Customising the new oven

Having made a preliminary inspection of my new oven’s innards, I had to remove the outer casing completely to actually get at the wiring. It turned out that disconnecting the top elements was relatively straightforward. I hasten to add that I had the assistance of a qualified electrician in doing this. The hardest part was putting the casing back together. When all was done it looked a little worse for wear, but it worked.

I had two concerns: first, that with only two out of the original four heating elements now functioning, the oven wouldn’t be able to reach maximum temperature, and that without any top heat at all, crusts would be under-baked. After testing the new set up with another 500g loaf, I found that my fears were well founded. The oven took a long time to reach even 230°c but, more seriously, the crust  was barely coloured after half an hour while the bottom of the loaf was beginning to burn.

The oven isn’t insulated at all, so the next step involved laying some spare mineral-wool insulating blanket over it to see what difference that made. I also had a broken granite offcut that I rested on the now-defunct top elements. I hoped that, once preheated, this would provide enough heat energy to brown the crust without burning it, as the elements had.

The results have been encouraging. A third loaf shows good oven-spring and, while still a bit anaemic, the crust has browned. It was made with a straight dough and 60% hydration. Despite looking underbaked on the outside, it was perfectly done and had a lovely springy crumb.

The bottom of the loaf is still baking too rapidly, so the balance of top and bottom heat needs to be altered somehow, but it’s an improvement. Given that the ‘insulation’ I added was simply laid over the casing of the oven, a more elegant and effective arrangement is still possible using something like vermiculite board between the oven cavity and the casing.

Meanwhile, the folks at Bakery Bits are thinking about designing a bread oven for the domestic market and are looking for input from amateur bakers, so get over there and get involved!