Baking and crusting
| industrial collaborators: | RHM Technology |
| academic collaborators: | Heriot-Watt University and University of Greenwich |
| initiated : | 2003/04/20 |
| last updated: | 2007/05/22 |
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The final texture or structure of foodstuffs such as bread and cake depends upon how the originally liquid material (dough in the case of bread) and its gas content evolve during baking. This Faraday Partnership project has developed a mathematical model and numerical solutions for the temperature and density of the final bread crust and crumb.
 | Cross-section of bread crust, showing increased density towards surface. |
The focus has been on the formation of a crust, looking at changes in the mechanical properties of the dough on baking, the role of bubbles in determining the final texture, and the structure of the crust. Specific questions have included
Why does the crust form in the first place?
What determines its depth?
How do quantities such as bubble size and bubble shape change with depth?
How can the crust's density profile be controlled?
Further details of publications from this project will be available here shortly.
Project staff and support
Daniel Jefferson (Postdoctoral Faraday Associate, Heriot-Watt University)Andrew Lacey (Principal Investigator, Heriot-Watt University)
Kevin Parrott (Co-investigator, University of Greenwich)
Peter Sadd (Industrial supervisor, RHM Technology)
Heather Tewkesbury (Technology Translator, Smith Institute)
This project was carried out at Heriot-Watt University, in conjunction with RHM Technology and the University of Greenwich. It was supported by earmarked EPSRC research funding allocated to the Faraday Partnership for Industrial Mathematics, and had the working title Thermally driven texture development of setting bubbly liquids. Start date: March 2002; Duration: 2 years.
This project is now completed.
Related projects
Modelling of hotplate products