I need help deciding on whether to buy a commercial convection oven for a new location I will be moving into. Previously I've been using a regular oven and have had other bakers tell me the convection oven tends to dry out their cakes. Any opinions out there would sure help.

I must agree, but I think my cakes dried out based on the recipe I was using. Remember convection overs are for commercial use and large scale baking. If you are not sure, consider contacting a local culinary art program or going to the local high school, hopefully they have a life-skills (home economics) classroom. Many of the newer schools are equipped with convection overs. Talk to the instructor and have them give you the 411. I decided to stick with my conventional oven and just got a larger one, but this is totally your decision. Would be nice if you can try out baking in one before purchasing.

I kept a small pan of water (one of those 1/3 size chafer pans ... about 4x10" or so) in my comm'l convection oven. Worked great. I definitely loved the advantage of being able to bake multiple cakes/cookies at one time. (I had a double oven and could bake 240 cookies in 15 minutes or could bake three 3-tier cakes all at once. Big Sigh! Sometimes I miss my big oven! )

We have a Blodgett commercial convection oven and never had a problem with dry cakes. We bake at 275 degrees, and even at that temp, it is super fast.

I have a 4 rack Deluxe Convectaray oven and love it. I can bake multiple cakes at a time or 120 cupcakes or cookies at a time. Saves me time (baking time didn't really change much) b being able to do bigger bakes at a time. And it' costs about $.30/hr to run.

I also have a deluxe and never had a dry cake. I can bake several wedding cakes at a time in under an hour. Cannot live without it. I am thinking of buying a second one this year..

Just a quick question as I am also in the process of upgrading to a commercial oven.
I have seen that there are oven with steam. Has anyone used these oven?
Some more help on how to go about getting an oven would be so helpful as I am totally confused as to what I should be looking for to bake my cakes.

I have a steam option on my oven, but I have not connected it. I do have the water inlet and drain connections in place behind the oven, in case I decide to do it. I think steam is really only an advantage if you plan on baking bread, but someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Yep, steam is needed for great bread.

I agonized over this in my bakery and went with a Blodgett Zephair (gas model), and can't stress how much I LOVE that oven. Even had an email from Duff himself recommending same brand, and so glad I took his advice!

I bake everything at 300 degrees (by the thermometer inside), and it's fast and I've never had such terrific cakes from any other oven, even with same recipes. They're all perfect, everysingletime, and never dry.