Abstract: Food products are baked in a forced-convection oven having a baking chamber into and out of which a rack carrying the food products on superposed trays may be rolled. Air is circulated horizontally through the baking chamber by a pair of vertically disposed cross-flow fans. The circulating air enters the baking chamber through alternate ones of two opposed side walls, and the major portion of it leaves the baking chamber through the other one of these side walls while a minor portion leaves the baking chamber through a back wall.

Abstract: Burners of an oven are operated to satisfy heat loads changeable between a high load and substantially smaller loads. At least under the smaller loads the burners are cyclically controlled in a cycle of time periods T-1 and T-2. During the periods T-1 the burners are steadily regulated to maintain a uniform temperature in the oven. For periods T-2 the burners are periodically controlled to admit one of two selected magnitudes of fuel flow to the oven. At least under the smallest loads the latter magnitudes are periodically controlled to be zero or close to zero.