

Regards


----------



## meggstevens (Nov 24, 2014)

I have one from Hobart. It's approaching the 1 yr mark.

It drastically improve our kitchen operations.

Main uses are poaching fish, steaming pasta, roasting meats.

The model that I have is the Hobart CE6HD-1 Combi Electric 6 Half Direct boilerless.

Personally, I like it and haven't had too much of a problem.

Megg


----------



## mike91 (Nov 27, 2014)

I have one by Frigidaire.   It has been working very well and very quiet. Also it looks very nice in my kitchen.


----------



## jonfields (Jul 7, 2015)

avalancheMM said:


> We have used a Combi by Henny Penny in our kitchen for 12+ years, invaluable piece of equipment. In fact, ours is due to be replaced, I was going to poke around this forum to see what everyone is using.
> 
> We use our Combi approximately 8-10 hours of the day, for steaming potatoes, cooking pasta, hard boiling eggs, baking cheesecakes, shortbread, wings, meatballs, roast beef and turkey, sausage, rice - we use it for pretty much everything except char broiling.
> 
> ...


Just curious - how do you cook pasta in there? I'm trying to decide if I should buy one next week and didn't know that was possible.


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Yes, you can cook pasta, quick-soak and cook beans too, can jams and jellies. But all of this as akin to using a Rolls royce to drive Aunt Sally around for shopping--a much more practical choice would be a small toyota. Where the combi oven really shines is with rethermalization( heati ng up dressed plates for bqting) steaming large amounts of fish or veg, and roasting meats with minimal weight loss. Baking in a combi is good, but you will never have separate control of top and bottom heat, in the end its just another convectional oven

It is a wonderfull piece of equipment, but if I were running a smaller a'la carte kitchen, I'd choose a tilting skillet over a combi any day. If I ran a bqting kitchen, my first choice would be a comi--no further thinking neccesary. It really comes down to best bang for your buck.


----------



## jonfields (Jul 7, 2015)

foodpump said:


> Yes, you can cook pasta, quick-soak and cook beans too, can jams and jellies. But all of this as akin to using a Rolls royce to drive Aunt Sally around for shopping--a much more practical choice would be a small toyota. Where the combi oven really shines is with rethermalization( heati ng up dressed plates for bqting) steaming large amounts of fish or veg, and roasting meats with minimal weight loss. Baking in a combi is good, but you will never have separate control of top and bottom heat, in the end its just another convectional oven
> 
> It is a wonderfull piece of equipment, but if I were running a smaller a'la carte kitchen, I'd choose a tilting skillet over a combi any day. If I ran a bqting kitchen, my first choice would be a comi--no further thinking neccesary. It really comes down to best bang for your buck.


Thanks for your advice! I am setting up a new kitchen for my meal delivery service and we cook in bulk - we do about 1000 meals in one day (hoping to grow further in the future). Right now, our stove top, oven and rice cookers are limiting us (different things we're cooking are holding up being able to cook the next thing - we need to make soup, but there are beans cooking on the stove, etc.), so I'm looking for bigger equipment for the new kitchen. The combi oven seems good because we can bake things, but then also use the steam setting for rice (from what I've read). Does pasta stick when you cook them in there? How do you cook them in there? I've had the issue of some pastas sticking a lot with our pot, so wondering if I should buy a separate pasta boiler as well. How do the beans come out relative to cooking them on the stove top?


----------

