Delicate pastry products, dairy desserts, vegetables, plant-based protein products, and other savory dishes such as meat and cheese-based pastries can complicate the baking process. Food splatters and residue are likely to clog the oven, cause contamination, and increase the risk of fire. Additionally, health risks related to meat-based products and those with egg or milk-based fillings require strict and specific cleaning operations enforced by regional and industrial hygiene standards.

Mecatherm’s M-DAN Oven was developed to meet the baking requirements of delicate pastry products, dairy desserts, vegetables, plant-based protein products, and other savory dishes such as meat and cheese-based pastries. When developing this oven, the research and development teams worked around three major axes:

• Ease of cleaning the inside and outside of the oven, guaranteeing hygiene and food safety
• Baking precision, guaranteeing flexibility for baking a wide range of products
• Energy efficiency and yield, guaranteeing industrial performance

To meet hygiene requirements, MECATHERM developed an oven that facilitates cleaning operations that sometimes need to be carried out several times a week or even daily, depending on the products. The M-DAN Oven cleans well with large amounts of water, thanks to a draining design both inside and outside. Made of all stainless-steel materials, its interior design and waterproof body allow for the drainage of wastewater. Ergonomic side access doors and access hatches have been installed on both sides along the entire length of the oven to facilitate access to the baking chamber and conveyors, which are 100% stainless steel. Operators have complete access to all areas of dirt buildup without having to disassemble elements, which simplifies and speeds up the cleaning process, even when there is little space to move around the oven. The oven is also equipped with automatic rotating brushes for cleaning belts and low drawers for easy recovery of solid residues after baking.

With its precise temperature curve and three combinations of heat transfer modes, the M-DAN Oven offers the flexibility required to meet the demand for a variety of products, such as delicate pastry items, dairy desserts, vegetables, plant-based protein products, and other savory dishes like meat and cheese-based pastries. The oven's modular construction offers compact and independent heating zones so that the user can make precise adjustments to heat flows (by convection and/or radiation), heating intensity, and airspeed to achieve the desired baking results. This baking precision is particularly essential for products with liquid fillings, such as pies, or savory dishes with different consistencies, such as gratins, where the textures and ingredients must be preserved during baking.

The M-DAN Oven offers a large baking surface of up to 230 square meters to maximize efficiency. Additionally, the oven's high responsiveness quickly regulates temperature to optimize baking time. This enables the user to change recipes without delay for increased efficiency. The combination of radiation and convection and the real-time modulation of baking also significantly minimize product losses by avoiding the "flash heat" phenomenon during start-ups and production changes. The energy input is smoothed over the first products baked in the oven.

The M-DAN Oven has also been designed with sustainable development challenges in mind. The low-temperature convection baking of the M-DAN reduces energy losses with optimized baking times and cooler smoke emissions. The oven also has fine moisture management via the assistance function for adjusting the opening of the damper. This removes excess steam from the baking chamber and precisely manages air entry, avoiding any unnecessary heat loss.

Designed to optimize energy consumption and thus reduce CO2 and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, the M-DAN Oven works equally well with gas-fired thermal generators or electric resistance batteries. This compatibility with electric thermal generators meets the market's increasing demands for energy efficiency and sustainability since it eliminates CO2 emissions related to oven operation.

The oven is also compatible with Mechatherm M-Care digital solution, a dedicated application for predictive maintenance that prevents failures, avoids costly breakdowns, optimizes installation availability rates, and improves production line performance.

"With our new M-DAN Oven, we meet the needs of industrial users in search of a reactive, precise, efficient, and high-performance oven for baking their delicate pastry items, dairy desserts, vegetables, plant-based protein products, and other savory dishes, such as meat and cheese-based pastries. It meets the challenges of flexibility and energy efficiency while being particularly easy to operate and clean. Its high level of cleanliness is undoubtedly a major asset, achieving compliance with the strictest sanitary standards without wasting time on tedious cleaning operations," explains Xavier Gotti, oven product manager at Mecatherm.

"The recent development of the M-DAN Oven is part of our mission to simplify our customers' lives. Our teams are dedicated to developing innovative solutions to help them obtain sustainable success. At MECATHERM, we are continuously evolving our offers and investing in R&D to meet the daily challenges of product quality, industrial performance, and sustainability that the market faces," adds Raymond Nogaël, vice president of marketing and business development at TMG.