brooksms

I'm trying to troubleshoot multiple issues with making large cinnamon rolls. Making the dough itself is no problem. We do not have a proofer. Due to the schedule, the rolls need to be filled, chilled overnight and baked the following day after coming back to room temp. When we do this there is a cinnamon sugar liquid in the bottom of the pan. It's not necessarily a bad thing but we'd prefer it to all stay in the roll. Other option is to do an overnight first rise but I assume the dough would be difficult to roll once fully chilled? Smaller portions are rolled out around 16 x 22" but the log is ending up too large in the center. I tried to watch and see what they might be doing differently than me but hard to tell. Any tips for avoiding this? They have really struggled to get a consistent diameter. I wonder if some sort of tabletop sheeter would be worthwhile. When it comes to baking, we're doing 12 rolls in an 11 x 15" ish pan with low sides. The last time dough was approx 65 F put into a 325 F convection, outer rolls were overcooked by the time the center ones were done. I could try lowering the oven to 300, worried this might dry them out though. I can also make sure the dough gets a bit warmer before going in but I feel like the outer rolls will still bake faster. In the past the rolls didn't hold their shape nicely when not touching. I'm thinking of making a stronger dough by using bread flour and then try baking on a larger pan. Any other ways to combat this?

I'm attempting to switch from 6 to 20 quart mixer for cookie dough and having a difficult time. All ingredients have been weighed and multiplied in grams to make 6x my normal batch. While the cookies are usually thick with an evenly round edge, they're spreading a ton more and getting a thin crispy edge. I'm having to bake 25 degrees hotter to keep them from being complete pancakes but it only helps so much. At first I thought I might not have been creaming the butter and sugar long enough so I've tried to improve. I'm making sure to scrape diligently and reaching a mousse-like consistency before adding eggs. I've tried chilling the bowl as suggested elsewhere...no change. Tried starting from room temp vs cold butter...no change. Adjusting the recipe helps bandaid the problem a little (less b. soda, less egg, more flour etc..) but, while it helps a bit, it's not truly fixing the problem. Maybe the air is somehow deflating during the mixing process...? I see a thin puddle of dough form on the pan very quickly which is unusual for my recipe. The convection fan is then pushing the rising dough away from the puddle, causing an exaggerated dark edge. So frustrating! Any ideas on how to fix this? My current plan is to start back with a smaller batch and increase slowly to see at what yield the recipe stops working. I just can't seem to pinpoint where it's going wrong.

Interesting! In these ovens, the cookies do not spread much at that high of a temp. They stay very domed. For these tests I have not been filling all racks, just one. We have tried staggering pans on multiple racks but no change there. I just meant typically the racks will be full when the business is operating. I will take more pictures the next time we test, if I come up with any other options to try. The only settings are high/low fan and temp so there's not a ton of options to adjust.

Commercial convection ovens require a lower temp than home ovens so 300 is close to 350 at home non-convection. I do use thermometers to make sure the temp is accurate. All ovens are different of course but the other commercial one I used baked perfectly at 300 using the exact same pan and parchment. So bizarre! It's hard to tell from pictures because they actually look great. You can't see the soft texture underneath but can definitely feel it. I'm researching more now and read that gas ovens tend to be more humid. I wonder if that's the problem!

Unfortunately not an option! Convection allows all racks to be used at once which is necessary for the bakery. The only oven controls are temp and high/low fan.

We’re talking 4.5 oz plain chocolate chip cookies here. I haven't tested anything else yet but have tried multiple chocolate chip cookie recipes to make sure. I had four Garland gas commercial convection ovens installed recently. They were purchased lightly used on eBay and sat in storage for almost a year. The day they were installed, the cookies were the perfect shape and color but completely raw in the middle. I tried high and low fan, various temps/times, always used thermometers. Now, after stepping away for a couple weeks, the centers are much better with the same settings. Weird..but good! So far they look the best baked at 300 F regardless of fan speed. However, the cookies are not getting crisp underneath. The tops and edges are crispy while the bottom is a soft kinda bready texture. It’s plenty golden. I’m using aluminum sheet pans with thin parchment as I always have. The cookies spread too much or too little when temp is different. The manufacturer is less than helpful. I've made multiple variations of these cookies in a different commercial gas convection oven without any problems. Any idea what might cause this and how to fix it?

Thanks for the suggestion! I did call one cookie shop yesterday. They pre-bake a few and keep them in warmers. That may be the easiest!

Good to know! I mean, Levain's cookies in NYC are incredibly gooey/underbaked and people love them. Maybe no need for concern from that aspect! Some larger/thick ones I've baked at home can't get to 160 F before the outside is done but I'm still adjusting recipes, cookie size, etc.. and not testing in the commercial oven yet.

A lot of cookie shops I see online are for sure baking relatively soon before delivery! I'm not sure if they bake to order or begin baking knowing orders will roll in soon. I'll have to try it and see if it's popular enough to be worth the time. As long as I don't advertise "fresh warm cookies" they'll be good regardless of the driver's schedule. It would be more of an issue of the drivers being too fast than too slow. Baking to order would be ideal to avoid waste but I don't see that working with thick cookies that need time to set. Maybe the question to answer is...how gooey is too gooey?

All of the other delivery companies deliver them freshly baked so I don't think that would go over as well. I'm just not sure how to coordinate so the cookies have time to set but the chips are still a bit melty when delivered.

I suppose we could bake them beforehand in anticipation. It's just hard to guess how many people will be ordering on a given night. We're a 15 min drive from a college campus but there are a ton of homes much closer. Uber Eats and Door Dash are popular delivery services here. We'd be listed on the app and not have to worry about hiring or coordinating drivers. The cookies would just need to be ready to go when they arrive for pickup! It's just an extra way to get cookies into people's hands as it will be our first storefront.

No, I currently ship and heat sealed bags keep them soft for days. It's the local fresh delivery that poses an opposite issue! Since they're thick, they're pretty gooey if eaten too soon and I worry people won't like that. I guess I'm just not sure how gooey is too gooey lol. They're better after they've had time for the moisture to set.

Hi! I have a small cookie business and hope to offer delivery once the storefront is renovated. My cookies are larger and thick, meaning the centers are gooey freshly baked. They are best enjoyed after setting for a little while. I've never worked in a bakery so this may be less complicated than my mind thinks it is. I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around logistics, making sure the cookies are fresh but cooled enough before being delivered. I'm also not sure what level of gooey-ness people enjoy so it's hard to gauge. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Hi! Thank you for helping with the chocolate chip cookie troubleshooting last time. I'm fairly confident in my recipe for the huge 6 oz chocolate chip cookies I've been baking. These cookies, in a conventional oven at home, are baked at 400 F for 13 mins or 410 F 11:30 depending on the mix-ins. They're baked just enough to set the outside essentially. This keeps them moist for a week! However, when I make them in a smaller 4 oz size, they are visually too small. As in, since they set quickly with minimal spread, they are thick but pretty small in diameter. It isn't a problem for gifts but for business they look like they should cost less. The simple answer would be to use a lower temp. I've tried various temps and times between 360-390 F. All temps fix the size issue but create another problem. 385 F for 12 mins creates the right shape/size but more spread + longer bake time dries out the edge! Reducing sugar + adding oil helped just a tad but was also slightly flatter. I'm trying to avoid adding egg yolk for ease when baking at a higher volume. I don't want to cause extra spread because the shape is great. Ideas for fixing this? Currently working with 112g brown sugar + 48g white sugar for a 1 stick of butter recipe. Maybe somehow adjust to incorporate liquid sugar like molasses or honey? Thoughts?

I started doing it because I pre-weigh the flour and store it in containers. A few times, when I went to make the dough, I forgot to add the leavening! Now I've gone back to mixing it in with the dry and that did help. However, the cookie bakes thicker when there is only one on the pan. I think the other issue is putting a cold pan in the oven with multiple cookies. Maybe that is lowering the oven temp more than when I just bake one?