Buying a Deck Oven for Small Scale Production
Hello, I have lurked this site often until today. I'm trying to start a small scale bread business out of my house. I have worked in several bakeries but have been baking out of my home oven for some time (sadly gas). I'm thinking of upgrading to a small commercial deck oven. A real bread oven is out of my budget but a used pizza oven seems like it could work well.
First question: Is the only difference between a pizza oven and a bread oven steam? someone mentioned that pizza ovens might have thinner hearths meaning less retained heat but that seems like not the worst thing.
Second question: in this post (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/27950/deck-ovens-lots-questions [1]) breadman 1972 [2] mentions using a water filled stainless steal tube above the burners of the oven and then piping it into the built in steam ports. Could i just drill steam injection ports into the back of the oven? seems like a "port" might just be another word for hole.
Third question: Would something like an espresso wand or an electric kettle create enough steam thereby subverting the need to mess around with the burners? I suppose I could also go the pressure cooker on a propane stove rout.
Fourth question: Used kitchen equipment stores seem to be overflowing with Bakers Pride ovens. Are they fine ovens or should they be avoided?
Thanks so much for reading.
Rowan