When the call came in for a convection oven repair at a local Chinese restaurant, Patrick Duffy, owner of Duffy’s Equipment Services, Sauquoit, N.Y., had no idea what to expect. “The oven was a double-door, single unit on legs—a mid-priced make and model,” Duffy says.

He knew there was a problem right away. “The windows on the doors were completely covered with burnt-on barbecue sauce and would no longer pass light. The oven’s powerful blower motor was pulling the sauce off whole roasts of meat, which were suspended from an upper rack, and flinging the sauce all over the oven. The racks were dripping with stalactites made of baked molasses, vinegar and honey. The oven’s interior looked more like a burnt candied apple than an appliance…”

Log in to read more!