Mobile bread oven: how to choose it?

The concept of the mobile bread oven is not new, since the Swiss army was already building mobile, self-contained bakeries at the beginning of the 20th century. The aim of these towed military bakeries was to ensure that the troops were supplied with fresh bread. For several years now, the nomadic bread oven has been making a comeback and experiments are numerous, in a wide variety of contexts. Amateur bakers, associations, farmer-bakers and full-time bakers are all taking up this great idea in their own way! Discover in this article how to choose your mobile bread oven, as well as the models of Grand-Mère ovens that may correspond to your profile.

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Essential questions to ask when choosing a mobile bread oven

There are ovens on the market today for every project and every budget, from the light self-build oven to the professional oven designed for a truck. It is therefore important to clarify your needs first.

• What is the expected output, per day or per week?
• How far will your oven have to travel? Will you move it from your shed to your garden, or will it have to travel several dozen kilometres each day?
• Where will you prepare and knead the dough? Do you need an oven alone or a complete mobile bakery, including a laboratory?
• What kind of breads or pastries do you want to bake in it? Based on the size and shape of the products, you can calculate the baking space required for a batch. For example, on 1 m² of floor space you can bake 16 baguettes or 10 loaves of bread weighing 1.2 kg on average.
• What is the maximum acceptable weight of your oven? The answer depends on the type of stand or vehicle you plan to use, but also on any traffic restrictions.
• What is the budget?

Which models of Grand-Mère ovens are suitable for your project?

Four Grand-Mère, the leader in wood-fired ovens for vehicles, offers a wide range of mobile and durable wood-fired ovens. All these ovens, which combine tradition and quality of manufacture, are direct heating. They therefore give you the right to use the designation “wood-fired bread.”

The cart : a small movable oven for amateur bakers

Would you like to share your passion for good bread at home, in complete freedom, in a private capacity and not as a professional activity? The wood-fired oven can be just what you want. This oven is built on wheels and equipped with a drawbar for easy manoeuvring. Its 0.49 m² baking surface can bake about 4 kg of bread

Due to its weight (560 kg when delivered assembled), movement is nevertheless limited to hard floors such as a tiled or concrete terrace. The principle is to be able to move the cart to another part of your property depending on the season, to bring it closer to where you want to enjoy it

The oven on trailer used by associations

Cultural associations, festivals or event organizers also contact us, looking for transportable wood ovens on a trailer. Their aim is to offer demonstrations of bread baking – or other traditional specialities – at local fairs and events.

The trailer oven package based on the lateral F1500 oven is ideal for this purpose.

To drive this combination of car and trailer in France, the driver must hold a BE driving licence (car with trailer over 750 kg). The dimensions of the trailer with the oven are as follows:

• Cooking area: 1.29 m²
• Length: 3.95 m
• Width: 1.71 m
• Height: 2.28 m
• Weight: 1.3 t

Good to know: we offer this trailer for hire for the weekend at a price of 300 € including tax. The trailer is to be collected from Thursday at the head office in Four Grand-Mère, in the Vosges, near Rambervillers.

Mobile ovens for peasant- bakers

At the same time, more and more initiatives by peasant-bakers are emerging, often in the conjunction with organic farming. The processing of the cereals produced by these neo-bakers into flour and then into special breads is indeed highly appreciated by the consumer. Economically, baking and selling your own bread can also be an interesting opportunity to generate more value-added. For these professionals, the mobile bread oven is a very good solution for producing bread while meeting their customers directly, on markets or during events.

Among the numerous models of Grand-Mère bread ovens intended for professionals, 2 references should hold your attention if you are in this case:

In the SUPER PRO range, the SP1200 oven offers a cooking surface of 1.13 m² for a weight of 540 kg. On this model, a metal portal frame supports the central vaulting part in order to bypass the constraints of conventional masonry.

Thanks to their already  trailer oven package, these ovens will allow you to produce enough breads, pastries, pies or other delicacies to satisfy your customers before having to reheat. For your information, you should estimate the time for a reheating at 15 minutes.

Bread ovens for itinerant bakeries

Finally, we are seeing the emergence of fully-fledged itinerant bakeries, i.e. the bread is baked at the same location as the sales. This type of process makes it possible to ensure a quality supply in the countryside while remaining economically viable.

Four Grand-Mère offers these atypical bakers several models of bread oven that can be easily adapted in a truck. All these ovens are designed with a side firebox, to avoid any manipulation of the throat or embers in such a sensitive area. Thanks to their low refractory fireclay vault, complemented by triple mineral fibre insulation, they are also very economical with wood.

Depending on the season, you can make between 4 and 6 batches with a single heating. The temperature loss is limited to 7 degrees per hour at an ambient temperature of 20°C.

4 models of Grand-Mère ovens are particularly well suited to the needs of “itinerant bakers”:

• Bread oven 2100 FL : baking area 2.52 m², weight without cladding and duct 1716 kg
• Bread oven 2102 FL : baking area 3.25 m², weight without cladding and duct 1968 kg
• Bread oven 2803 FL : baking area 4.72 m², weight without cladding and duct 4075 kg
• Bread oven 2802 FL : baking area 5.46 m², weight without cladding and duct 4714 kg

For more information about this range of bread ovens, please contact our sales department.