Conveyor oven apparatus and method

A conveyor oven comprising:

• an oven chamber in which food is cooked;
• a conveyor moveable to convey the food into and out of the oven chamber;
• a first gas burner to generate heat for the oven chamber;
• a first valve to regulate the flow of gas to the first gas burner, where gas flow through the first valve is variable;
• a second gas burner to generate heat for the oven chamber;
• a second valve to regulate the flow of gas to the second gas burner;
• one or more sensors positioned to detect a temperature within the oven and to transmit a signal associated with the temperature;
• and
• a controller operable to receive the signal and control the first and second valves, wherein, in response to receiving a signal from the one or more sensors indicating a change in temperature in the oven, the controller is operable to maintain the oven chamber at substantially a steady state temperature by varying the flow of gas through the first valve and turning off the flow of gas through the second valve.

A conveyor oven for cooking food product, the conveyor oven comprising:

• an oven chamber in which food is cooked;
• a conveyor for moving the food into and out of the oven chamber;
• a heat source operable to generate heat to be provided to the oven chamber, wherein the heat source comprises a plurality of heating elements;
• one or more sensors positioned to detect a temperature within the oven and to transmit a signal associated with the temperature;
• and
• at least one controller that
• controls at least the heat source, and
• is operable to receive the signal, wherein, in response to receiving a signal from the one or more sensors indicating a change in temperature in the oven, the controller is operable to maintain the oven chamber at substantially a steady state temperature by varying a heat output of at least one of the plurality of heating elements from a first heat-generating output to a second different heat-generating output and turning off another of the heating elements in the plurality of heating elements.