GEA’s E-Bake G2 electric tunnel oven increases energy efficiency and precision
The new E-Bake G2 tunnel oven from GEA significantly reduces energy consumption in industrial baking. Source: GEA
The E-Bake G2 is a new electric industrial baking oven from GEA that promises better process control and increased energy efficiency.
GEA said the E-Bake G2, created to satisfy the changing needs of environmentally friendly food production, is a major advancement in the move away from gas-based technologies.
This second-generation oven is engineered to produce cookies (both soft and hard dough) and crackers, offering a compact footprint, advanced airflow design, and modular flexibility. Its design is optimised exclusively for electric operation – no gas integration – enabling significant CO₂ emission reductions while achieving precise, repeatable baking products.
Key to the oven’s performance is its modular architecture, which allows each baking zone to be individually controlled. This enables manufacturers to tailor baking parameters precisely to product requirements, improving both energy usage and baking consistency.
The baking chamber has been redesigned with a reduced internal volume, which minimises heat loss and positions heating elements closer to the product, improving thermal efficiency. The inclusion of micro-convection technology, featuring localised air flow systems, ensures uniform heat distribution and reduces temperature gradients across the baking surface.
Thermal bridges-pathways through which heat can escape – have been minimised. Additionally, a new configuration of electric resistances supports targeted heat generation, contributing to a potential energy consumption reduction of up to 40% compared to the previous generation gas-fired model.
The E-Bake G2 is available in multiple heat transfer zone configurations. The options enable manufacturers to configure baking lines based on process needs, thermal profiles, and product types, offering both thermal flexibility and redundant reliability across modules.
According to Marco Girimondo, product manager at GEA, the ‘Our Voice of the Customer’ research highlighted growing interest in sustainable baking solutions, particularly electric baking. However, customers face high operational costs due to energy tariffs and capital costs for plant infrastructure upgrades.
“The E-Bake G2 directly addresses these concerns by significantly lowering energy consumption and reducing both installed power and total cost of ownership compared to conventional electric ovens,” he noted.
The oven is designed to deliver superior baking performance by replicating a small-scale airflow circuit within each module. This allows for precise micro-control of airflow and a uniform heat flux directed toward the product surface. As a result, the system ensures consistent baking conditions in each zone, yielding repeatable results and measurable improvements in critical-to-quality (CTQ) parameters such as texture, colour, and moisture content.
The design of the E-Bake G2 improves operational accessibility with continuous access doors along the baking chamber. The base configuration includes one access door per module, with an optional version providing up to three doors per module.
The modular design of the oven enables fast, plug-and-play installation. Each module is preassembled with its electric cabinet mounted on top, eliminating the need for extensive on-site electrical wiring. This configuration can reduce installation time by up to 70%, based on a reference 90-meter-long electric oven with seven baking zones.
The E-Bake G2 features GEA’s new Kinetic Edge machine design, whose structural redesign uses 64% less iron in the frame and baking chamber, reducing the total number of components, and is based on a standardised module that can be configured to order.
