We use a Cookswell 4-rack business charcoal oven for our baking here at Amari, it’s economical and saves energy.
However, just like any equipment out there – not all brands are created equal. In the beginning we were using a charcoal oven that was fabricated by a jua kali artisan based in Kitengela. We then switched to a Cookswell Business-size Charcoal oven and there was such a noticeable difference. I’ve decided to share the reasons why you as a baker should choose a Cookswell charcoal oven, other than just any other locally made charcoal oven in Kenya because there is such a major difference – I had to share it. The phrase “cheap is expensive” is very true, especially of the charcoal ovens, read below to understand more.
1. It is a high quality, well made charcoal oven
Cookswell charcoal ovens are fabricated with the best quality materials by very well trained artisans. A Cookswell oven is a well-designed oven; when you light the oven; heat spreads evenly and you are able to bake in any position you place your product (trust me – I spent two days testing this theory ^_^). I noted the difference because with other ovens; the oven has many cold spots – especially in the back of the oven and the top and bottom racks. Another thing I noticed with our old oven was some material that had been put between the metal sheets that made the door (not sure what they put in there); however, the grainy substance slowly moved to the bottom of the oven door with time. That meant that when you closed the oven door, due to the bulkiness at the bottom of the door, the oven could not close completely. This meant that we were losing heat in the oven as we baked – which means more charcoal added every 20 minutes. When using a Cookswell; you light the oven and bake with it for at least 40 minutes, before you have to add charcoal. It maintains the temperature for those first 40 minutes (tried and tested – over five times) and you only add a small amount of charcoal to finish the baking.
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| Our awesome business size Cookswell oven |
2. It saves energy which is environmentally friendly
Due to the fact that a Cookswell oven is fabricated well, it saves energy. Heat does not leak out of the oven and that is how it manages to maintain temperature for a long period of time; and you only add a small amount of charcoal afterwards to keep it going. We have noticed that our charcoal expense has reduced to almost half from when we were using the other charcoal oven. Using less charcoal is great for a small bakery business, since the expense is reduced. It’s also good for the environment because you use less charcoal. Now it may seem a bit odd for me to say environmentally friendly; however, the brand – Cookswell, is quite environmentally conscious. They are aware that using their ovens means using charcoal which is contributing to the decreasing forestation in the country. They however have a great way of solving that problem; they sell kilns that make charcoal. They actually offer training sessions for those who want to purchase a kiln and learn how to make charcoal using tree branches (a much better way instead of cutting down the whole tree), they also show you other materials you can use to make charcoal; such as coconut husks and maize cobs. It’s a very responsible way of dealing with the environment and selling high quality energy-saving equipment as well.
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| Cookswell Kiln at work (Courtesy: Cookswell) |
3. It has extra features that other imitation charcoal ovens don’t
When you purchase a Cookswell charcoal oven, you will notice very cool features that others don’t have. There is a grease tray that is removable for easy cleaning. You may wonder why you need that, well; the charcoal oven is a multipurpose piece of equipment since you can use it to bake or roast meat (sausages, beef, pork, chicken, etc), sweet potatoes, arrow roots and you can even warm your food – especially if you are on safari. If you are roasting meat and any juices or grease pours at the bottom of the oven, it’s great to have a removable grease tray that makes clean-up very easy.
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| Cookswell Oven grease tray |
Another feature that I noticed, especially useful in our 4 rack business-size Charcoal oven; are the adjustable back legs. If you do not have quite a level, flat floor; you can adjust the back legs until the oven is level. The oven doors are a great guide on the adjusting of the legs since; when the back legs are level, the oven doors close perfectly with no resistance.
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| Adjustable back legs |
My personal favorite feature of the Cookswell is the wooden handles. When the other oven we used to use was on, the handles would get very hot; especially the left handle since the right door wouldn’t close very well so heat would leak and get the handle very hot. We had to use oven mitts to open the oven doors most of the times since it would get very hot (I have scars to prove how hot it got). The wooden Cookswell oven handles are amazing to me since you don’t need to use oven mitts to open the oven and check the progress of your baking. They are also a very authentic and original feature of the Cookswell brand.
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| Cookswell oven Wooden handles |
4. You can learn how to bake with a Cookswell Charcoal oven with us
We are currently offering different baking class packages and we teach people how to bake with a charcoal oven. We are using a Cookswell charcoal oven to bake our products and also to teach our students. That means if you purchase a Cookswell oven, we are the perfect people to learn with ^_^. I have personally been baking with a charcoal oven for several years and I can testify to the fact that it bakes the same way as any gas or electric oven does – the result is the same. You just have to know how to use the charcoal oven. A charcoal oven is especially beneficially for a small bakery business since it save a bit on utility expenses, which is important for any start-up business. It is also a great oven to use when you’re in an area that gets a lot of power outages or doesn’t have access to electricity in Rural Kenya. Make sure you join our baking classes and start learning with us – promise, its lots of fun!
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| Join our awesome Amari baking students and start learning today |
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| Learn how to bake using a Cookswell Charcoal oven |
I bet right now you are wondering how to get your hands on a Cookswell charcoal oven; head over to their website and check out the products they offer (they also sell jikos, space heaters, very cool animal shaped barbeques, etc).
You can also go to their blog to see the kinds of products you can bake, roast or cook on their energy-saving jikos (I guarantee you will be very hungry after visiting their blog ^_^).
For information on our Baking Classes follow this link.
You can also text/call: 0701796688 or email: amaribreads@gmail.com to contact us.
Share this post so your friends can also get this insightful information – thanks ^_^
Baking with Amari | Baking Classes 
Am do happy. Already ordered an oven from cookswell. Am a beginner yearning to learn more. Do you have e books on baking for those of us who may not manage to attend the classes
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That’s great to hear, it’ll be awesome to use. Currently there is one recipe booklet available as an E-book at 50/- for January only with 5 (1 Kg) recipes. You can get that for now. We’re releasing some each month
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very informative would like to have your ebooks as i begin this journey of baking industry
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Hello Moses, glad to hear of your interest; please check the menu of this site for the page “Books”. You’ll see a list of all the recipe booklets we have available and you can choose the one you would like to purchase
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Are these ovens good for commercial pizza making?
Where can I see these ovens in working conditions?
Can it use Bickets ?
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HEllo; they are good for pizza making and can be used commercially as well. You can visit Cookswell at Lower Kabete at their shop to view the ovens. If you attend one of our classes; you can see them in action as well. We prefer to use charcoal in our ovens; brickets usually don’t get up to the temperature we want to bake at – but you can try them out to see if they work out for you, if you purchase one.
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How do we make kdf anyway I find it great reading from you second I need a firewood fryer
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Hi, glad you like the posts. Sorry we don’t have a KDF recipe and not aware of where to find a firewood fryer either, maybe inquire on social media e.g. on Facebook
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