Commercial Conveyor Toasters

Conveyor Belt Toaster: What You Need to Know

Commercial conveyor toasters come with various features that work together to greatly improve the speed, quality, and consistency of toasting bread, bagels, or buns. Depending on the needs of your establishment, you can find commercial conveyor toasters that toast as many as 2,800 slices of bread in an hour. Conveyor belt toasters have a mechanism that moves the bread in front of or between heating elements at a prescribed speed, freeing the operator from manually inserting each piece as it's ordered. Breakfast-centered restaurants can make great use of a commercial bagel toaster, as can hotels that offer breakfast buffets and other operations that rely on toast as a large part of their menu. Burger joints need toasted buns to keep sauces and grease from penetrating the bread, leaving it soggy and unappetizing.

Common Questions About Conveyor Toasters

What are the differences between manual and electronic controls?

Manual controls are knobs or dials that can be turned by hand to change the conveyor's speed and the intensity of the heat produced by the element. Electronic controls range from buttons to touchpads and send electrical impulses to a control board that interprets those signals into commands, such as increasing and decreasing heat and speed. Manual controls are less likely to malfunction than electronic controls, but both are reliable mechanisms that enable the operator to control the pace and temperature of their machine. Between the two options, the differences come down mostly to personal preference and end use, so you should consider the look and feel you want in your kitchen or breakfast buffet when choosing between manual and electronic countertop conveyor toaster models.

How is a toaster's production capacity rated?

Toasters are rated by how many pieces of bread, buns, or bagels they can toast over the course of an hour. The production capacities of conveyor belt toasters range from nearly 3,000 slices an hour to less than 200. Calculate the number of pieces you need to toast during your busiest stretch of the day and find a toaster that can keep up with that demand.

Which belt width and opening size should my commercial conveyor toaster have?

One big difference among these conveyor toaster ovens is the width of their openings. Some toast a single, vertical line of bread, while others are wide enough to hold three pieces horizontally. Generally, the capacity of each toaster increases with the width of the opening. If you're looking for a commercial bagel toaster, for example, consider purchasing a wider machine so your bagels don't get stuck in a narrow toaster. Wider belts enable users to toast more slices of bread at a time, which can help increase the conveyor toaster's hourly production.

Conveyor toaster oven openings are also made to fit products of certain heights, with sizes ranging from 1.25 to 3.5 inches. Wider openings can accommodate products such as Texas toast, bagels, and other thick types of bread.

What other features should I consider?

Some toasters have the ability to brown both sides of a piece of bread – a helpful function for making Texas toast and crisping the middle slice of bread in a club sandwich. Several conveyor belt toaster oven models include warming trays at the ends of their belts that catches and keeps toast warm before serving. If operators are unable to grab the bread as it comes out, a warming holder keeps them toasty until they're served, and the heat from the warm bread can also be used to melt cheese. However, cheese shouldn't be placed on the bread prior to toasting it.