Ask five bakers what “efficient” means and you’ll get six answers. Some mean lower utility bills, others mean fewer rejects, faster warm-ups, or less time scrubbing hardware. The truth is, oven efficiency is the sum of all those things. That’s why Reading Bakery Systems built the Thomas L. Green Emithermic XE oven to combine electric radiant energy with controlled convection. Does the Emithermic XE oven bake more efficiently than a direct gas fired oven? Definitely. It helps cut waste, trim energy, and keep the color and texture your brand depends on.
What “Efficiency” Really Means On A Bake Line
Energy spend matters, but it’s not the only line item. An efficient oven gets to spec quickly at start-up, holds a steady profile without over-firing, delivers uniform color across the band, and cleans fast so you’re not burning hours on sanitation. It should also help operators make fewer corrections, because constant fiddling wastes time and product. When you add those pieces together – warm-up time, on-spec yield, consistency, and cleanability – you get the real picture of efficiency.
How Emithermic XE Uses Energy Differently
With the Emithermic XE, we replaced traditional gas flame in the product chamber with electric radiant panels paired with managed airflow. Electric radiant energy puts heat where the product can use it while reducing the losses that come with heating large volumes of combustion air. Because the zones respond precisely, you don’t have to run “hotter than needed” just to cover edge-to-center variation.
That tighter control lets you shorten bake windows, reduce over-bake insurance, and protect moisture targets – all quiet ways an oven saves energy every single shift. You’ll also notice the day-to-day perks: fewer moving flame components to maintain and a simpler path to lower emissions goals.
Bake Quality And Uniformity You Can See
Efficiency collapses if quality slips. Because the Emithermic XE balances radiant and convective heat, it helps you achieve the same surface color and internal structure from edge to edge. That uniformity means fewer rejects and less rework. It also means your seasoning and moisture targets are easier to hit at packaging, which keeps shelf life predictable.
Sanitation, Changeovers, and Uptime
Time spent cleaning is time you’re not baking. The Emithermic XE’s design makes access straightforward and removes burner hardware from the product chamber, so there’s less to scrub and fewer harborage risks. Insulation improvements and smart airflow also help keep exterior temperatures comfortable, which operators appreciate on long runs. For multi-SKU schedules, faster verification between products is a real efficiency gain – you’re back on spec without a long soak or a full tear-down.
Choosing What’s Best For Your Bakery
We’ll never recommend a platform without testing your products. At our Science & Innovation Center, we can run your formulas on electric emithermic and gas configurations, capture energy data, color maps, and moisture curves, and show you the tradeoffs with your actual dough.
In regions with competitive electricity and an eye on emissions, the Emithermic XE often delivers the best total efficiency – lower energy per pound of good product, tighter quality, and less time lost to cleaning. In plants where gas is the right call, a PRISM oven with the proper zoning still delivers excellent performance.
Hopefully, you now know the answer to the question of, “Does the Emithermic XE oven bake more efficiently than a direct gas fired oven?” Use our online form or call Reading Bakery Systems at 610-693-5816 for more information.