The oven used to bake your bagel (or Challah) is one of the most significant pieces of equipment that we use (and that you see) at Rosenfeld’s. Clearly, without this appliance we wouldn’t be able to deliver the crusty, chewy goodness that you’ve come to expect from Rosenfeld’s Bagels for the past 50+ years.

But just like your home appliances, even commercial kitchen equipment wears out over time and must be replaced. Our job is to deliver your breads with the same quality and consistency that you’ve grown accustomed to over the last 50+ years, and we need to ensure that our equipment has the capability to do just that. After more than 30 years of dedicated service, 2024 was the year for our team to consider replacing one of our largest pieces of equipment.

From Pizza to Challah

When our former Master Baker, Peter DeRosa, had the oven installed in the 1980s, appliances dedicated to bagel production didn’t exist in New England. Instead, a top-of-the-line pizza oven was the best option available, and that’s what Peter purchased and installed.

Used by pizza shops all over the country, those who grew up in the Northeast might have recognized our oven as the same model from their local Papa Gino’s® shop. These ovens were known for their reliability and consistent temperature — two things we definitely needed to produce quality bagels and challah.

And for many, many years our oven performed like a champ, producing thousands of bagels week in and out, plus all the Challah, rolls and pastries you’ve come to associate with Rosenfeld’s Bagels.

As a bakery, we can’t wait until the oven completely quits to replace it, so when it came time to replace our trusty old oven after 30+ years of service, it was an undertaking that took a significant amount of planning and coordination.

Careful Timing

As time marched on, our old, reliable oven started to show its advancing age. It was taking more and more maintenance to run, and keeping temperature consistent was more challenging. Our team often needed to make adjustments and watch the batches more closely to ensure product quality standards were met.

While we loved our oven for its history, we realized after over three decades of service, to maintain our product quality standards meant that retirement was in our oven’s near future. But closing the shop for a week or more to install the oven was also a huge decision. Our customers rely on us and we don’t like letting them down.

We did extensive research into equipment, installers, consultants and all the necessary requirements to get the installation done in record time. We hired Northeast Service Technicians for the installation and Boston Showcase Company to oversee the project to ensure the process went as efficiently as possible. Targeting an August closure, one of the slowest times of the year, we ordered a state-of-the-art Reed Oven and meticulously tracked its arrival, timing everything perfectly to ensure the shortest closure possible.

Back to Tradition

In true Rosenfeld’s fashion, all that preparation paid off. The old oven was removed and the new one installed in just one week, an amazing feat when you consider all that needed to be done. It had been over 30 years since we’d installed an oven, which meant that everything needed to be upgraded to not only be up to building code, but also up to our production standards. From gas lines to electrical to water, we needed professionals from multiple trades and utilities to coordinate their efforts to make this installation happen quickly and efficiently.

A bonus win, since the new oven is specifically designed for bagel production, we managed to gain some much needed space in our kitchen. If you’ve ever peeked behind the counter to see our bagel production process, you may remember us scooping bagels out of the big boiling pot and dumping them onto the draining board before putting them into the oven. Our new oven allows for draining right next to the oven, which frees up considerable space in our kitchen.

With our new oven in place, we can now produce the same quality breads and pastries you’re used to, with even better performance. The baking temperatures are now consistent without any extra effort from our team. This gives our bakers more confidence in the process, freeing them up for other tasks rather than constantly monitoring the baking process.

This new oven was a big but necessary change, and one that will ensure the quality of our products for many years to come. We look forward to putting it to good use serving our community of bagel lovers!