August 27, 2017 - 3:34pm
Loading multiple loaves into oven
ill be trialing a large steam injection oven in a few days which will allow me to bake 20 loaves at a time. what I'm wondering is it best to leave oven open until all loaves are in or close and open every time I load a loaf in with my peel (I can only load one at a time). either way I lose the moisture from presteaming oven - unless mist dough before putting it in....any advice? I know when I was doing work experience in a bakery they had big loaders which allowed them to load large volumes simultaneously but I haven't that luxury.....
thanks in advance
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or anything else flat and not too heavy that will hold multiple loaves and fit into the oven.
thing is these deck ovens are at least 5 feet long and 3 feet deep and stacked ontop of each other so i need a long peel...they also have stones in them so i get a great hearth bake off them....i might just have to speed up and do an extra bit of steam after the door closes...i cant have everything :) well...i could have a loader.....
I've seen videos of people loading those with long peels with multiple loaves on each peel. I expect that takes a bit of practice, but would be more efficient. I load six onto the stones with each on a separate peel and close the oven after each one, then add water to the steaming trays in the bottom. Seems to work, though I do lose a lot of heat.
thanks Lazy Loafer....i think i can get 2 on my peel...my advantage is that the deck ovens have great steam injection programmes and the stones retain heat for quite a while. They also have adjustable heat on top and bottom so i can play with that.....
Lucky you... getting to test a big oven like that with steam injection!
I guess I'd first ask the manufacturer that question. I am sure they have a learned opinion on the subject. With that said, doing mass loads with my deck oven I first start the steam about 30 seconds in advance, then add as many loaves as I can in as short a time as I can. I might place 3 loaves on each peel, get the scoring done, then slide them in 3 at a time off of each peel. Sometimes I load them one at a time but I have everything done with each loaf (dumping from bratform, dusting, scoring, etc) before I begin the process.
I generally start my official steam time once all the loaves are in the oven.
cool. i did a test bake the other day but it was only with 4 loaves in each oven (theres 3 ontop of each other)....worked like a dream but im upping to 20 per oven so that will change things....using a steam injection deck oven is heaven....and makes you understand the importance of a good bake after you slice open the loaf....such a difference in crumb, colour and crust....thanks...i generally do everything from scoring, dusting, etc before oven anyway so i guess im on the right track...got to get the speed up now :)
Note that adding a full load of cool/cold dough can drop the oven temperature quickly. Of course the large commercial ovens recover faster but it is something to consider. I have found that I generally run my deck at higher temps if I am going to run large loads, one after the other. I also use a quick-reading temperature probe to verify internal temperatures as the bake time nears the end.
Let us know how this all works out please.
i will indeed - just got my trading licence so will know in 2 weeks or so...thanks for the help and advice always good knowing the bakers on this forum have your back :)