Combination Steamer Ovens

Appears in
Professional Cooking
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

  • About

The combination steamer oven, also called a combi oven, can be operated in three modes: as a convection oven, as a convection steamer, and, with both functions on at once, as a high-humidity oven. Injecting moisture into an oven while roasting meats can help reduce shrinkage and drying.

Modern combi ovens are equipped with computerized controls than enable them to be programmed for multiple changes of temperature and humidity during the cooking cycle, customizing the program for each product to be cooked. In addition, built-in temperature probes to be inserted in the product being cooked can be set to turn the oven off or change it to holding mode when the item reaches the desired internal temperature. Some special units are also equipped to inject smoke into the oven.