Journal of Food Engineering 19 (1993) 389-398

A Study of the Bread-Baking Process. I: A

Phenomenological Model

B. Zanoni, C. Peri

DISTAM, Sezione Tecnologie Alimentari, Universiti di Milano, Via Celoria, 2,20 133
Milan, Italy

&

S. Pierucci

Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica G. Natta, Politecnico di Milano, P.zza Leonardo da

Vinci, 2,20 133 Milan, Italy

(Received 14 February 1992; revised version received 24 June 1992;

accepted 29 June 1992)

ABSTRACT

A phenomenological hypothesis of bread baking was developed. The

temperature, moisture, and volume were determined during the baking
process of a leavened bread sample.
Experimental data have shown that the variation in temperature and
moisture of bread during baking are determined by the formation of an
evaporation front at 100°C.
The progressive advance of the evaporation front towards the inside of
the product results in the formation of two separate regions: the crust,
where moisture is very low and temperature asymptotically tends to the
oven temperature, and the crumb, where moisture is constant and
temperature asymptotically tends to 100°C.

INTRODUCTION

Baking is based on simultaneous heat- and mass-transfer phenomena,

which cause a series of physical, chemical, and structural transforma-
tions that are essential for the quality of the final product.
389
Journal of Food Engineering 0260-8774/93/$06.00 - 0 1993 Elsevier Science
Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain
390 B. Zanoni. C. Peri, S. Pierucci

In studies on baking of flat-shaped products, some authors assimilate

baking to a air-drying process. According to Hirsekom (1971), Gordon
et al. ( 1981), drying proceeds at a
constant rate during the whole process. According to Kaiser (1974),
drying is characterized by a period of constant rate at 100°C followed by
a period of decreasing rate depending on the resistance to diffusion of
liquid water towards the evaporation front and to diffusion of water
vapour from the front towards the outside. The above-mentioned
authors do not consider transfer phenomena occurring inside the pro-
duct and provide only temperature and moisture mean values of the
product.
Considering products having a more complex geometry and structure,
such as bread, Klank and Zaddach (1978) and Kriems and Reinhold
(1980) assume that dehydration affects only bread crust, whereas bread
crumb remains at the same moisture content as the initial dough; water
diffusion in the crumb towards the evaporation front is therefore
considered to be negligible.
Consequently, three regions that follow a different temperature evolu-
tion are evident: a peripheral region (the crust), which rapidly exceeds a
higher temperature than 100°C; an evaporation front at 100°C; and an
internal region (the crumb), which asymptotically tends to reach the
evaporation-front temperature. This phenomenological hypothesis,
which we consider to be realistic and to have general application, has not
been translated into mathematical models.
Volume variation during baking affects heat and mass transfer, owing
to pore formation and consequent variation of thermophysical pro-
perties. According to Hoseney ( 1985), the volume increases linearly with
time up to a maximum value that corresponds to the equilibrium
between internal pressure and resistance of crust and internal structure.
De Cindio et al. (1986) provide a mathematical model of volume
increase during baking based on the modelling of CO, formation, diffu-
sion, and expansion as a function of temperature variation. Such a model
is applied to a bread sample having an infinite-slab geometry, heated by
conduction by contact plates at constant temperature.
It can be concluded that few data and theories are available on heat
and mass transfer during baking. Furthermore, most of them concern
such unrealistic operating conditions and product shapes that they
cannot be used for setting up models having general application.
The objective of this research is to define a general mathematical
model of bread baking. In this first paper, the results of experiments
carried out to evaluate temperature, moisture, and volume variations are
reported; on the basis of these data, a phenomenological hypothesis of
baking is advanced.
 Bread-baking process: phenomenological model 391

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sample preparation

A standard method for the production of leavened bread was set up,
210 g flour ( 14.5% moisture, 13% proteins, 0.5 5% ash, pH 57-6*1),
126 g water, 8.4 g baking powder (acid sodium pyrophosphate, sodium
bicarbonate), and 4.2 g salt being mixed in a Hobart N50G kneading
machine for 5 min. As much water was added as to allow the formation
of a dough having a final consistency of 500 Brabender Units.
The dough was placed into a cylindrical steel mould (11.0 cm in
diameter, 9.7 cm in height) and kept at room temperature for 15 min
before being baked. Baking was carried out in a forced-convection
electric oven, suitably adapted from a GC Carlo Erba oven, which
allowed accurate programming and control of temperature. In order to
minimize the heat supply by radiation, the oven walls were cooled by an
air-space circulation system; a glass holder was used to support the
mould over the oven floor in order to avoid heat supply by conduction.
The air speed in the oven was about 1.4 m/s, and the air temperature was
kept at 203 + 1°C.
A glass window on the oven front wall allowed visual control of
samples during baking.

Temperature measurement

Air and bread-sample temperatures during baking were measured by

thermocouples connected to a data-acquisition and recording system
(DATASCAN 7220 - Measurement Systems Limited, Newbury, Berks,
UK), interfaced by RS 232 to a PC.
The temperature of the air was measured by a type-T thermocouples,
2 mm in diameter. The crumb temperature was measured by type-T
thermocouples, 1 mm in diameter, while the crust temperature was
measured by type-J thermocouples, 0.5 mm in diameter.
Type-T thermocouples were placed at selected points inside the oven
and the bread sample, while type-J thermocouples were allowed to
follow the crust movement due to the volume increase.

Determination of moisture

The determination of bread moisture during baking has required the

setting up of a method for precise sectioning of the sample and minimiz-
ing moisture loss by evaporation.
 392 B. Zanoni, C Peri, S. Pierucei

The bread sample extracted from the oven was placed in a Plexiglas
mould with six slits through which the bread was divided by an electri-
cal knife into three (upper, central, lower) sections and each of them was
divided into nine portions. The 27 pieces obtained were immediately
placed into separate sealed polyethylene bags, frozen in liquid nitrogen
and stored at - 20°C.
Quick freezing of the samples causes a sharp fracture at the crust/
crumb separation interface, so that subsequent thawing allows crust to be
easily separated from crumb. Crust and crumb moisture was evaluated
by oven-dying at 105°C until constant weight was reached. Moisture
was measured in triplicate at baking times of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and
30 min.

Measurement of crust thickness and sample volume

Crust thickness, measured by a micrometer gauge, was evaluated in

quintuple at baking times of 5,10,15,20,25, and 30 min.
The volume variation during baking was recorded by a portable
video-camera (Bauer-Bosch Video 8 VCC 8 16 AF, Milan, Italy)
through the oven window.
Analysis of images yielded changes in the sample profile, from which
the volume increase was evaluated. This method allows the evaluation of
the sample height with an accuracy of f 1 mm.
Table 1 shows sample characteristics and experimental baking
conditions.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSrO~S

Temperature profiles

Analysis of temperature variations as a function of time (Fig. 1) shows

that air temperature in the oven remains substantially constant around
203 -t 1°C. After a few minutes, a higher temperature than lOO”C, which
asymptotically tends towards the air temperature, is reached at the
sample’s upper surface, which is directly exposed to air. The temperature
at the lower surface shows a similar variation, with values lower by about
20°C owing to the heat-transfer resistance of the mould’s bottom. At
l-cm depth from the upper surface and at the geometrical centre of the
sample, that is, in the crumb portion of the bread, temperature rises at a
lower rate and asymptotically tends towards 100°C. This was confirmed
by tests at times in excess of those reported here.
 Bread-baking process: phenomenological model 393

TABLE 1
Sample Characteristics and Experimental Baking Conditions

Bread mass, g 341

Bread radius, cm 5.5
Bread initial height, cm 4.6
Thickness of lateral mould wall, mm 0.25
Thickness of mould bottom, mm 0.50
Baking time, min 30
Dough initial temperature, “C 26
Dough initial absolute moisture, % 44
Air temperature, “C 203
Absolute air moisture, g/kg 14-25
Air speed, m/s 1.4

220
200

180

160

140

120

100

60

60

40

20
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
TIME (min)

Fig. 1. Temperature variation during baking: oven ( n), upper crust ( + ), lower crust (*),
crumb at 1 cm from the upper surface (o), and crumb at the sample centre ( X ). The
positioning of thermocouples in the sample is also shown in the figure.

Temperature profiles were also detected on the median and transverse

and longitudinal axes of the sample (Figs 2 and 3). Profiles are symmetri-
cal on the transverse axis, while they are asymmetrical on the longi-
tudinal axis where slightly higher temperatures are observed at the upper
surface. Longitudinal profiles also show a typical variation in shape as a
consequence of volume variations during baking.
394 B. Zanoni, C. Peri, S. Pierucci

20
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 E
RADIAL DISTANCE (cm)

Fig. 2. Radial temperature profiles of the sample after 5 (H); 10 ( + ), 1.5 (*). 20 (0). 2.5
( X ). 30 min (A ). The positioning of thermocouples in the sample is also shown in the
figure.

0 3 4 6 8 10 12
DEPTH (cm)

Fig. 3. Temperature profiles of the sample at different depths after 5 ( + ), 10 ( n), 1.5
(*), 20 (n), 25 ( x ), 30 min (A ). The positioning of thermocouples in the sample is also
shown in the figure.
 Bread-baking process: phenomenological model 395

Moisture profiles

Figure 4 shows moisture values of crust collected from the upper and
lower regions of the sample and of crumb collected in a region immedi-
ately under the crust. As other authors (Klank & Zaddach, 1978; Kriems
& Reinhold, 1980) have observed, dehydration affects only the crust,
whereas crumb moisture shows the same value as that of the raw dough
(44%).

Crust thickness

Figure 5 shows the curves of crust-thickness increase during baking.

These data, and those concerning moisture variation reported in Fig. 4,
demonstrate that drying takes place not only at the upper surface but
also at the bottom of the sample, where air-convection effects are absent.
However, the convective contribution as well as high temperatures
allows a more rapid evaporation and therefore a more rapid increase in
crust thickness at the upper surface of the sample.

0’
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
TIME (min)

Fig. 4. Moisture variation of the sample during baking: upper crust (A ), lower crust
( n), upper (0) and lower ( x ) subcrust regions. Sampling regions of crust and crumb
samples are also shown in the figure.
 396 B. Zanoni, C. Peri, S. Pierucci

Volume increase

Under the experimental conditions of this study, the product can change
its geometric characteristics in one dimension only. The volume varia-
tion is therefore directly correlated to the increase in height as shown in
Fig. 6. The experimental curve is based on the average values of three
experiments (3.5% CV). As Hoseney ( 1985) has already pointed out, the
volume varies linearly as a function of tune until reaching a maximum

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
TIME (min)

Fig. 5. Thickness variation of the upper ( n) and lower (*) crust during baking, with
relevant regression lines.

11 I I
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Time (min)

Fig. 6. Relative height variation of the sample during baking. Experimental points are
denoted by A and the regression lines are those calculated according to eqns (1) and (2).
 Bread-baking process: phenomenological model 397

value that, in these tests, corresponds to 2 13% of the initial volume after
1200 s. After that time and up to completion of the experiment a linear
decrease in height is observed, owing to a structural collapse of the
bread.
The relative height of the sample can be expressed by the following
relationships:
1st segment: ~~/H~~ = l-07 + (9.2 x 10d4 f) 61140 s
2nd segment: Hi/HO = 2.61- (4.5 x lop4 t) t> 1140 s

where I-$[= height at time t;

H, = initial height;
t= time (s).

A PHENOMENOLOGICAL MODEL OF TI-IE BAKING PROCESS

From the graph in Fig. 1, it can be observed that the crumb tempera~re
increases with time towards a constant boundary value of 100°C. The
external crumb region would therefore be at a constant temperature of
100°C. It may be assumed that this is the evaporation-front temperature,
where the water-vapour pressure is the same as the ambient pressure and
a massive evaporation of unbound water occurs. The presence of an
evaporation front at 300°C has also been shown by Klank and Zaddach
(1978) and Kriems and Reinhold (1980). In the bread portion outside
the evaporation front, the bound water evaporates, and temperatures are
higher than 100°C and asymptotically tend to the oven-air temperature.
This portion outside the evaporation front corresponds to that defined
as crust.
The progressive advancing of the evaporation front towards the inside
causes an increase in crust thickness. On the basis of these results, baking
cannot be studied as an air-drying process as it has been by Hirsekorn
( 197 1), Kaiser ( 1974), Gordon er al. ( 19791, and Hayakawa and Hwang
(1981).
The convective evaporation of water is significant only at the bread
surface exposed to air in the initial phase of the process until the temper-
ature has reached 100°C. Beyond this point, dehydration occurs by
water boiling at the evaporation front and is entirely controlled by the
rate of heat transfer towards this front. The boiling phenomenon at the
evaporation front affects both the bread portion exposed to air and that
in contact with the container.
398 B. Zanoni, C. Peri, S. Pierucci

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank Professor Renato Del Rosso of the Polytechnic of

Milan and Roberto Sirnonetta, a student who is graduating in their
Department, for their help in this research.
The research was supported by the National Council of Italy, special
project RAISA, subproject no. 4, paper no. 324.

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