February 8, 2022 - 9:49am
bread friendly (consumer) gas ovens
Gas ovens are very unpopular with bakers, but this seems due to the standard vented design, which is presumably the simplest and cheapest. It seems a baking friendly oven design that uses a gas fuel source should be possible. At minimum, one would want steam trapping sealed chamber design that is heated externally by gas. I'm assuming there are some challenges with this approach. Does anyone know if these are made? Do they make steam injected consumer gas ovens? My initial attempt to formulate key word searches didn't turn up anything. I would be interested in 24 inch slide in models.
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Why not just get an electric oven?..
That would be my preference, but I'm in a rented apartment with a 120 volt 20 amp circuit and a recommended 1920 watt upper limit. I believe most full size ovens require more power than this. If I owned the apartment, I would redo the wiring and invest in a nice baking oven, but that isn't an option. The ignition failed recently, which triggered an exploration of alternatives. It was fixed last night, but there are enough other issues with this low end aging gas unit (oven door, insulation and burners) that I would consider buying a better gas replacement if it existed. I'm sure there are better gas ovens we would be happier with, but a model that still has the vented design drawback wouldn't be compelling enough to purchase one. We are also considering a countertop combi oven, such as the Anova Precision Oven (or Cadco?), which might be large enough and versatile enough for daily dinner for two (with the benefit of steam), but small enough to bake single hearth loaves with 1800 watts. That's a different thread. I was curious if they even make sealed gas oven models, or steam injection ovens. Perhaps that is wishful thinking.
I was initially intrigued by the notion that a countertop oven might be usable, but after looking into it and corresponding with two owners my suspicions were confirmed. It is a nice idea but just doesn't have enough power to do what it needs to do. Neither owner was happy. One of them sent it back under their guarantee. Apparently there is nobody at Anova who has ever used one and their "help desk" is useless.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I think I've been leaning in that direction. It does seem the APO might have enough power for general purpose (~ 350 F) cooking. If we had more space, that might be enough to justify the purchase. I'm assuming the same would apply to the few other 1/2 size countertop units geared towards 120 volts. The Moffat Turbofan (120 volts @ 1500 watts) and Cadco BakerLux (120 volts @1440 watts) (or similar) are two other models I looked into. They don't seem particularly compelling compared to the APO model (120 volt @ 1800 watts), although I'm sure there are other factors beyond just power. I believe both are also permanent convection ovens. I'm ruling out options that combine multiple 120 volt circuits to power higher end models. A model with two or more independently powered elements would be an interesting option, although I'm sure they don't exist.
If you're baking just one loaf at a time, you can use a baking stone,AKA pizza stone, and cover your dough with a large, disposable aluminum foil pan or the lid of a granite-ware turkey roaster. They're not elegant but they are functional and can get the job done.
I use an aluminum foil pan in my oven after loading my dough on parchment paper. After 22-24 minutes, I remove the pan, parchment paper, and turn the dough around. After another 22 minutes or so, my 668 grams of dough becomes a loaf of bread.
Thanks for your note and recommendations. I do use a similar combination of tricks for gas oven baking, including a Challenger Bread Pan, and a Fibrament stone with inverted mixing bowl for pizza.
I'm no expert on the design of gas ovens, but a sealed chamber would not allow gaseous combustion products to vent safely. A sealed design would require the chamber to be heated only though the walls. Is that what you meant by "heated externally"? It is now even recommended that gas stoves/ovens not be installed in residential situations because of the hazards of the combustion products.
On a related note, when I was growing up, our family had a Chambers stove that could cook items in the oven on "retained heat". The vents on the oven would close when it was turned off to minimize heat loss. The oven also had thick insulation. A roast could be put in the oven for ≈15 minutes at 500 °F, the oven turned off, and the roast would be ready a few hours later.
Yes, that's what I meant by "heated externally". I suppose it is a design challenge to do that efficiently.
That's an impressive story. It reminds me of another testimonial to old clunky metal ovens I was reading on TFL [HERE].
The door panel has started falling apart on this model and it confirmed my suspicion that there is no insulation at all in the frame. It leaks so much heat, that we rarely use it from late Spring to early Fall. To be fair, I'm not sure how many modern consumer models include insulation.