How to Choose the Right Oven for Your Micro-Bakery
How to Choose the Right Oven for Your Micro-Bakery
Starting a micro-bakery is a dream for many aspiring bakers, but selecting the right equipment is crucial to ensure the quality of your products and the efficiency of your operation. One of the most important pieces of equipment you'll need is a commercial oven. Here's a comprehensive guide to help you understand the different types of ovens and how to choose the best one for your micro-bakery.
Understanding Oven Types
Convection Ovens
Convection ovens are popular in many commercial kitchens. They operate by circulating hot air with a fan, which provides even heating and is great for a variety of baked goods such as cookies, scones, and muffins. However, they are not ideal for artisan sourdough bread. The forced hot air sets the crust too quickly, preventing the bread from fully expanding and often resulting in an uneven bake.
Best for:
- Soft breads
- Cookies
- Scones
- Muffins
- Laminated pastries
Pros & Cons:
- Pros: Even heating, versatile, relatively affordable.
- Cons: Not suitable for high-quality hearth loaves, rapid steam escape.
Combi Ovens
Combi ovens combine convection and steam, providing a versatile baking environment. They have sealed baking chambers, which help retain steam better than standard convection ovens. However, they still rely on convective heat and lack the thermal mass required for baking artisan bread effectively.
Best for:
- Soft breads
- Pastries
- Bagels
Pros & Cons:
- Pros: Versatile, good for steaming and baking.
- Cons: High heat loss when the door is opened, fan cannot be turned off, crust may set too soon.
Deck Ovens
Deck ovens are the preferred choice for baking artisan sourdough bread at scale. They feature stone decks that provide excellent thermal mass, ensuring consistent, conductive heat. Their sealed baking chambers retain steam effectively, allowing for optimal crust development and oven spring.
Best for:
- Artisan sourdough bread
- Hearth loaves
Pros & Cons:
- Pros: Excellent thermal mass, consistent temperature, efficient steam retention.
- Cons: Higher cost, larger footprint.
Practical Considerations
Electrical Requirements: Many commercial convection ovens operate on 3-phase electricity, which is not suitable for residential settings that use single-phase electricity. Rewiring these ovens for single-phase use can be expensive and requires a qualified electrician. Make sure to verify the electrical requirements of any oven you're considering.
Cost and Scalability: Deck ovens, while ideal for artisan bread, can be expensive. If you're just starting out and budget is a concern, consider using a conventional double wall oven with baking stones or steels to simulate the thermal mass of a deck oven. You can create steam using a roasting pan with lava rocks and a garden sprayer. This setup requires practice but can produce good results.
Tips and Hacks
- Steam Generation: Use a roasting pan with lava rocks and a garden sprayer to generate steam in conventional ovens.
- Heat Retention: Preheat your oven with baking stones or steels for a long time to saturate the decks with heat.
- Steam Baffle: Use an upturned sheet pan on the top rack to hold more steam in the chamber.
- Fan Management: If you can't turn the fan off completely, double score your loaves or use upturned hotel pans to manage air flow.
Conclusion
Choosing the right oven is a critical decision for your micro-bakery. While convection and combi ovens have their place, a deck oven is the best choice for baking high-quality artisan sourdough bread. If a deck oven is out of reach, start with a conventional double wall oven and employ some of the hacks mentioned to improve your baking results. With the right equipment and techniques, you can ensure your micro-bakery produces delicious, high-quality bread that keeps customers coming back for more.