How to replicate the taste, texture and look of artisanal breads using modern, continuous bakery technology has been the holy grail of equipment suppliers keen to cash in on the worldwide rise in demand for 'traditional' products.
Auto-Bake's solution has been to adapt its Serpentine oven to include radiant-heated stone hearths for baguettes, buns, sour doughs, ryes, Turkish bread and ciabattas.
Director Gil Watts explains: "In the craft bakeries of old, the sustained heat of the stone hearth produced a characteristic radius at the loaf's ends and sides. To achieve this curling demands a particularly high stone temperature - in the case of the ciabattas, around 260oC.
"Conventional vertical ovens rely almost solely on convection heating - this form of heating can't achieve the stone temperatures required to accurately replicate true artisan breadmaking."
The Serpentine conveys the bread through precision controlled thermal zones, including steam, while the temperature of the hearths is monitored and maintained at a constant temperature throughout.
They can be swapped for trays and tins when production changes to moulded loaves and rolls.
The oven forms part of a complete Serpentine baking system which can produce up to 1,000 baguettes an hour.
''Contact Auto-Bake Europe Tel 0121 422 3366''