Baking
Baking is generally defined as the process in which products are baked through a
series of zones, with exposure to different time periods, temperatures, and humidity
conditions. As an example, in white pan bread baking.
Cold ovens
At times there is no option but to use a cool oven. In this case the bread should be
underproofed so that it will not expand too much which causes shrinkage and sometimes
collapsing.
The routine in a bakery, especially where a direct fire brick oven is used, is to
bake the small bread first which requires a hotter oven than the medium size bread and
then the larger loaves, which require a cooler oven. The last to be baked is the very sweet
breads, which carry a high percentage of sugar, and so forth and so on.
Hot ovens
Between a cold oven and a hot oven, one would choose a hot oven, if one has
more resources. For hot oven one must ferment doughs well, use less sugar and allow the
bread to proof more than normal. With a hot oven the baking is done in a shorter time and
there is not the danger of having bread overproofed or doughs overfermented.
The situation of cold or hot oven can happen frequently with the direct fired brick
ovens wherever they are in use.
Lack of proper insulation covering the dome of the oven is also undesirable. This
may be sand, which is the least expensive. It should not be less than 30 inches or 75 cms
thick at the top-most part of the dome. In order to do this, the wall of the oven should be
build up, both front side and rear to hold this sand.
The flue should be set in the chimney at the other extreme from where the
firewood is burnt. Firing of an oven is very important. As a rule the oven should be fired
for at least two hours. Then the flue is closed and the door shut tightly. When firing, open
the door just enough to allow sufficient air to enter for proper combustion.
After firing, the oven should be allowed to rest at least half an hour before starting
to bake. This is done so that the heat will be evenly distributed throughout the oven and
the hearth or floor is heated evenly. This is done for the following reasons.
When firing an oven the dome and to a lesser degree the walls collect or
accumulate this heat. The thicker the dome and the better the insulation on the top the
more heat will be accumulated and the longer baking can be done before refiring.