Which oven?

[espresso]

We are contemplating a major purhase of a new oven primarily for baking breads. We will do some pastries as well.

My partner wants a revolving deck oven for use in all applications.

I want a stone deck oven with steam injection capabilities and a convection oven for the pastries.

Which would you go for and why?


Thanks

Keith

[roon]

I know what a convection oven is, and I understand the whole steam injection idea, but what is a revolving deck oven?? What is its purpose, what does it do? I've never heard of it before.

[coolJ]

Roon, the revolving deck oven is like having an oven with a ferris wheel in it. It has probably four or six decks, that move around almost like a spit, and it's great for mass production of bread, because you can cook about 100 loaves at a time.

[momoreg]

A revolving deck oven is nice for volume, but features like steam injection and convection can make a difference in quality.

[yfr]

Espresso,
your partner is right. A revolving deck oven w/steam is the best for all applications-breads and pastries.I had one with 6 decks and could put 24 sheet pans at one time. I bought a 15 years old
oven -gas and used it for 10 years and never had any problems
with it. The only maintenance is to grease the bearings every few
month

[espresso]

ydr

Thanks for your response.

Have you ever baked your bread right on the stones of the racks?
if so what did you think of the final product?

I have never seen an oven of this type with steam injection or perhaps just never seen it used. Can you elaborate on this or on how you inject steam for the first 10 mins or so of baking bread.

Thanks
Keith and Lisa

[mudbug]

espresso,

You will usually find stem injection ovens in professional bakeries and restaurants as opposed to domestic homes.

Steam injection ovens are essentially standard convection ovens with the capability of producing and injecting steam. This steam injection is especially desirable in producing high-quality, golden-brown, crusty breads. The secret to the quality of the product is the process of forced air distribution.

From a wonderful article on oven types.



A press on a button and steam is injected straight into the oven.

The steam injection, hot oven, and circulating air give you an excellent outer crust, and a very nice "oven spring." Oven spring is the final death throes of the yeast as it expands in a last gasp in the hot air of the oven. The resulting bread comes out exactly as you'd expect a baguette to be. Crispy on the outside, light and large holed on the inside. When you remove the bread from the oven, you hear the crust crackle in the moist outside air, like Rice Crispies.

Working the Ovens is a grueling experience



Ovens that professional bakers use have two main qualities that home-ovens lack: a lot of thermal-mass and steam injection into an airtight baking chamber. Mass is important to a bread oven because the baker wants a very steady, even heat. A typical home oven loses much of its heat the moment the door is opened. Also, even more temperature is lost when water is introduced in attempts at making steam. The large mass in commercial ovens retains tremendous heat. Heat retention is important because one wants to heat up and bake the dough as quickly as possible, (between 400°F and 470°F for lean bread dough). At lower temperatures the oven spring, (amount the loaf expands) is decreased. High and steady temperatures allow the dough to expand to its maximum volume before a crust is formed. Steam in the baking chamber also greatly aids expansion, by keeping the outer surface of the dough plastic.

More on cooking with steam from the San Francisco Baking Institute

[espresso]

cchiu

Who cooks at home??

Thanks for the reponse.

Keith and Lisa

[mudbug]

Those of use don't work in a restaurant!

espresso,

Not sure if we've answered your questions, let us know.

[austinfarrugia]

hi Keith

I would go for a combi oven