Deck ovens are a baking oven, where the inner "deck" or shelf of brick, tile or stone absorbs all the heat. A pizza or bread product to be baked is place on top of the deck and the item is cooked with indirect heat. A great advantage to these deck ovens is that the chefs can easily adjust the temperature and air flow within the oven to provide a very good cooking environment needed for gourmet pizzas and bread products. However, since a deck oven is such a unique specialty item, you need to know how to maintenance and care for it to keep it in good working condition for years to come. Here are some tips to keep your deck oven in great shape.

Keep It Clean

It is important that you carefully brush and clean the inside of your deck oven every day after it has been used. Bread crumbs need to be brushed out or vacuumed out to keep the debris from clogging up the oven. Once a month, it is best to use a commercial oven cleaning product to remove any baked on food debris. For optimal baking, your oven needs to be sparkling clean at all times. Employ daily light cleaning and monthly deep cleaning for best results.

Yearly Inspection

Whether you are skilled enough to do a yearly inspection yourself or have to call in a deck oven specialist, your deck oven needs to have the following components visually inspected once a year for signs of wear, tear or blockage:

• Chimney
• Steam generator
• Steam exhaust fan
• Interior lighting
• Control panel
• Switches and mechanical levers
• Motors
• Drain hoses
• Draft inducer

Even if you have no issues with how well your deck oven is working, regular inspection will allow you to catch a potential problem before it can impact either your food or the overall ability of your deck oven.

Signs You Need A New Deck Oven

Generally, you should expect your deck oven to last for around 10 years, but with the proper cleaning and maintenance, you could potentially increase this up to 25 years. However, hard use can bring about the end of even the best maintained deck oven. Here are some signs it might be best to simply replace your unit:

• Cracks in oven wall
• Breakdown of insulation
• Extensive maintenance costs
• Inefficient cooking or poor quality baked goods

A deck oven can be a wonderful item to have in your home or restaurant, just be sure to do your best to extend its lifespan.Talk to places like American Baking System for more information.