A practical comparison of the Merrychef Connex 12 and Connex 12e, based on real installations across cafés, garden centres and food-to-go sites
Merrychef Connex 12 vs Connex 12e: Which High Speed Oven Is Right For Your Business?
If you’re comparing the Merrychef Connex 12 and Connex 12e, you’re probably wondering whether it’s worth spending more on the larger model or whether the entry-level 12e will do everything you need.
Having supplied and installed both ovens across cafés, garden centres, golf clubs, convenience stores and farm shops throughout the UK, we’ve found that the decision rarely comes down to dimensions or technical specifications.
Instead, it comes down to four questions:
1. What are you cooking?
2. Is the food chilled or frozen?
3. How many cook cycles will you do each day?
4. When do those cook cycles happen?
Answer those questions correctly and the right oven usually becomes obvious.
The Quick Answer
If you’re starting a food offering, serving chilled food and looking for a major upgrade from a panini press, the Merrychef Connex 12e is often the best place to start.
If you’re expecting high volumes, significant lunchtime peaks, deep-filled toasties or a larger frozen food menu, the Connex 12 is usually the better choice.
Understanding The Difference
On paper, both ovens look very similar.
Both can:
– Cook, toast, grill and reheat food
– Operate without an extraction canopy
– Sit on a standard countertop
– Produce food significantly faster than a conventional oven
– Be used front of house
The biggest difference is not what they can cook.
It’s how much demand they can comfortably cope with.
When The Connex 12e Is The Right Choice
The Connex 12e is designed for businesses introducing hot food for the first time.
Typical examples include:
– Coffee shops
– Independent cafés
– Farm shops
– Convenience stores
– Visitor attractions launching a food offer
The oven excels when cooking chilled products such as:
– Paninis
– Toasties
– Sandwiches
– Pastries
– Chicken goujons
– Pizza slices
For many businesses, that’s all they need.
A common misconception is that the 12e is a “small” commercial oven. It isn’t.
At around £3,500, it’s still a serious commercial appliance capable of producing hot food dramatically faster than traditional cooking methods.
If your menu is mainly chilled sandwiches and paninis, the Connex 12e will often do the job perfectly well.
Daily Volume Isn’t Everything
One mistake we see regularly is customers focusing purely on daily sales.
For example, a site selling 60 sandwiches per day sounds busy.
But there is a huge difference between:
Scenario A
60 sales spread throughout the day.
Perhaps six to eight cook cycles per hour.
The Connex 12e will typically cope comfortably.
Scenario B
60 sales between 11:30am and 1:00pm.
Now the oven is under constant demand during a short lunch rush.
In this scenario, the Connex 12 starts to become a much stronger option.
The key question isn’t:
“How many items do you sell?”
It’s:
“When do you sell them?”
When We Recommend The Connex 12
The Connex 12 becomes attractive when:
– Daily volumes increase
– Lunch rushes become more intense
– Menus become more complex
– More frozen products are introduced
– Deep-filled toasties are being served
– Future growth is expected
One of the biggest advantages of the Connex 12 is recovery time.
Imagine repeatedly placing frozen products into any oven.
Each cook cycle removes heat from the cavity.
A higher-powered oven can replenish that heat faster, maintaining performance during busy periods.
This becomes increasingly important in cafés, garden centres and golf clubs where demand is concentrated into a relatively short lunch period.
Why Deep-Filled Toasties Matter
One menu item often influences our recommendation more than customers expect.
Deep-filled toasties.
The additional microwave power available in the Connex 12 helps drive heat into the centre of thicker products, making it easier to consistently achieve food-safe core temperatures.
If deep-filled toasties form a significant part of your menu, we’d usually recommend discussing the Connex 12.
Chilled Or Frozen? The Question Most Suppliers Forget To Ask
This is one of the most important questions we ask every customer.
Many operators tell us they sell:
– Toasties
– Paninis
– Pastries
At first glance, that sounds like a perfect Connex 12e application.
Then we ask:
“Are those products chilled or frozen?”
The answer often changes everything.
A business selling 50 chilled paninis per day has very different requirements to a business selling 50 frozen paninis per day.
The additional energy required to cook from frozen places greater demand on the oven and often changes our recommendation.
What Neither Oven Is Designed For
A common misconception is that high-speed ovens can cook anything.
While both ovens are extremely versatile, neither is designed to replace a combi oven.
For example, they are not intended for:
– Cooking raw chicken
– Cooking raw bacon
– Roasting joints of meat
– Large batch production cooking
They excel at rapidly cooking, toasting and reheating products rather than replacing every piece of kitchen equipment.
Real-World Examples
Recently we installed a Connex 12 at Braithwaite’s Garden Centre in Bedale.
Although the current food volumes could potentially be handled by a smaller oven, the expected growth and lunchtime demand made the higher-powered model the sensible long-term choice.
We’ve seen similar growth patterns elsewhere.
At Thirsk Garden Centre, what started as a food operation has grown to the point where four 32A Merrychef ovens are now in operation.
On the other hand, we’ve also supplied three Connex 12e ovens to Hii Grind. Despite substantial seating capacity, the Connex 12e proved to be the correct solution because it matched the menu and operational requirements.
The lesson?
Choose the oven based on your menu and service pattern, not simply the size of the building.
Which Oven Should You Choose?
Choose the Connex 12e if:
– You’re launching a food offer
– Your menu is mainly chilled products
– You expect around 50-60 cook cycles per day
– Demand is spread throughout the day
– You want simple 13A plug-and-play installation
Choose the Connex 12 if:
– You’re serving 100+ cook cycles per day
– Lunch periods are extremely busy
– Frozen products form a significant part of the menu
– You serve deep-filled toasties
– You expect strong future growth
Final Thoughts
Most customers don’t outgrow a Connex 12e because it can’t cook the food.
They outgrow it because they’re selling more food.
If you’re starting out, serving chilled food and looking for a significant step up from a panini press, the Connex 12e is often the perfect starting point.
If your menu, peak demand and future growth plans suggest higher throughput will be required, the Connex 12 may prove the better long-term investment.
The best oven isn’t necessarily the biggest oven.
It’s the oven that matches your menu, your customers and the way your business actually operates.