September 17, 2011 - 7:38pm
how many loaves in a Scott type oven
How many loaves do you bake in one batch in a Scott type oven 32X36? I just put in the first test run, put in a doz. and that seems to be full up. I guess I was hopping for more in a batch.
Stephen
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or do the loaf pans lock together?
What exactly is a "Scott type" oven? A commercial one? A WFO? Pictures?
I'm sorry. I less than fully explained. What I am talking about are the WFOs in the book "The Bread Builders" in which Allen Scott gives instructions for building a WFO, of which many of the ovens being built are like. I have built one of these type of WFOs and am just now beginning to try to learn how to use it. Many of the photos of WFOs on this page look like Allen Scott type ovens, so I was looking for some of the people who have used them to give me a leg up if you will.
Thank you for your reply. I hope I have better explained myself.
Stephen
I also fill my oven with 12 loaves (24 lbs of dough). You should be able to bake more than one load with a firing. So far I haven't found the need to bake more than 12 loaves though:)
My oven is also an Alan Scott style, built from plans that I purchased from "OvenCrafters". My oven measures 32" X 38". As a matter of fact it is I am firing it right now to bake some cornbread to go with our chili tonight.
In my experience, it's best to fill the oven as full as possible when baking bread to allow the dough to generate its own steam. (That said, I've often baked a loaf or two alone and it's still pretty darn good.) How many loaves depends on the size and shape of the loaf, but a full oven is best. I don't often bake bread in pans, prefering instead to make batards or pan de epi. Since my oven is smaller than yours (only about 2 feet deep by about 3 feet wide), I can just squeeze in 5 of these loaves (about 1-1/2 lb each) by lining them up, side to side, across the oven floor. Still, like someone else mentioned, that's enough bread for a week for My Lovely Assistant and I, even if we give one or two away -- any more and we'd be fat in no time. ;-)
And just for the record, I once tried to expand the capacity of my oven by using a Tuscan grill like a shelf, baking under and on top if the grill at the same time like in a kitchen oven. The loaves under the grill didn't bake very well since they were cut off from the radiant heat from the oven ceiling. Doesn't work, so don't bother trying.
ClimbHi