Ok, I am working on finding a commercial kitchen to rent locally so that I can work on my cake business legally.. I found a church who wants to rent their kitchen to me, and I am happy with the price and the location. Upon looking further at the ovens in the kitchen, I found that the HUGE oven is a Blodgett Model 981/966 Deck Oven where the top two ovens are basically shelves with no room for racks. I think it is set up for baking pizzas directly on the shelves.

So, my question is: can you bake cakes/ cookies /pies, etc in an oven like this, or will it effect even cooking? Will they burn on the bottom but not cook through? Would temperatures have to be adjusted?

The church representative I have been working with called the manufacturer yesterday and they said you could bake cakes, etc in the oven, but would have to have a chef call her back to tell her if any adjustments needed to be made.

I'd like to use this kitchen - the price is great, the location is close to my house, and I like that the money I give them will be going owards a local food pantry. But I\\if I can't use all of the oven space, I have to think if it is really worth it or not.

Thanks!!!

In pastry school all we used were deck ovens and during the cake module, everything came out just fine (the convection oven they had was just too small for 14 students to use at one time).

Would the church let you do a trial run to make sure you like the place?

Thank you, snowshoe! That is very reassuring. they did say I could come in and use the kitchen free of charge to check out the facilities and see if it will work for me. I really like the kitchen. It is HUGE, and I won't have to share it with anybody esle since the church very rarely uses it at all except to make coffee.

The deck ovens I have used baked cakes great. You should be fine.

Thanks!! I am now addicted to CakeCentral, so I am sure you will all be hearing ALL about my baking adventures!

I'm wondering how this went for you? I own a pizzeria and I would LOVE to bake cupcakes and cakes, cookies..etc... but I just haven't figured out how to do it in the deck oven, the stone on the bottom gets so hot how would you prevent the bottoms from burning? if I could figure out how to cook on a raised rack that could be pulled in and out that might work but I havent figured that out yet....so how did you do it?? thanks so much!!!

Deck ovens aren't necessairly pizza ovens and vice versa. Although they look similar from the outside.

I've baked in deck ovens for years, and they were great!
never had anything burn or un-even cooking...
Then they switched to convection and we have to watch that because there is a hot spot..
Good Luck!
Jodi

Yes, I 've been using a deck oven for cakes and breads for a couple of years.

Hi, I bake in a Deck Oven, it is a Nemco pizza oven. It bakes fine, I just leave a oven themometer in it and bake by that. I have noticed that when I open the door, to rotate or add an ingredient, the temp drops quickly. The door is solid so I have to time everything and really pay attention to the smells. I get better with each item with practice. The other thing is the heating elements are on top and around the edges, so I watch where I place my pans and if I have large or many I may need to rotate. BUT make sure you let your batter set first or it may fall! As for cooking on the "deck" I leave a cheap cookie rack on top, some items cook best on top of one, allowing air to circulate. Some need to sit directly on the deck or the bottom wont get done...it even depends on the pan material. HTH, oh...cookies on a round dark pan works best for me too.
Blessings ~ Blanche

we bake our wedding cakes in a deck oven. we also do brownies, cookies, and tarts. if you're worried about anything burning, just put ur cake pans on a sheet pan. it helps protect the bottoms. we also double sheet pan when we bake cookies so the bottoms dont get too dark. we can bake almost anything in the deck oven, including creme brulee!