Pastry production: get the right combination

While few bread bakers would part with their deck oven, a convection or combi oven offers some advantages over the traditional bakery workhorse.

Key among these is versatility, particularly in the case of a combi oven.

“By using convection or steam cooking – or a combination of both – a combi oven offers bakers greater flexibility when the desired result can’t be achieved with just one method of heat transfer,” explains Steve Merritt, managing director of EPP.

The level of control and even heat distribution that fan assistance provides can help produce pastry with an even bake and consistent quality, especially in products that require layers of pastry.

“While you can pretty much bake any sweet or savoury pastry and bread in a high-quality combi oven, one type that particularly thrives is puff pastry,” says Paul Patel, culinary lead at Convotherm .

“As your pastry cooks, the dry heat of the oven will surround the product, browning the exterior pastry, giving a perfect crispy finish. Meanwhile, the humidity from the steam is able to get in between the flaky layers, allowing them to rise much more than in a regular oven.”

Artisan baker Alex Gooch, winner of a 2018 Baking Industry Award for his Slow Roast Tomato, Olive & Marjoram Ciabatta, said he would only use a deck oven for pastries if he was looking for uneven heat distribution, such as caramelising the bottom of a product. He points out that cruffins – a croissant/muffin hybrid – work well in convection ovens and advises that using tins with plenty of space for heat to circulate will help them bake evenly.

“As with all baking it’s worth playing around with a few settings, don’t be afraid to experiment,” he adds. “Every baker is looking for something slightly different in their finished products and that’s why there is so much variety in the world of artisan baking.”

“While you can pretty much bake any sweet or savoury pastry and bread in a high-quality combi oven, one type that particularly thrives is puff pastry.”

And many modern combi ovens offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to controls, though also feature pre-loaded programmes and recipes.

Lee Cogger, brand manager for Venix at Jestic Foodservice Solutions, points out that operators can use preset programmes and then tweak the levels of fan, temperature and humidity to achieve the desired finish and colouration to suit their customers’ preferences.

“For example, if an operator wanted a darker colour to a product they could add more dry heat and a slightly higher temperature, or cook it slightly lower for more of a doughy effect,” he adds. “Furthermore, saving a new recipe involves just two taps on the user-friendly Venix touchscreen.”

Rational ovens such as the iCombi use an ‘intelligent baking process’ that can be used to create a suitable baking environment, depending on what’s being baked.

“All you need to do is select the parameters, such as how brown, crispy or moist you want the product to be, and the iCombi will take care of the overall bake time and temperatures,” explains Rational UK regional corporate chef Theo Bostock. “This means that you will always get the same result, regardless of load quantities.”

There are, however, some products that should not be baked on a convection setting, advices John Ward, bakery expert at Scobie McIntosh.

“When baking custard flans, souffles, cakes and quickbread, we would not recommend the convection setting,” he explains. “This is due to the fan blowing air on these foods as they start out as a batter and set while cooking, which can often create a lopsided product.”