I have received more than a few responses on the Subject/Topic.
My original post was asking clinicians and technicians for their opinions/experiences with different manufacturers of convection ovens (Duke, Vulcan, & Blodgett). All of the ovens named in my post are reputable convection ovens used in the commercial food industry.
Most of those who responded were O&P clinicians, a few technicians, and a thermoplastic supplier to the O&P industry.
The majority of responses advocated the use or had only used convection ovens in their experiences. Several replies named Blodgett and swore by the brand. Other informed me that all of the ovens were trusted brands in the commercial food industry and would be more than good enough and reliable for my O&P needs.
A few individuals stood by their Infrared ovens. In my research and reading of responses to my post, I have come to the conclusions that the esthetically appealing and more energy efficient infrared ovens are just not worth the money; solely my opinion based on personally experience and overall purchase cost. Infrared ovens cost much more than convection ovens. One respondent even stated that the energy saving benefits of the Infrared oven would take over a decade to reap the rewards of that feature, due to that price difference.
I have used both and was always fooling with the plastic’s position in the oven to get it to heat evenly with an infrared (killing the heat by leaving the door open before I put the sheet in to force the bulbs to stay on while the plastic heated… I tried tons of tricks and tips). I never worried too much about it with convection ovens.
One response came to me from a plastic supplier to the O&P industry. I found the piece of information they shared very interesting and wanted to pass it along.
As a supplier of thermoplastics to the O & P profession, I would absolutely advise on obtaining a convection oven rather than an infra-red; particularly as you are planning on cooking polypropylene. Infra-red is not the most suitable method of heating polypropylene, and at this point I will quote from my Polypropylene Handbook (yes it is as exciting as it sounds); “because PP does not absorb infrared rays well, variations in the temperature reached can be quite high, depending on minor differences in thickness, crystallinity, composition, or proximity to the heaters…….”, in other words it is not unusual to end up with uneven heating when cooking polypropylene using infra-red. Also, with infra-red heating, different materials absorb infra-red waves at different wavelengths. To get the best results you would ideally have an emitter producing infra-red waves at the wavelength best suited for the particular material being “cooked”.
Thanks again for the responses.
-Cam
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