Device for Baking Dough-Based Food Products, Net and Method for Baking Such Products

Abstract

The invention relates to a device that comprises a carriage and an oven including a baking chamber, a plurality of stacked baking soles and means for heating said soles. The device is characterized in that it includes a plurality of nets made of a heat-resistant flexible material and includes at least one cell for receiving said food products, in that the carriage is arranged for inserting said nets into the oven, for withdrawing same and for positioning same opposite a sole, and in that it includes means for vertically moving the soles and/or the nets relative to each other so as to place said soles and said nets in an active position in which the bottom of the cells of a net is in contact with the baking sole located opposite and is capable of deformation upon contact with said sole so as to bake said products by induction, and in a passive position, in which the bottom of said cells is separated from the sole located opposite.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A carriage for cooking dough-based food products, the carriage being configured for use with an oven comprising a plurality of soles, the carriage comprising: a carriage chassis; and a plurality of supports coupled together via the carriage chassis; each support comprising at least one cell for holding said dough-based food products to be baked; each support of the plurality of supports being placed in a superimposed manner above or below another support of the plurality of supports; each support being spaced apart from another support of the plurality of supports; wherein the carriage is configured to allow insertion of the plurality of supports into the oven and removal of the plurality of supports from the oven; wherein the carriage interacts with the oven to cause the plurality of supports and the plurality of soles to be brought into an active position and a passive position relative to each other; wherein in the active position a bottom portion of the at least one cell of a corresponding support touches a top portion of a corresponding sole of the plurality of soles; wherein in the passive position the bottom portion of at least one cell is spaced apart from the top portion of the corresponding sole; and wherein the passive position allows the plurality of supports to be inserted into and removed from the oven.

16. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the at least one cell is formed from a strip of deformable flexible material fixed onto a frame.

17. The carriage according to claim 16, wherein the strip of deformable material is heat resistant.

18. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports and the plurality of soles are in the active position when a door of the oven is closed and in the passive position when the door of the oven is open.

19. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the carriage comprises one or more mechanisms, wherein the one or more mechanisms are coupled to the plurality of supports and the carriage chassis, and wherein the one or more mechanisms are configured to move the plurality of supports vertically in relation to the carriage chassis to bring the plurality of supports into at least one of the active position or the passive position.

20. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the oven comprises one or more mechanisms, and wherein the one or more mechanisms vertically move the plurality of supports of the carriage which cause the plurality of supports to be lowered bringing the plurality of supports into the active position and raised bringing the plurality of supports into the passive position.

21. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the oven comprises one or more mechanisms, and wherein the one or more mechanisms vertically move the plurality of soles of the oven which cause the plurality of soles to be raised bringing the plurality of soles into the active position and lowered bringing the plurality of soles into the passive position.

22. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the oven comprises an air propulsion turbine and a heat source.

23. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the carriage chassis comprises a plurality of pairs of sliders, wherein each support is sized and arranged to be able to slide along a corresponding pair of sliders, and wherein each support is sized and arranged to be supported by the corresponding pair of sliders.

24. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports are made from a material that is at least one of water permeable or steam permeable.

25. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports are made of woven fibreglass.

26. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports are coated with a non-stick material.

27. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the oven comprises one or more additional mechanisms to jointly rotate a cooking module, comprising the plurality of soles and the carriage comprising the plurality of supports, around a vertical axis.

28. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the one or more additional mechanisms are the same as the one or more mechanisms.

29. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports is a plurality of platters.

30. The carriage according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of supports is a plurality of nets.

31. A system for cooking dough-based food products, the system comprising: an oven comprising: a plurality of soles; and a carriage comprising: a carriage chassis; and a plurality of supports coupled together via the carriage chassis; each support comprising at least one cell for holding said dough-based food products to be baked; each support of the plurality of supports being placed in a superimposed manner above or below another support of the plurality of supports; each support being spaced apart from another support of the plurality of supports; wherein the carriage is configured to allow insertion of the plurality of supports into the oven and removal of the plurality of supports from the oven; wherein the carriage interacts with the oven to cause the plurality of supports and the plurality of soles to be brought into an active position and a passive position relative to each other; wherein in the active position a bottom portion of the at least one cell of a corresponding support touches a top portion of a corresponding sole of the plurality of soles; wherein in the passive position the bottom portion of at least one cell is spaced apart from the top portion of the corresponding sole; and wherein the passive position allows the plurality of supports to be inserted into and removed from the oven.

32. The system according to claim 31, wherein the plurality of supports are a plurality of platters.

33. The system according to claim 31, wherein the plurality of supports are a plurality of nets.

34. A method for cooking dough-based food products, the method comprising: providing a carriage comprising a carriage chassis and a plurality of supports coupled together via the carriage chassis, each support comprising at least one cell for holding said dough-based food products to be baked, each support of the plurality of supports being placed in a superimposed manner above or below another support of the plurality of supports, and each support being spaced apart from another support of the plurality of supports; inserting the carriage into an oven comprising a plurality of soles; and causing the carriage to interact with the oven to cause the plurality of supports and the plurality of soles to be brought into an active position and a passive position relative to each other; wherein in the active position a bottom portion of the at least one cell of a corresponding support touches a top portion of a corresponding sole of the plurality of soles; wherein in the passive position the bottom portion of at least one cell is spaced apart from the top portion of the corresponding sole; and wherein the passive position allows the plurality of supports to be inserted into and removed from the oven.

Description

[0064] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be shown by the description to follow, with reference to attached drawings, which show some but not all of several possible methods of application.

[0065] In these drawings:

[0066] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a method of application of the cooking device in accordance with the invention which combines an oven and a carriage;

[0067] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a net according to the invention,

[0068] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the operating principle of a first method of application of said cooking device,

[0069] FIGS. 4A and 4B and FIGS. 5A and 5B respectively are similar diagrams for a second and third method of application of the invention.

[0070] As can be seen from FIG. 1, the cooking device 1 according o the invention comprises an oven 2 and a carriage 3.

[0071] The oven 2 is a cabinet type oven, which has a door 20 allowing access to a baking chamber 21 inside the said cabinet.

[0072] The baking chamber 21 is bounded by vertical walls 211 inside the cabinet, a ceiling 212 and a bottom 213, (also see FIGS. 3A to 5B).

[0073] A cooking module 22 is located inside the baking chamber 21.

[0074] The cooking module 22 comprises several superimposed soles 220, spaced apart from each other at a specific interval E1. Each sole consists of a hearth made from a material with good thermal conductivity, such as a refractory, aluminium, ceramic, cast iron or other material.

[0075] The number of these soles 220 is variable. In order to simplify the drawings, the number of soles represented is eight in FIG. 1 and seven in FIGS. 3A to 5B. However, the number of these soles is generally comprised between sixteen and twenty depending on the size of the products to be baked.

[0076] As will be described in more detail below, the cooking module 22 may be fixed or mobile.

[0077] When this cooking module is fixed, the soles 220 may be fixed laterally directly onto the vertical walls 211 of the baking chamber. They may also be fixed onto a metallic chassis 221, itself attached to the oven walls, (see for example FIGS. 4A and 4B).

[0078] The soles 220 may be permanently fixed to the oven walls or to the chassis 221 or otherwise be detachable. In the latter case, they could stand on angles, themselves attached to the oven walls or the chassis.

[0079] The soles 220 may also be installed or fixed on a carriage, the latter being housed in the baking chamber 21 and can be extracted from it, such as upon cleaning of the oven.

[0080] Preferably, and for reasons to be explained below, the soles 220 are only fixed on the rear vertical wall of the oven, either directly or by way of a chassis.

[0081] The oven 2 also comprises means 23 of heating the soles 220.

[0082] The means of heating 23 may consist of electric resistance or a heat medium which winds in the thickness of each sole 220 in order to heat it. In this case, the soles 220 are fixed.

[0083] However, preferably, these heating mechanisms 23 consist of a burner or electric resistance associated with a turbine which allows the hot air or other fluid, which has previously been heated by such burner or this resistance, inside the baking chamber 21.

[0084] These mechanisms 23 are illustrated in FIGS. 3A to 5B are can only be seen on these figures.

[0085] Upon contact with the hot air, the material of the soles 220 will store the heat.

[0086] This principle of heating the soles is known as convection heating.

[0087] The cooking module 22 may either be rotationally fixed or rotationally driven (see arrows F on FIG. 5B), the hot air being blown by the turbine and circulating inside the baking chamber 21.

[0088] The cooking module 22 permanently remains inside the baking chamber 21 for the soles 220 to remain hot once they have reached the necessary temperature to cook the food products, It must, however, be noted that it can be detachable for maintenance operations or to return the oven to a standard version if the convection mode is required.

[0089] FIG. 1 shows a mode of implementation for the carriage 3. This comprises a referenced chassis 30, for example, which could be assembled on four wheels 31 which enable the carriage to be moved.

[0090] The chassis 30 consists of a square or rectangular base 301 at the angles of which four vertical uprights 302 are fixed or welded, which themselves are joined together in pairs on their upper extremity by a crossbar 303 to rigidify the structure.

[0091] The crossbars and uprights are, for example, made of metallic tubes.

[0092] The base 301 may be solid, as shown in FIG. 1, or be made of an assembly of four tubes assembled or welded at their ends so as to form a frame.

[0093] Sliders 32, which could be made of metallic L-shaped angles, are fixed to the vertical uprights 302 on their ends. Such sliders 32 are arranged in pairs, one of each pair attached to uprights 302), so as to receive the two lateral ends of a net 4 which shall be described below and to maintain the later horizontal or significantly horizontal.

[0094] The nets 4 can thus be loaded on carriage 3 by sliding between the two sliders 32 of a given pair.

[0095] In order not to unnecessarily overload the drawings, carriage 3 has been shown as only being able to hold eight stacked nets 4. However, such a carriage normally comprises between sixteen and twenty pairs of rails 32 in order to hold the same number of nets 4.

[0096] As an advantage, the number of nets 4 and soles 220 is identical.

[0097] According to another variant of application not shown in the drawings, the carriage 3 can be made in two parts, one of which to hold the nets 4 and another part bearing the wheels 31 or other means of moving the carriage, these two parts being separable from one another.

[0098] According to a another variant of application not shown in the drawings, the carriage 3 comprises gripper arms which allows all of the nets 4 to be handled and placed inside of the oven 2 or to withdraw them from it. The carriage 3 is then removed from the oven during the cooking process itself.

[0099] The use of these different ovens will be described below.

[0100] One of the nets 4 will be described in more detail in reference to FIG. 2,

[0101] The term net 4 designates a platter comprising a frame 41 forming a support frame for a strip of flexible material 42, such as a web or trellis. The frame 41 is preferably made of metal or any other material resistant to the temperatures reached the oven.

[0102] The frame 41 could be made of several solid metallic wire, such as stainless steel, preferably welded to each other.

[0103] The frame 41 consists of several rectilinear wires 410, of which there are seven in FIG. 2, placed horizontally in parallel to each other. The five wires 410 in the middle are also curved vertically both ends 411. An additional wire 412 is curved inwards several times so as to form a square or rectangular frame onto which the ends of the wires 410 are welded.

[0104] Both rectilinear lateral portions of the wire 412 are guides 413. They are placed on the sliders 32 when the net 4 is engaged on the carriage 3.

[0105] The strip of flexible material 42 is placed and fixed on the frame 41 so as to form a series of parallel cells 420, here in the form of chutes.

[0106] Each chute 420 extends between two neighbouring wires 410. In FIG. 2, six chutes formed between the seven wires 410 can be seen.

[0107] The length of the strip of flexible material 42 and therefore the length of the chutes 420 is adapted in order to be able to hold for example one dough piece p or two placed end-to-end, or even more.

[0108] The number of cells 420 is dependent on the dimensions of the product and the cooking capacity required for the oven. There is at least one well per net 4.

[0109] The strip of flexible material 42 must be sufficiently flexible in order to be reversed and take the shape of the dough piece p when this is placed inside a cell 420 (see central part of FIG. 2) or to deform and come in contact with the sole 220 as described below, (see right hand side of FIG. 2).

[0110] The bottom of the cells 420 is referenced as 421.

[0111] The flexible material 42 must also be resistant to the heat levels in the oven. It has the advantage of being water and/or steam permeable.

[0112] In accordance with a first variant of application, the flexible material 42 is a web made of wires of a heat-resistant material, such as stainless steel, or another material, according to the aesthetic aspect required for the product to be cooked. These wires are woven into a web or trellis. The diameter of each wire is preferably between 20 m and 100 m. The ratio between the open areas and the solid areas of the net (percentage of open areas) should preferably be lower than 60%, and more preferably comprised between 20% and 60% in order to prevent the dough from falling through the netting when it is not yet cooked. The existence of passages between the netting of the net makes this material water and/or steam permeable.

[0113] Preferably, the wire used for the trellis is bare, which means that it does not have a silicone or fluoropolymer-type non-stick coating, such as those used in nets known from prior art. This is healthier for the consumer of the baked product obtained. However, it could also be coated with such a non-stick coating.

[0114] In accordance with another variant of application, the flexible material 42 is a fabric formed of woven fibreglass (called woven fibreglass). Preferably, it is coated with a non-stick material, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or silicone. Preferably, its thickness should be lower than 0.3 mm, and more preferably less than 0.15 mm, and most preferably around 0.1 mm. Such fabric is sold by the company TACONIC Corporate, for example.

[0115] The openings between the fibres or the wires guarantee water and steam permeability. These openings are, however, sufficiently small so that the dough from the dough pieces (even highly hydrated) does not pass through them when it is not yet cooked.

[0116] The sliders 32 of the carriage 3 are positioned in such a way that two adjacently stacked nets 4 are set apart from each other by a space E2.

[0117] On FIG. 1, only three nets 4 have been shown.

[0118] The dimensions of carriage 3, nets 4 and their spacing E2, as well as the dimensions of the soles 220 and their spacing E1 and the width of the soles 220 and of the nets 4 are adapted so as to allow the insertion of the carriage 3 inside of the baking chamber 21, each sole 220 being placed under a net 4.

[0119] This specific arrangement is better shown in FIGS. 3A to 5B.

[0120] For the oven version with soles 220 fixed to the lateral walls 211 of the oven, it must be noted that in order to obtain this fitting of the carriage 3 between the stacked soles 220, the carriage does not have vertical uprights 302 in its front part. The sliders 32 are cantilevered.

[0121] For the version of the oven where the soles 220 are fixed on the rear wall of the oven or on a rear chassis, the carriage 30 can have four vertical uprights 302. In this case, the soles 220 or the entire cooking module 22 have a lesser width than that of the carriage 3, which allows it to be inserted into the oven.

[0122] According to the invention, the oven 2 also comprises vertical displacement. mechanisms for the soles 220 in relation to the nets 4.

[0123] Different methods of application of these mechanisms will now be described in connection with the diagrams in FIGS. 3A to 5B.

[0124] These vertical displacement mechanisms allow the soles 220 of the cooking module 22 and the nets 4 to be brought either into a so-called active position, whereby the bottom 421 of the cells of the nets 4 touches a baking sole 220, or into a so-called passive position, whereby the bottom 421 of the cells 420 is placed away from the sole 220 above which they are placed.

[0125] Vertical displacement mechanisms means any mechanism which allows the soles or the nets to be brought into a higher or lower position than their original position at the time when the carriage is loaded into the oven.

[0126] On FIG. 2, four different situations occupied by the cells 420 are shown as a diagram.

[0127] In the left hand side of FIG. 2, the situation of two empty cells 420 has been shown where the net 4 is placed on a flat surface s, such as a work surface. The flexible material 42 is fixed on frame 41 so that the bottom 421 of the cells does not touch or is hardly flush with the surface s.

[0128] In the middle left part of FIG. 2, the situation where a dough piece p has been placed in a cell while the net 4 is on the flat surface s is depicted. The flexible material 42 takes the shape of the dough piece p but does not touch or is not flush with the support s. In the middle right part of FIG. 2, the situation where a dough piece p has been placed in a cell while the net 4 is on the carriage 3 is depicted. These two situations may correspond to the time when the dough piece p is proofing. Thanks to this deformability of the material 42, the dough piece is maintained laterally and can keep its slightly circular section during this phase.

[0129] Finally, in the right part of FIG. 2, the situation where two dough pieces p have been placed in cells 420 and where the net 4 and a sole 220 are in the above-mentioned active position is depicted. In this case, the flexible material 42 of the net is deformed (namely the bottom 421 of the cell 420) and is flattened upon contact with the sole 220 and allows the dough pieces p placed in the cells 420 to be cooked by conduction.

[0130] The deformation of the flexible material 42 being reversible, the cell 420 will regain its original shape (see left part of FIG. 2) once the net is removed from the sole.

[0131] A first method of application of the vertical movement mechanisms will now be described in connection with FIGS. 3A and 3B. In this case, these mechanisms 5 allow the cooking module 22 to be moved vertically in relation to the carriage 3 and the soles 220.

[0132] The rear edges of the soles 220 of the cooking module 22 are fixed on a mobile chassis 222, which could be made of assembled metallic tubes.

[0133] The upper part of the mobile chassis 222 is protracted with a vertical axis 223, the upper end of which is connected to mechanical and/or motor mechanisms 5. The latter allow the axis 223 and at the same time the chassis 222 and all the soles 220 to be moved vertically.

[0134] According to another possible variant, the chassis 222 slides along guide rails attached to the oven walls by means of the mechanical and/or motor mechanisms 5.

[0135] These mechanisms 5 could be an electrical motor and/or purely mechanical elements, such as manual levers or rods or cams.

[0136] As an advantage, a control mechanism may be provided for to control the vertical movement mechanisms 5 upon opening or closing of the door 20 by the operator.

[0137] This mechanism could be comprised of a sensor 6 which detects the position of the door 20 and which is connected to the said motor/mechanical mechanisms 5 in order to activate or deactivate them.

[0138] The cooking mechanism functions as follows.

[0139] Once the dough pieces have been placed in the cells 420 of the net 4 and these nets have been loaded onto the carriage 3, the baker can open the door 20 and insert the carriage 3 into the baking chamber 21 by sliding this carriage on the bottom 213 of the oven 2.

[0140] The soles 220 will have been pre-heated.

[0141] The baker closes the door 20 and the motor mechanical mechanisms 5 are activated to move the cooking module upwards as shown by arrow A on FIG. 3B. Thus, it is in the active position.

[0142] When the baking by conduction is complete, the baker opens the door 20, and the motor mechanisms 5 are activated in the opposite direction to cause the module 22 to descend (see arrow B in FIG. 3A).

[0143] In this passive position, the soles 220 are away from the bottom 2 the cells and the baker can remove the carriage 3 from the oven 2.

[0144] Two other methods of application will now be described in connection FIGS. 4A and 4B on the one hand, and 5A and 5B on the other.

[0145] The identical elements bear the same numeric references.

[0146] In the methods of application in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the cooking module 22 is fixed since it is mounted on a fixed chassis 221, attached to the oven walls and it is the carriage 3 and the soles 220 which are moved and more specifically lowered.

[0147] In this case, the bottom 213 of the oven has a platform 70 in its central part, which could be circular and connected to mechanical or motor mechanisms 7 such as jacks or levers. These mechanisms 7 allow the platform 70 to be lowered in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 4B, until the bottom 421 of the cells 420 makes contact with the soles 220, or inversely to raise the platform 70 (arrow D in FIG. 4A) until the bottom of the cells 420 are removed from the soles 220 and the carriage 3 can be removed.

[0148] Once again, the sensor 6 detecting the opening or closing of the door 20 can be connected to the mechanical or motor mechanisms 7 so as to control the movement of platform 70 in accordance with the position of the door 20.

[0149] According to one variant, the mechanisms to lower the nets (4) could be integrated in the carriage 3. In such case, the nets 4 would be mounted on a mobile support chassis able to slide vertically in relation to the structure of the carriage 3 carrying the wheels or other means of moving the carriage.

[0150] This displacement could be done using mechanical means, such as one or more notches attached to the mobile chassis able to go into orifices located at different heights on the fixed chassis constituting the structure of the carriage 3. A system of rods is also possible.

[0151] As such, the nets 4 would be brought into contact with the soles 220 and would deform to cook by conduction and inversely could be raised and removed from the soles for the insertion or removal of the carriage from the oven.

[0152] The method of application in FIGS. 5A and 5B also allows the carriage 3 and the corking module 22 to be jointly turned around a vertical axis X-X coaxial to the axis 223 (see arrows F in FIG. 5B).

[0153] In such case, the motor mechanisms 5 not only the axis 223 to slide a o vertically, but also to rotate.

[0154] Also, bearings 72 under the platform 70 are provided so that when the module 22 is caused to rotate, the carriage 3 is also rotated and the platform 70 turns due to the bearings 72.

[0155] The periphery of the platform 70 could, for example, have a series of cogs mesh with a cogwheel on the output shaft of a motor.

[0156] The platform 70 could also comprise a vertical central axis which is directly caused to rotate.

[0157] According to a variant of the above method of application, which is not depicted in the drawings, the platform 70 could be eliminated and the bottom 213 of the oven is then flat, as depicted in FIGS. 3A and 3B, which simplifies cleaning.

[0158] The cooking module 22 is slightly modified so as to comprise grippers of the carriage 3. Once the carriage 3 is inserted into the oven 2, and the nets 4 are above the soles 220, the cooking module 22 is moved upwards in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5B. After having covered a certain vertical course, the soles 220 come into contact with the nets 4 which deform as explained above and in this position relative to the cooking module 22 and the carriage 3, the grippers of the module 22 then come into contact with the carriage 3.

[0159] The vertical upward displacement of the cooking module 22 is continued, and as a result of the triggering of these grippers, the carriage 3 is also raised and no longer rests on the bottom 213 of the oven.

[0160] The entire module 22/carriage 3 can then be rotated around the vertical X-X axis as explained above.

[0161] The grippers allow the relative position of the soles 220 and the nets 4 to be fixed and to prevent them from deforming excessively or being flattened when the module 22 is raised.

[0162] At the end of the cooking process, the module 22 is lowered (arrow B) as explained above jointly with FIGS. 4A and 5B.

[0163] The hot air blown by the turbine 23 passes through the baking chamber (arrows ii) in order to heat the soles 22 which will cook the product by conduction and to complete the cooking process by ventilation/convection.

[0164] Moreover, and although this has not been depicted in the drawings, it is also possible to combine the different methods of application of FIGS. 3A to 5B so as to simultaneously move the carriage 3 and the cooking module 22 vertically and/or to cause them to rotate.

[0165] It is also possible to combine the different methods of application of the oven of FIGS. 3A to 5B with the carriage in two parts or the carriage with gripper arms described above.

[0166] In the first case, the carriage is inserted into the oven, and the part bearing the wheels is extracted, while the part bearing the soles remains inside the oven where the different displacement mechanisms relating to the soles and nets are activated in order to cook by conduction. After the cooking, the part of the carriage equipped with wheels is once again inserted in the oven, attached to the part bearing the nets 4 and the entire carriage is extracted from the oven.

[0167] In the second case, in a similar manner, only the nets 4 remain in the oven during baking. They could be placed on guide rails provided for in the oven and it is the soles 220 which are moved towards the nets 4 to bake by conduction. The rest of the carriage 3 is outside of the oven during baking. Inversely, at the end of the baking process, it is re-inserted into the oven so that the grippers can allow the extraction of the nets 4.

[0168] The cooking device in accordance with the invention comprises several advantages.

[0169] It allows baking by conduction (called sole baking), by way of direct contact of the sole 220 with the bottom of the cells of the net 4, while retaining the profitability and ease of use of a convection oven.

[0170] Also, the carriage 3 and the nets 4 can be used during the proofing of the dough. The dough pieces are retained laterally by the edges of the cells 420 and the flexible material 42 takes the shape of the dough pieces. The carriage 3 is then inserted directly into the oven. The baker no longer needs to transfer the dough pieces from a proofing carriage to a second carriage to transfer or put them into the oven as was the case with apparatus known from prior art.

[0171] Once placed in the oven, the material 42 deforms upon contact with the soles 220 (is flattened) and provides a larger contact and therefore baking surface between the dough piece and the sole, thus ensuring baking by conduction and allowing the bottom of the bread to have the aesthetic aspect of direct sole baking, as with the methods of prior art.

[0172] Finally, this apparatus can also be used to bake pastries, such as cookies or pie shells.