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PSA: My $800 combi oven gamble paid off, but I'm still sweating the power bill
Honestly, I run a small catering outfit and bought a used combi oven for about $800 six months back. The idea was to save on labor and space, doing everything from slow roasting to steaming in one box. Tbh, it's been a game changer for consistency and speed, especially for big batches of proteins. But ngl, the power draw is insane; my electric bill jumped almost $150 a month. I'm torn because the thing saves me hours of work and cooks better than my old separate gear, but the operating cost is a real hit. Some days I think it's the best money I ever spent, other days I wonder if I just bought a very fancy problem. Has anyone else done the math on combi oven efficiency versus separate steamers and convection ovens for a small operation?
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rileyfox5mo ago
Oh man, I feel this so hard. I grabbed a used one too for my little bakery thing, and the power bill spike was a total shock. The thing is a beast for cranking out perfect pastries, way better than my old oven and steam tray setup. But yeah, staring at that bill every month makes me second guess it, even though it saves my back and so much time. I keep telling myself the time it saves me is worth the cost, but it's a tough pill to swallow some weeks.
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paige_ellis595mo ago
My old vacuum cleaner did that, it was like running a space heater all day.
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benk265mo ago
Look at your power bill and tell yourself it's just paying for a very expensive, very quiet employee who only eats electricity. That oven is basically a sous chef with a PhD in thermodynamics who demands to be paid in kilowatt-hours. You're not running a kitchen anymore, you're just feeding the beast that makes your food.
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