New Mecatherm oven combines convection and radiant heat What is the BBB™ Bottom Bake Booster system? How does it work? The BBB™ Bottom Bake Booster consists of a controlled hot air convection bake limited to the sole of the product. The top of the product is baked by radiant heat, without any turbulence used in the baking chamber. See the below graphic for a baking illustration. What results does the oven obtain with fully baked and par-baked products? The combination of radiant heat and controlled air convection heat in the new Mecatherm system results in exceptional quality. The oven offers: • Control of crust thickness. • Production of par-baked hearth products with very short bake times, leading to a high residual humidity inside the product without any collapsing. • Production of sandwich breads with a very thin crust on top, and more solid at the sole. • Forming of the product’s upper crust without excessive, unwanted coloring, in particular for par-baked products, where a second bake is needed. • Bakes products with controlled water loss, within very short baking times. • Efficient steam dispatching during the complete baking process due to the non-turbulent atmosphere of radiant heating on top of the product. • Excellent development of the product’s upper crust. • Bottom crust without marks. • Products with an open structure. • No collapsing of the par-baked products, which can be depanned while hot, immediately after exiting the oven. Is the oven designed for baking on trays or hearth? Both. The combined heat exchange and the acceleration of heat transmission though the sole allow hearth baking and par-baking on trays. An automatic production line with an FTM oven becomes mixed: hearth/trays or trays/hearth. How flexible is the oven? The FTM oven rapidly switches from hearth production to tray production. The oven’s control systems give bakers full control over the bake and allow for individual fast and flexible reaction when changing oven parameters. What are the main features of the oven? • Automatic feeding and loading with trays and hearth baking. • Reduced steam consumption. • Automatic tensioning and centering of the belts (loading table, baking belt on three deck levels and unloading table). • Modular oven composed of 215-sq.-ft. modules, available from 430 sq. ft. to 1,290 sq. ft. • Indirect heating with gas or fuel burners, which leads to very low energy demands. • Automatic unloading on two levels: hearth and trays. For more information, contact Mecatherm at info@mecatherm.fr or +33 (0)3 88 47 43 00

It seems there has been a lot of talk about ovens lately. Why?
Changing consumer trends have put a strain on the hundreds of old ovens in the baking industry. This has forced high-volume bakers to purchase new ovens that accommodate new product formulations.

In addition, excess capacity throughout the baking industry has led to bakery closings and shuffling of used equipment, including ovens, from plant to plant. According to one oven consultant, about two-thirds of today’s production ovens are not baking products that the ovens initially were designed to bake.

How has this affected baking?
One of the most common mistakes the oven consultant sees is bakers using bread ovens to bake rolls. Despite the similarities of these products, their baking profiles are vastly different. Bread ovens use bottom heat and roll ovens use top heat.

What trends are driving new oven purchases?
The growth of the artisan bread and roll segment, both fully and partially baked, has impacted oven design and technology.

Why does artisan bread production require new ovens?
Artisan breads and rolls require sophisticated ovens that possess multiple zones and innovative baking surfaces. These attributes provide the ideal bake for a variety of artisan products, including upscale breads and rolls.

Why do these tunnel ovens need multiple zones?
Baking zones allow artisan bread bakers to use complicated baking processes in continuous ovens. For example, most continuous artisan bread ovens use the same baking principles as smaller deck and rack ovens. At the first stage of baking, products traverse through a steam chamber zone. This zone gives the dough its initial spring without drying out the product. The steam zone also prevents premature forming of the crust. At the end of the baking process, most artisan bread ovens apply high heat to finish and color the crust.

In between the first and last zones, products travel through zones with varying heat and humidity profiles. Bakers alter these zones to improve baking characteristics and accommodate product changeovers.

On what type of surface should artisan breads be baked?
Advances in oven technology allow oven equipment manufacturers to create continuous ovens with various baking surfaces, including stone, and granite and metal plates. These baking surfaces conduct heat, which transfers through the bottom of the bread. This bottom heat is combined with a source of top heat to provide the ideal baking characteristics of artisan breads.

Do combined heat sources improve baking quality?
Hybrid ovens that use multiple forms of heat are popular in today’s baking industry. These ovens allow bakers to produce multiple types of products from many different heat sources, including conduction, radiant and convection.

Does baking on stone cause any loading/unloading problems?
No. Advanced manufacturing systems allow bakers to install stone-surfaced ovens and still attain a high level of automation.

How can bakers ensure that the zones in their ovens are functioning properly?
Many high-volume bakeries use temperature profiling to ensure oven performance. Common temperature profiling units travel through tunnel ovens and record various profiles, such as heat and humidity. These profiles are uploaded to a computer that graphically displays efficiencies and inefficiencies throughout the baking process.

Do these profilers measure data throughout the entire baking
chamber?
Yes. A variety of profilers measure the baking profile across the complete length and width of the baking chamber. Some profilers measure dough temperatures and other dough attributes as products travel through a tunnel oven.

How often are profilers used?
It varies from baker to baker. Some bakers run temperature profilers every shift. Other bakers use them once a day. Regardless, temperature profilers are a good tool to ensure maximum oven performance.