Combioven Corrosion Best Practices

There have been instances of corrosion in combi oven cooking cabinets, as well as rails and wheels. If you have a customer who is experiencing these issues, we would like to pass along some guidelines of items to check that may be possible causes.

• Units that are only being used to steam.

  • Even if only steaming is used, the units do need to be cleaned with the approved cleaning chemicals. Clean units using the 2 in 1 cleaning cartridges, or the HP oven and grill cleaner at least every other day. Spray units with the hand shower on days when not using cleaning agent.

  • Water being supplied to the units could contain corrosive elements, such as chlorine, sodium, calcium, and iron. If there is no type of water filtration supplied to the unit, it is advisable to have the water tested to determine what types and amounts of chemicals are present.

  • Use the correct filter type for the corrosive elements present.

  • Also, products that are being steamed can release chemicals into the cabinet that over time will corrode the stainless. Cooking salts being added to the products being steamed will deposit sodium into the cabinet.

• Using ferrous (non stainless steel) items in the cabinets such as containers, pans or grids made of steel or cast iron.

  • If using plated grids or containers, inspect to ensure that the plating is not wearing off, as that will expose the ferrous metal underneath. If there is any sign of corrosion on the items being used in the combi, discard immediately.

• Cleaning agents.

  • The approved cleaning agents for MKN combis are either 2 in 1 cleaning cartridges, or MKN Oven Cleaner. The cleaning agent in these two items is sodium hydroxide. After using these cleaning agents, a thorough rinsing of the cabinet is required.

  • The 2 in 1 cartridge also contains a citric based rinsing agent, which helps in the removal of scale build up in the cabinet.

  • The oven and grill cleaner should not be sprayed directly on the door glass as over time, this will cloud the glass. Spraying onto the stainless and then running the cleaning program will dilute the cleaner as to not harm the glass.

  • If using other cleaning agents not supplied by MKN, the sodium hydroxide content must be less than 20% of the volume.

  • Do not use agents such as chlorine, bromine, iodine, or ammonia.

  • Do not use abrasive scrubbing pads or steel wool scrubbing pads. Those will deteriorate the surface of the stainless cabinet and allow corrosion or rusting of the cabinet.