SHOPYTHON
Most home bakers start with a household oven and outgrow it the moment orders come in: one tray at a time, uneven colour, and an afternoon gone on a single batch of cookies. The next step is a semi-commercial oven. The big question is whether it should be a deck oven or a convection oven.
This guide is about home kitchens and home businesses: ovens that fit on a counter or a stand, run on household power, and pay for themselves quickly. For larger bakery and café ovens, see our deck, convection and combi oven guide.
The short answer
- You bake cookies, cupcakes, muffins, tarts, puffs or anything by the tray: a convection oven. It bakes several trays at once, evenly.
- You bake bread, sourdough, pizza or baguettes: a deck oven, ideally with steam. The hot stone floor gives a better rise and crust.
- You bake both, mostly cakes and cookies with some bread: a convection oven with steam, or one with separate top and bottom heat, covers most of it.
How they bake differently
A convection oven uses a fan to move hot air around the chamber. Heat reaches every tray evenly, so you can bake 3–8 trays at once, and things bake a little faster than in a still oven. The moving air also dries the surface, which is great for cookies and crisp pastry, but not ideal for a soft, tall loaf unless the oven has steam.
A deck oven has no fan. Heating elements above and below heat a solid floor (the deck), often a stone. The bread sits directly on the hot floor, which pushes it up quickly in the first minutes of baking: that is the "oven spring" artisan bakers look for. Most home-size deck ovens take one 600 × 400 mm tray per deck, so they bake fewer pieces at once.
| Convection oven | Deck oven | |
| Heat | Fan-forced hot air | Top and bottom elements, hot floor |
| Best for | Cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pastry, tarts, roasting | Bread, sourdough, pizza, baguettes |
| Trays at once | 3–8 (smaller trays) | Usually 1 large tray per deck |
| Typical tray size | 437 × 315 mm or similar | 600 × 400 mm |
| Delicate sponge and chiffon | Good, with the fan on low or off if the oven allows | Very good, no air movement |
| Price at SHOPYTHON | From RM1,050 | From RM1,899 |
Check your power before anything else
This is the most common surprise for home bakers. A standard Malaysian wall socket is rated at 13 A, which is about 3 kW at 230 V. Some ovens are designed to plug straight in; others need a dedicated circuit installed by an electrician.
- Up to about 2.7 kW (for example 2.5–2.67 kW ovens drawing around 11–12 A): usually fine on a 13 A socket, as long as nothing else heavy shares the same circuit.
- 3 kW and above, or anything specifying an isolator: plan for a dedicated supply. For example, the Bulli DSL-1B deck oven (4.5 kW) specifies a 20 A isolator with 4 mm² wiring, and the Bulli DSL-4A is a 5 kW oven.
If in doubt, send us a photo of your distribution board and the socket you plan to use, and ask your electrician to confirm before delivery.
Convection ovens for home bakers
- Kitmens KM-CO50, RM1,050: 50 L, 2,050 W, 8 removable rack levels. A big step up from a household oven, at a household price.
- Innofood KT-BF1A, RM1,599: 2,670 W commercial convection oven with 8 layers and 8 trays included.
- Soner ECO-1L, RM1,800: 60 L, 4 trays of 437 × 315 mm (8 optional), 13 A.
- Soner Elite 3, RM1,980: 3 trays (6 optional), 2.5 kW on a 13 A plug.
- Soner SCO-1A, RM2,800: 4 trays, 2.67 kW, 50–300 °C.
With steam, for bakers who also make bread:
- MyBaker Ultimate 2500, from RM2,799: digital, 4 trays, 2,500 W, three heating elements and steam.
- Innofood KT-BF4MF, RM2,899: stainless chamber, 8 layers with 8 trays, steam function.
- Soner SCO-4MF, RM3,800: 4 trays, 2.67 kW, manual steam injection.
Deck ovens for home bakers
- Bulli DSL-1K, RM1,899: single deck for one 600 × 400 mm tray, 3,000 W, 20–300 °C.
- Vitoli SolaPro X1, RM2,799: 3 kW electric oven with a steam drum and a 630 × 462 mm chamber, up to 350 °C, for bread and pizza.
- Bulli DSL-1B, RM2,999: single deck with steam injection and a pizza stone, digital controls, 4.5 kW (needs a 20 A isolator).
A bit of both
The Bulli DSL-4A 5-in-1 (RM4,499) is a convection oven with separately set top and bottom temperatures, up to 350 °C, so you can bake trays of cookies with the fan and still control bottom heat for breads and tarts. It is a 5 kW oven, so plan a dedicated supply.
Other things to think about
- Tray size: trays are not universal. Soner and Innofood convection ovens use trays of about 437 × 315 mm; deck ovens usually take 600 × 400 mm. Check your tray, mat and cooling rack sizes before you buy.
- Space and heat: these ovens are 55–90 cm wide and get hot on the outside. Leave space around them, and expect your kitchen to warm up; good ventilation helps a lot in our climate.
- A stand: a stand with tray racks keeps the oven at a safe height and holds trays waiting to go in. Soner sells matching oven stands.
- Proofing: if you bake bread daily, a proofer such as the The Baker FX-13M2 (13 trays, RM1,699) makes timing far more predictable.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bake bread in a convection oven?
Yes. Soft breads, buns and loaf-tin breads bake very well in convection ovens. Crusty artisan breads and sourdough do better with steam, either built in or by adding water to a preheated pan, or in a deck oven.
Can I bake cakes in a deck oven?
Yes, and many bakers prefer it for sponge, chiffon and cheesecake, because there is no fan to push the batter. You just bake fewer at a time.
What is the cheapest upgrade from a household oven?
A plug-in convection oven such as the Kitmens KM-CO50 (RM1,050) or Soner ECO-1L (RM1,800) lets you bake several trays at once on normal household power.
Still not sure?
Tell us what you bake, how many trays per day, and what socket you have, and we will suggest the right oven. WhatsApp us on 017-805 6033, or browse all convection ovens and deck ovens.