Doug wrote:
>Have always used my regular oven with a baking stone for baking my bread
>at home. Good results, but low capacity. I now have access to a deck oven
>from a friend who runs a pizza shop. Before I get all excited at the
>prospect of baking 10-15 loaves at a time, are these type ovens good for
>baking bread? I was thinking with the ceramic hearth and high temps
>capabilities they would do a great job. Any comments would be greatly
>appreciated. Thanks.
This depends. My oven at work is a deck oven, but it doesn't work well for
bread unless the steam cycle is used. Without the steam, the bread comes
out with a molted, patchy, undeveloped crust. This is because only the
bottom of the oven is lined with stone. To turn out a beautiful loaf in an
hearth oven without steam the whole oven has to be stone or brick. So now
the question is, is the deck oven you are going to use equipped for a steam
cycle? Most deck ovens used in pizzarias are not because they simply don't
need them.
Roxanne