February 7, 2024 - 12:47pm
Using a steam cleaner to inject steam
I am looking for an easy and safe(-ish) way to modify my Baker's Pride P44S pizza oven in order to introduce steam in a controlled way.
I know some people use modified pressure cookers, but that seems a little dodgy to me, so I'm wondering if anyone ever tried integrating one of those pressured steam cleaner instead?
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http://www.breadcetera.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/ScoringSteaming.mov
He drilled a hole in a hotel pan to do this. He was fairly obsessive about technique.
That's the same method I use: an inverted hotel pan and a Bissell Steam Shot. Works great. Although I have never tried it, the Steam Shot could probably be used to put steam directly in an oven. My oven is too well vented for that.
Thanks for this link. I had only been spraying into the whole oven.
It’s a definite improvement!
I seriously doubt that the steamer you're considering will provide enough steam on demand to steam your ovens. I also question whether it can actually force the steam into an oven. Seems to me, soneone else here tried it in the past, and it was a complete fail.
I've modified my Bakers Pride P24S Hearth series oven so I can inject steam into it. As you probably know, I use a Presto 6 qt electric pressure cooker to generate the steam. I've plumbed it up with a ball valve, and 1/4" silicone steam tubing. The pressure cooker is 120v, rated at 1410w, and has a temp control. Even when I adjust the temp control to max 400 degrees, when I open the ball valve, the pressure cooker can't keep up with the steam flowing into the oven. If I open the valve half way, the cooker can keep up, and provide continious steam until the cooker runs out of water.
I've taken to steaming my current rustic pan formed loaves for 8 minutes, and when I measure the water used by the pressure cooker, at half open, it uses about 500 ml. My oven is about half the size of yours. Do you plan to use both your units at the same time? Do you plan to use both decks in both ovens? If so, I don't think even my pressure cooker could not provide enough steam for both units.
My oven has only one deck. I think both of yours have two decks. Since the actual oven "box" for my oven is also used for models with two decks, there are 2 holes in the middle of the back to accomodate the third element. It was simple for me to pop out the plug on one of these holes to insert my steam injection fitting. The pressure cooker sits on top of the oven and plugs into an adjacent 120v outlet. Simple and clean.
I'm really quite pleased with my set up. I don't have photos to show, but if I can be of any further help let me know. Jim
PS After again reading your question, I think you're looking for a real steam generator. The unit you reference won't do the job. If a pressure cooker is to "doggy", I sugest you look for a steam generator that can turn at least 1 gal of water per hour to steam. I think they're popular for things like steam showers
Circling back on this. I ended up buying a wood working steamer from Amazon (~$70) here and drilled a whole at the back of my Bakers Pride P44, bought a few 1/4inch piping connector to get the steam through to the back of the oven, and it's been working magic!
Here are a few photos and videos of the installation and result. I since bought another steamer since I've been loading the deck with more bread and thought I'd add some extra steam in there. Although not totally sure this is necessary.
Happy to share more details with anyone who might need it
VIDEO HERE
You can't argue with those loaves! Fan-tabulou!s
Yes, those steamers look a lot more useful than the domestic steam cleaner variants. In fact they look very similar to ones you can buy in the UK for stripping wallpaper!
I did toy with the idea of using one for my oven steaming system but in the end I went down the pressure cooker route.
Lance
Nice work - how long do you steam for?