Conveyor Ovens

The word "impinge" means a sharp collision or to strike forcefully, so hot air impingement means that hot air is forced to or collides with the product. As a cooking method, this is achieved with a fan that blows over the heating elements. The elements’ hot air is pushed, by the fan, through a plate with several quarter sized holes. The velocity of the air increases as it goes through these holes. The result is uniform jet of hot air in the cooking cavity that quickly cooks, bakes or roasts any food that passes under the stream.

An unfortunate drawback to impingement cooking is that delicate items, like soups or desserts cannot be cooked on a conveyor oven. The high velocity air can damage the otherwise disrupt the food surface. However, this method of cooking is widely used to make pizza, pasta, cookies, fish, steak and several other foods.