Rant: The steam injection on my pro oven broke mid-bake and I lost a whole batch of baguettes

I was at my shop in Portland last Saturday, getting ready for the farmers market. I had 48 baguettes proofed and ready, went to hit the steam button on my deck oven, and nothing happened. Just a sad little click. I checked the water line, the solenoid, everything looked fine, but no steam came out for the first 10 minutes. The crust set way too fast and they all came out with that thick, dull skin instead of the crackly blistered one. Has anyone else dealt with a steam injection system failing mid-service? What did you do to save the bake?

2 comments

2 Comments

hunt.nora23d ago

Feel for you, that's a brutal loss especially with farmers market prep on the line. I had a similar thing happen with my deck oven's steam injector last fall. I ended up throwing a pan of hot water on the oven floor right after loading the loaves, then another one a minute later. It wasn't perfect but the crust had a decent crackle, saved maybe half the batch. Did you try any last-minute fixes like that or just have to watch them set wrong?

lucasw8222d ago

My old oven died mid-batch once too and I tossed a few wet towels on the bottom of the oven right when I slid the loaves in. It gave off enough steam to keep the crust from setting too fast and maybe 30 of the 48 came out decent enough for market. Not perfect but way better than nothing.