Ovens plumbed with steam
We would like to hear from TFLoafers who are using one of these newish electric wall ovens with plumbed-in steam. There have been few TFL posts about them recently and the market has expanded dramatically. Miele made an early one that required ferrying water to the oven. Current models from Gaggenau and others require and exploit built-in plumbing and drainage.
Owners rave (> Houzz) about them for all kinds of cooking (meat, veg, baking) but we've found little from us TFL kinds of bakers (i.e., serious about bread). Possible issues we've gleaned thus far are that our typical "20 min w/steam" is not a given with these units, either because the level of steam is so intense, or because venting it fast and thoroughly enough to crisp a crust becomes problematic. Perhaps these units are designed primarily to do an entire bake with steam and not to turn it off after X minutes. Another issue is max temp: Some are listed as 450˚F (230˚C) which is a bit low, especially for pizza.
Thanks in advance from any TFL steam oven users.
And Happy Holidays!
Tom
Tom, I have a non plumbed Viking combi. The max temp is 440, so it is not a good candidate for pizza. I have not had much success in baking, though it could be operator error. I only make home milled 100 percent whole wheat, so my results may not be typical. My issue is that if I preheat in combi mode with a pizza stone, I think that it may absorb some of the humidity. I have not been very impressed with the results from a preheat using the standard hotel pan, the bottom come out underdone . It is possible the results would be much better with AP or Bread Flour.
I have a Gaggenau steam oven - and a convection oven as well - the steamer is the oven of choice for me. It works faultlessly (watch that big mouth change feet eh?).
230 deg.C (446 deg.f ) is max for the steam oven with steam levels setable 100% 80% 60% 30% 0%. The larger convection oven peaks at a slightly bonkers 300 deg.C. (570 deg.f )
Both ovens have a, "proving mode", which is adjustable from 30 deg.C to 50 deg.C The steam oven can take two half kg round loaves easily and I could hide the biggest turkey imaginable in the convection oven.
So far the crust on bread from the steam oven has been fabulous at the 230 deg.C setting and 100% steam.
In forty years of cooking I have been staggered how much better the Gaggenau ovens were at cooking stuff. I previously had a pair of their 90cm wide ovens and had heard good things about wolf so when I moved house I bought one.
When I moved again it was a no-brainer to leave the wolf behind and go back to Gaggenau. I have no regrets in dumping the wolf and buying the 4000 series double ovens.