February 22, 2017 - 12:40pm
Hi, I'm new here can I bake bread in a deck pizza oven?
So I'm looking at setting up a micro sourdough bakery in my garage on a budget and can buy a twin deck electric pizza oven head height is 150mm. My question is can I make this work for sourdough I would have to self steam I know, but I could bake 12+ large loaves at a time!! I can pick it up for £500, has anyone had any experience baking in one or is the head height going to be an issue, many thanks in advance for any help :)
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The height may well be an issue, but the prospect of 12 large loaves might be tempting.... (and a Rofco is realistically 4x that!) I'd also want to know about the temperature control - can top & bottom be controlled separately and can you get it DOWN to 200°C? (You might want to start a bake at 250, but that'll blacken the tops & bottoms before it's properly cooked - at least that my experience of my oven!)
Another thing to check is it's power - can it be powered from a 13A socket, or will it need 3 phase? The pizza place over the road from me has a 2-deck pizza oven and they needed to get 3 phase in to power it...
When I was looking about a while back, I checked Gumtree, etc. and found Lincat EC08's for £5-600, but all too far for me, and as-always, "buyer collect". I ended buying one new (and now a Rofco B40)
Bear in-mind that a pizza is only going to be 10-20mm thick, so plenty space above it for heat to dissipate out, but who knows... Do you know a friendly pizza place that might let you do a test bake???
-Gordon @moorbakes in Devon
Cheers for the reply, it is 240v or 3 phase optional, dual control for heat top and bottom can be independently controlled. Italforni tkd2 is the make/model if you would like to have a look your opinion would be fantastic :). Unfortunately I don't know anyone who owns a pizza shop as I make my own :( lol!! I would love a rofco b40 but my budget at the moment can't stretch, this would be a great starter oven if the height will work?? Wonce again thanks for your time and help :)
Once lol :) :) :)
Hi Drogon,
I'm looking back at deck oven related post in the forum to find a solution for deck oven heat setting I'm facing. I just had my hands on a deck oven with no steam. I tried steaming it by hot water pan for 5 mins before loading the dough, and put top heat at 250oC; bottom at 220oC; load the dough and baked for 25 mins and get the pan out. Lower temp to 220oC both top and bottom and baked for another 20oC. The crust formed too soon and the bottom burnt.
So I see you are commenting to get the temp DOWN to 200oC only. Can you help me understand your specific top and bottom heat setting during your bake? One baker recommends to me that bottom heat on deck oven should not be more than 190oC, want the sole hot but not too hot; while the top can be 230-250oC. I figure this's totally different when baking in convectional oven with support of a dutch oven where everyone is suggesting a preheat at 260oC; baking at 260oC (Dutch oven on) and steam then open the dutch oven lid and continue at 215oC-220oC.
Thank you in advance!
I have a Rofco B40, not a deck oven. They're similar, but not quite the same. I don't use dutch ovens/pots with lids either. When I talk about top and bottom I mean the 2 settings on the Rofco. Top controls the 2 top elements and the thermostat is in the top compartment, bottom is the bottom 2 elements and the thermostat is in the bottom compartment. There is a middle compartment without a thermostat.
You need to experiment to see what works for you. I pre-heat my Rofco for up to 2 hours, then the dough goes in. The top thermostat is set to about 230°C and the bottom thermostat to about 210°C. Dough is loaded, I squirt water in, close the door, then 12 minutes later I remove the silicon sheets I used to load the dough with and open the vents. Works for me.
-Gordon
I'm sorry I did not read the comment carefully. I'm not used to the Rofco, have seen a few bakers using it. Thanks for your reply :) I will continue experimenting. I'm very new to sourdough and still on the early learning curve.
Cheers!
I occasionally bake in a bench top oven , 210mm between elements , that will bake tallish sandwich loaves , but is not ideal. Minimum clearance top and bottom 50 mm for a 150mm tin is pushing it , but it can be done . The temp. has to be kept around 150*C , bake time extended , and a weather eye kept open .Smaller loaves , formed and free-formed , rolls , and sticks , much the same , middle of oven and don't stray too far .
I like the look of the twin deck you have in mind . Sourdough ciabatta , batard , baguette , and the like may be the ones .
I say give it a go , chat with the local pizza man , do a test run or three . And have fun (Y)
Gotta go , have a strong urge to make pizza
Cheers for the info Patmax :) I won't be using tins just sourdoughs so I'm thinking it's worth a gamble :), you have more height than me though as i would only have 150mm/ 6" but I'm thinking it could work??
Yeah mate , its the clearance top and bottom that is crucial . You one will hold the pre-heat heat well , mine is lightweight sheet metal , single skin , so no oven spring to speak of
havin' a crack is the way go ;-)
You never know , the Pizza place may end up being a bulk customer (Y)
Most of my breads are 'sourdough' , the ones in tins included . We call wild yeast bread Rewena here . Comes from the Rewai , the potato mash , or water , that is used in the starter with the flour , and in the dough mix for a starch sugar kick-start .
I look forward to your progress reports , photos and all . see ya mate
So this morning when I was doing my bake, I decided to measure the height of my large loaves.... Here they are before...
In ...
and out of the oven:
And with a ruler:
So it's about 110mm high.
That doesn't leave much in a 150mm pizza deck - however there is room, just not much!
-Gordon @moorbakes in Devon
First off nice loaves drogon :) cheers for the info on loaf size it's very helpful im thinking i could probably make it work!!!!
Cheers again :)
Hi just came across this thread as I was looking at stuff on pizza deck ovens being used for sourdough bread baking & have a coupe of questions on your set up firstly your bread looks great. What are the liners that you have under your proofed loaves it looks like the whole thing goes in the oven & secondly does your oven have steam injection or is it done by hand
I am also looking at a micro bakery from home & looking for a better way to bake as doing 30 odd loaves atm in my home 900x400 oven gets a little old when it takes all night to bake them. Also looking to increase the volume.
Thanks in advance Vicki
its worth a crack alright
Steaming will be a fun challenge. 7 inches is plenty. 6 inches is close, but will probably work. Sourdough is usually about 4 inches high anyway.
Cheers for all the help and info people :) much appreciated!!!!
Im going to view the ovens today and if they are in good order im going to take the leap ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :)
I will keep you all posted on any progress and results :)
Cheers again :)
Hello,
How did it turn out? Did you buy the pizza deck oven? any feedback?
I'm also interested to hear how you got on with this Karl. Any update mate?
Drogon, your loafs are making me hungry!! :)