Oven for heating food

An oven for heating food, the oven comprising:

• a food heating compartment bounding a food holding space sized and shaped for receiving the food to be heated, the food heating compartment having opposite first and second side walls and a bottom wall having a bottom wall forward portion and a bottom wall rearward portion, the food holding space having an open top in open communication with a surrounding environment outside the oven, the bottom wall having a plurality of gas flow inlets and defining a food support surface for supporting food in the food holding space, the bottom wall including a bottom wall valley portion defining a valley in the bottom wall, the bottom wall forward portion sloping downward and rearward to the bottom wall valley portion, the bottom wall rearward portion extending upward from the bottom wall valley portion, the bottom wall forward portion having a greater horizontal length than the bottom wall rearward portion, the bottom wall forward portion including a first perforated area including a first group of the gas flow inlets, the bottom wall rearward portion including a second perforated area including a second group of the gas flow inlets, and the bottom wall valley portion including a third perforated area including a third group of the gas flow inlets, the first group of gas flow inlets proving the first perforated area with a first percentage of cumulative gas flow area per area of the first perforated area, the second group of gas flow inlets providing the second perforated area with a second percentage of cumulative gas flow area per area of the second perforated area, and the third group of gas flow inlets providing the third perforated area with a third percentage of cumulative gas flow area per area of the third perforated area, the third percentage being less than the first percentage;
• a gas supply plenum disposed below the food holding space and in fluid communication with the food holding space via the plurality of gas flow inlets, the gas supply plenum having a gas supply plenum forward portion below the bottom wall forward portion and having a gas supply plenum rearward portion below the bottom wall rearward portion, the gas supply plenum rearward portion being downstream from the gas supply plenum forward portion;
• a gas supply duct defining a gas supply passageway, the gas supply duct having an outlet out of which gas flows from the gas supply passageway into the gas supply plenum forward portion;
• a heater configured to heat the gas;
• a blower configured to blow the gas through the gas supply passageway into the gas supply plenum forward portion, from the gas supply plenum forward portion into the gas supply plenum rearward portion, and from the gas supply plenum through the plurality of gas flow inlets into the food holding space.