Hi all-
New member here, first post. My tiny microbakery (producing levain-based breads) is starting to grow and I am looking for a way out of my oven bottle neck. I know some members have had luck with Cadco convection ovens and Rofco stone ovens for maximizing home production. I have a couple questions that I couldn't find answered on previous threads so I was wondering if anyone could help out:
1. It seems like some bakers here are happy with their Cadco 113 using a single stone or steel on the bottom shelf. Any reason the four tray 133 model couldn't be used to double production? Would using two stones/steel plates, one on bottom level and one on 3rd level, have any adverse effects?
2. Have any members had extended time with the Rofco ovens? I've looked at them closely and talked with helpful reps at company but I just don't get the steaming operation in a 3 level, one door oven, whether using a plant mister or the steam pods. Seems like it will take much too long to load bread and then steam each level.
3. I'm tempted to bypass both convection and stone and go for an outdoor wood fired oven that can handle 15-20 loaf bakes but, alas, we are merely renters and I can't envision having to dismantle the beast once I got it set up. Any dedicated wood fired oven users out there that think it might be worth it nonetheless?
Any advice you seasoned bakers have would be greatly appreciated. This is a great forum by the way!
Thanks,
Marseille
I do the microbakery thing too - in the UK. I'm currently doing 8-10 loaves a day through the week and up to 24 for a Saturday.
Have you seen this page? http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/tips-tricks-for-rofco-oven-other-stone-oven-users/ not much but might help a little - especially the comments.
I have space for an outdoor oven, but to make one big enough to take that amount of bread at once... Challenging!
I started with my kitchen range cooker - room for 2 loaves, so when the shop I sell through upgraded to 4 loaves, I ran 2 batches back to back - then they wanted 6 and it was coming up to xmas time (2 years ago) not sure of my bakery future, I bought a cheap domestic fan oven. (Beko, £200) tray in the bottom to throw in some water to make steam, and 2 grids I could bake 6 small loaves or 4 big ones, and it was great for a long time - although on Saturdays I ended up putting 3 loads through it plus using the range to get everything done - timing was tight... then last year, (with the promise of a 2nd shop taking more bread), again just before xmas, I upgraded to a Lincat EC08. With hindsight I wished I'd gone for something like a Rofco but there you are.
The Lincat is just like a big fan oven - 3 grids and 2 fans/elements. It also has a water injector - which is crude, but seems effective. It does take the best part of an hour to heat up though - something I hadn't quite appreciated when I first got it, (ie. even after the thermostat clicks off at temperature it really benefits from being left the full hour), however this mornings bake was relatively easy - only 21 loaves, (and a batch of chelsea buns) but it was an easy morning with 2 loads through the Lincat and one plus the buns in the Beko and one load in the range. I could easily add another run through the Lincat and Beko to double capacity if I needed to.
The down-side of these bigger ovens is that above a certain point you can't just plug it in - the Lincat EC08 is the biggest I could find with a 13A plug. They're also heavy - the Lincat is 70Kg - bear that in-mind if you're in rented accommodation and you move... (or need to get it up stairs as I did)
However the Lincat will take 12 small loaves or 9 larger ones. It has "Gastronorm" size rails, so if you get into that, then GN 1/1 trays slide right in and there's loads of GN stuff - it's used everywhere in bigger commercial operations.
http://unicorn.drogon.net/IMG_20150117_083751.jpg
is a picture (with lots of reflections, sorry )-: I took this morning on the 2nd run through the Lincat - I've only 2 trays in on the top and bottom rungs - the middle is empty. The trays are 530mm wide.
I am looking at retro fitting stones into the ovens though - the down-side is that heat-up time will increase - and therefore energy costs will go up and that might ultimately push up the cost of the bread...
Cheers
-Gordon
Thanks for sharing your setup Gordon- sounds like you have developed an efficient system for your surroundings. I've heard that steel plates can work just as well stones in those convection ovens and have a much shorter warm up time if you are worried about salty electric bills at end of month!
best
Sam
I've switched over to BakingSteel plates and am very VERRY happy with then over the Fibrament I had been using. And when you drop them they don't break, the floor breaks instead.