The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Need to buy a new oven for my very small business

Georgerudd92's picture
Georgerudd92

Need to buy a new oven for my very small business

Hi bakers I am going to start my very own baking business only going to sell like 6 of each products but to start doing this I need to buy a oven i am going to convert my garage into my own space for it  I need a oven what I can put onto my counter top or on the floor I live in uk and I don't know what to buy it's realy frustrating me I thinking of.a confection oven or pizza oven and I can only spend 500 pound and when my business gets bigger like 5 years down the line I will buy a proper one if I can get all of you to comment and help me get the right one this will help me out so.much like I said I live in uk and I have 500 pound budget cheers guys 

Georgerudd92's picture
Georgerudd92

Which oven would you buy

Georgerudd92's picture
Georgerudd92

Anymore recommendations please need a oven in the next 3 days 

Joyofgluten's picture
Joyofgluten

Have you bothered to give any thought to the power requirments of even a small commercial oven?

Most of them require 3 phase power, something that i believe is not so common in residential areas of the UK

Ovens that do run on normal 2 phase power, often require at least a 16 amp circuit. Small convection ovens are often quite power hungry. What good is an oven if you have no place to plug it in?

gerhard's picture
gerhard

equipment requires 3 phase but if you are looking for equipment that doesn't require it that is also available.  For a small venture it would not be economically viable to connect to 3 phase if it is even available in a residential neighbourhood but it should not be too expensive to have a 220 volt outlet installed in the garage, same as what a clothes dryer or kitchen stove requires. 

Gerhard

Georgerudd92's picture
Georgerudd92

THanks Gerhard have you got any recommendations I don't care what oven it is I just want it to make great Bread like bakers and ideal on a table.top no more than 500.pound cheers 

drogon's picture
drogon

3-phase is common in the UK - it runs down most roads with alternative (in 3's) houses being tapped off each phase. (usually - isolated houses fed from overhead poles may well be different). However getting the leccy board in to extend that 3 phase into your house may cost you an arm and a leg, then you'll be on commercial rates - which might be to your advantage - once you get over the installation costs...

There are many ovens that run off single phase, 230v suitable for baking bread in. I've already given the OP a suggestion in another thread - however it seems now that you're after a bigger oven.

They don't come cheap.

I have a Lincat EC08 - it's a 3-tray Gastronorm sized oven with water injector. It was in the region of £1200. I have a Rofco B40. Lots of money. Both these run off a standard 13A UK plug and are both rated at 3.1Kw.

Here are some suggestions in your price range:

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Buffalo-Convection-Oven-100Ltr/GD278/ProductDetail.raction

and actually, that's about it from Nisbets, anyway. Go onto gumtree and start looking - I saw plenty there when I was looking last year - all buyer collect though - if you have an estate car or hatchback with a big boot then you're all set.

Another thought - and I've seen microbakeries do this (and almost went down this route myself) is to get more than one cheap domestic oven. My £195 Beko which can bake 4 large loaves at a time (6 in tins) works really well and at one point I planned to buy another. I know someone with 4 x 68 litre domestic ovens in their little bakery and know of another who has 6 domestic ovens. You'll ultimately need more power to feed them, but you might be able to start with 1 or 2 depending on the wiring into your shed.

-Gordon

Georgerudd92's picture
Georgerudd92

Cheers gordan where can I buy the beko ovens from and do they build in the wall and am in the garage so that won't work and that oven from nisbets how manyou loafs can u fit in it and  should I buy baking stone and slot it in to replace one of the shelves ?

drogon's picture
drogon

I bought my Beko from the local "Euronics" shop. Check their website and see if there is one local to you. It's just a local "white goods" type shop that's a Euronics franchise type of thing.

 

The Beko is a built-in oven however I first used it simply sitting on a bench. It's 2.5Kw so I fitted a standard 13A plug on it. When I refurbished the bake house I fitted it inside a standard oven unit carcass just to pretty it up a little.

My Lincat oven which is a GN 1/1 size oven with 3 shelves can make 12 small (515g dough weight) loaves or 6 larger ones. I fitted it with steel plates. Do check the shelf height - a lot of these are designed for baking off frozen pasties, etc. Large loaves sometimes touch the next shelf up in the Lincat.

Out of your price range, but look at the Rofco B40. It's another 13A oven but has 3 stone shelves. It bakes 12 large loaves with plenty of head height.

How they look now:

-Gordon

 

Georgerudd92's picture
Georgerudd92

Gordan have you got face book?

drogon's picture
drogon

Yes, I have, however I hate facebook, so am not really using it for much right now. I have a website and twitter account though. See my profile here for details, or go to: http://moorbakes.co.uk/

-Gordon (2 O's. no A)

Georgerudd92's picture
Georgerudd92

I have just sent you a msg on your bakery fb page