# Baking Cookies in Commercial Oven



## bmath (Dec 15, 2013)

Hi. I just started a cookie company selling dough and was onsite at a client's pastry shop to teach them how to bake the cookies. They have a new Matador multi shelf in-store oven in which the top and bottom heat temperatures can be controlled separately. We did three trials of chocolate chip cookies. Trial 1: the top and bottom were both at 170 degrees celsius. When the tops were done, the bottoms still needed a little more time. Trial 2: top and bottom set to 173C. Again, the bottom baked faster than the top and waiting for the tops to bake resulted in overbaked cookies. Trial 3: top set to 165C, bottom 160C. Resulted in longer cook time and cookies were probably left in a minute too long. While they were soft when they came out of the oven, they became hard the next day. All cookies puffed up and then flattened out during baking, resulting in major spread. Furthermore, under the oven there is a place for storage/cooling. Baked cookies were placed there, however I noticed it was a bit warm and I think the cookies continued to bake and should have been placed on a table for cooling instead. Note that all dough was chilled/frozen before baking and each cookie was an equal weight.

I tested the dough at home in my conventional oven, baking them at 350F/177C, and all baked up and had little spread.  

Does anyone have any tips for me regarding baking cookies in commercial ovens?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## jcakes (Feb 18, 2007)

If your clients are using conVECtion ovens (with high and/or low speed fans) you should test your cookie dough in those ovens.  Commercial ovens are more powerful than home ovens; they also develop hot spots and with a more powerful fan to circulate air, you are going to see browning on one side so you will need to rotate the pans. Convection ovens bake faster, and you can set them to a lower temp (300 dF convection will get you similar results to a 350 dF conventional oven).

For the client you mention above - and not knowing whether your recipe contains butter only, butter/shortening or shortening - I'd set the bottom oven at 170 dC and the top at 160 dC and underbake the cookies.  That bottom area will retain heat if it's is enclosed on three sides but the residual heat shouldn't be a problem if it's only one pan.  If it's 4 or 5 pans taken from the oven to cool at the same time, yes, the heat build up can make the carry over baking longer than it would be otherwise.


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## bmath (Dec 15, 2013)

Thank you so much for your reply. We actually found that setting the top to 165 dC and bottom to 160 dC worked perfectly for baking multiple pans at one time.


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