What Is a Proofing Oven?
Since environmental factors can greatly affect dough’s ability to rise, bakers often turn to proofing ovens so their bread turns out perfectly every time. If you’re unfamiliar with proofers, this article explains what a proofing oven is, outlines standard settings and discusses different types so you can understand how to use this piece of equipment.
What Is a Proofing Oven?
Also known as a proofing cabinet, dough proofer or proofer, a proofing oven is a piece of equipment that creates the ideal environment for dough to rise. Yeast activity is directly related to temperature and humidity, so proofers keep these two factors at optimal levels for dough to rise, producing a consistent product and standardizing the proofing time.
In addition to helping dough rise, many proofers also serve as holding cabinets for prepared foods. Once baked goods, grilled meats or other food products are done, they can be kept warm so they stay fresh for customers.
Why Use a Proofing Oven?
Standardized Proofing Time
Bakers can proof dough on the kitchen counter, so proofers may seem unnecessary. However, since higher temperatures and humidity make yeast more active and vice versa, keeping these environmental factors constant allows bakers to always ferment dough in the same amount of time, making it easier to plan the production process and meet customers’ needs.
Consistent Product Quality
In addition to standardizing the proofing time, proofing ovens also help bakers maintain quality by ensuring that dough doesn’t rise too much or too little. Overproofed dough is misshapen and sour while underproofed dough is dense and flavorless, so controlling the environmental factors that affect proofing time allows bakers to make high-quality baked goods easily and efficiently.
What Temperature Is a Proofing Oven?
Since the goal is to create the ideal environment for yeast, the temperature inside proofing ovens is normally between 70°-115°F (21°-46°C). Proofers also keep humidity levels constant, usually at 80-85% relative humidity.
If proofers can double as holding cabinets, the temperature and humidity levels have a greater range. For instance, food safety guidelines recommend holding cooked food at 140°F(60°C) or higher, so proofing / holding cabinet models need the ability to hold prepared food at temperatures far above the optimal range for yeast.
Types of Proofing Ovens
Many types of proofing ovens are available. To help you better choose the right unit for your needs, here’s a list of the ways in which proofing ovens differ:
Proofers vs. Proofer Combination Units
Although many models only have one function (proofing dough), other proofers are multipurpose. As previously stated, some models are also holding cabinets that can keep food products warm once they’re prepared. Additionally, there are even some proofer / oven combination units that allow you to proof dough and bake bread in the same unit.
Pan, Steam Injection and Water Spray Humidity
Some proofers create humidity by heating a pan of water placed at the bottom of the unit. Other models inject steam from internal or external boilers into the air, while water spray proofers mist the inside of the unit with atomized water.
Insulated vs. Uninsulated Proofers
Some proofing ovens are insulated with foam or fiberglass. Although insulated proofing cabinets are more expensive, they’re also more energy-efficient, resulting in lower energy bills. Additionally, since insulated models release less heat, they don’t affect the surrounding air temperature in small kitchens.
Standard vs. Convection
As explained by J.E. Flores Bakery Service, convection proofing ovens use fans to circulate heat evenly throughout the unit, eliminating the need to rotate pans to ensure all pieces of dough rise evenly. On the other hand, standard proofers don’t distribute heat evenly, so you’ll have to manually rotate the pans to make sure some of your dough doesn't over or underproof.
Solid, Polycarbonate and Glass Door Proofers
Solid doors provide better insulation, but they don’t allow operators to see what’s inside. If kitchen staff can’t see inside the unit, they may open the door to check on the dough during the proofing process, negating the insulating effects of solid doors.
Even though polycarbonate doors aren’t as insulating, they allow operators to check on the product inside the unit. In contrast, glass doors both allow staff members to see inside the unit and provide good insulation. Even though proofing ovens with glass doors are more expensive, many operators think the cost is worth it.