Jownal of Food Engineering 9 (1989) 167-193

Thermal Properties of Dough and Bakery Products:

A Review of Published Data

Christina Rask

Department of Food Engineering, University of Lund, PO Box 124, S-22 1 00 Lund,

Sweden

(Received 27 April 1988; revised version received 23 January 1989;

accepted 6 February 1989)

ABSTRACT

To date, no summary of the thermal properties of dough, bread and

bakery products is available. This review is therefore an attempt to rectify
this situation. The aim has not been to evaluate critically the published
studies, but rather to give an overview of the literature in this field to
facilitate the estimation of values for the properties of a product of known
moisture content and density. The thermal properties covered are specific
heat, thermal conductivity and thermal di@sivity. These are tabulated
together with the moisture content and the density. The properties of
dough and bread are plotted versus moisture content and density. Expres-
sions for calculating the thermal properties are both given in the text and
tabulated.

NOTATION

a Thermal diffusivity (m”/s)

Effective thermal diffusivity (m”/s)
? Constant
B Constant
cP Specific heat at constant pressure (J/kg K)
C PDM Specific heat of dry matter (kJ/kg K)
CP W
Specific heat of water &J/kg K)
CV Specific heat at constant volume (J/kg K)
H Bread height (m)
N Dimensionless time step
t Temperature (“C)
167
Journal of Food Engineering 0260-8774/89/$03.50 - 0 1989 Elsevier Science
Publishers Ltd, England. Printed in Great Britain
168 C. Rask

Mean volume temperature (“C)

Temperature (K)
Volume ( m3)
Volume fraction of air
Volume fraction of solid matter
Volume fraction of water
Moisture content on dry basis (kg/kg)
Moisture content on wet basis (kg/kg)

Thermal conductivity (W/m K)

Thermal conductivity of air (W/m K)
Effective thermal conductivity (W/m K)
Thermal conductivity of solid matter (W/m K)
Time-dependent thermal conductivity (W/m K)
Thermal conductivity of water (W/m K)
Density (kg/m3)
Dimensionless time
Time (s)
Porosity

INTRODUCTION

When dough is exposed to a high temperature in an oven, the tempera-

ture of the dough surface rises and water from the outer layer
evaporates. The moisture content of a bread dough will thus change with
time during baking and the crust will contain less water than the interior,
i.e. the crumb. The temperatures in the crust and in the crumb are also
quite different. Depending on the oven conditions, the crust can reach a
temperature of nearly 200°C. The final temperature in the crumb,
however, does not exceed 100°C (Tichy, 1974; Auerman, 1977; Kriems
& Reinhold, 1980~3; Johnsson & Skjoldebrand, 1984; Rask, in press).
Another characteristic change is the increase in volume of the
product. This occurs in the initial stage of baking and is mainly due to the
expansion of the gas enclosed in the porous dough structure (Auerman,
1977). The pore size in the crust may be very different from that in the
crumb, the crust having a more dense structure than the crumb. Accord-
ingly, the thermal properties are different in the dough, the crumb and
the crust, and this should be appreciated when measuring and using
thermal properties of ‘bread’.
Thermal properties for a number of foods may be found in the litera-
ture and some comprehensive collections have been published (e.g.
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 169

Mohsenin, 1980; Rao & Rizvi, 1986; Wallapapan et al., 1986). These
collections contain both data and detailed discussions of measurement
techniques. Methods were also discussed by Ohlsson (1983) and by
Nesvadba (1982). The latter published a critical review of methods for
the determination of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity
including sources of errors connected to the measurements. Equations
for estimation of thermal properties have been published by Miles et al.
(1983). Despite this, the information regarding thermal properties of
dough and bakery products is scarce. This paper therefore aims to give
an overview of the published data on thermal properties of such
products and to summarize them for engineering purposes. The review
might also be of interest as a base for scientists in their future work.
In this review, the products have been divided into two groups -
namely, bread and other bakery products - and the data are given in
Tables 1 and 2. Most of the values are extracted from studies which are
briefly discussed in the text. Some of the data, however, originate from
published tables in which the methods of measurement have not been
reported. Some equations for calculating the properties are summarized
in Table 3. The review concludes with a comparison of the tabulated
values and values calculated from equations given in the text. For a more
detailed description of different methods the reader is referred to the
collections mentioned above.
The properties covered are specific heat, thermal conductivity and
thermal diffusivity. Whenever possible, the moisture content and the
density of the product are given. In the publications the moisture content
is given either on dry or wet basis. In this collection the moisture content
is recalculated where necessary and given on wet basis. The recalculated
values are marked in the tables. Another inconsistency in the literature is
that in some of the publications (Kulacki & Kennedy, 1978; Unklesbay
et al., 198 1; Johnsson & Skjoldebrand, 1984) the amount of added water
is reported instead of the moisture content of the product. Of course, this
makes an evaluation and a comparison more difficult.

BREAD AND BREAD DOUGH

Time dependence

In two of the published studies (Unklesbay et al. 1981; Bakshi & Yoon,
1984) the relationship between the bread properties and the baking time
was determined by interrupting the baking process after certain time
intervals and then measuring the properties. One disadvantage with this
 5
0

TABLE 1
Moisture Content, Density and Thermal Properties of Dough and Bread

Product Temperature Moisture Density Specific Thermal Thermal Reference

CC) content (k&n-V heat conductivity diffusivity
(%, wet basis) (Jlk W Wlm W (m’ls) X I@

Dough O-386 Bakshi and

Bread solids 1130.44 0.309 ‘ Yoon (1984) n
Bread
smin 33.4’ 202 ‘ 2151.42’ 0.085’
1omin 26.9 ( 181’ 1951-77’ o-093 L
Bread Johnsson and
crumb 34” 40.7 SkjGldebrand
30 41 2560 = (1984)
100 41 2626 ‘
crust 100 3.67 ‘
150 0 1656’
Dough 35 1500-1900~~ 05-0.6 d Kafiev et al.
(1987)
Bread Kriems and
rye/wheat Reinhold
100/O 10 min 24 (19806)
40 min 430d 52d
O/l00 10 min 43d
40 min 290d 138
Dough Lind (1988)
- 435 43.5 1100 1760 0.920 47.8 (
- 285 43.5 1100 1940 - 39.5 ‘
- 22.0 43.5 1100 - 0880
165 43.5 1100 2760 -
23.0 43.5 1100 - 0.460 14.5’
-38 46.1 1100 1760 1.030 53.0
-28 46.1 1100 1880 - -
- 16 46.1 1100 - 0.980 43.5 (
2
2
19 46-l 1100 - 0.500 16.3’ 3
21 46.1 1100 2810 - - 2
9
Dough Makljukow and g
wheat 28 42 623 2883 0.414 13.3-22.2 Makljukow q
(1983) P.
2
Bread crumb
loaf 18 41.8 402 3190 0.298 16-22.3
tin loaf 18 42.8 340 2975 0.244 24.2
CNSt 120-160 0 300 1470-1680 0.066-0.43 2.68
i?
Bread solids l-24 36.6 1558 Marmheim et al. a
<o 35.6-37.0 657 (1957) x
Dough Nebelung
wheat 44.4 h 750 2800 0.5 23.75 (1979) $-
rye 45.9 h 820 3000 0.6 24.34 a
crust 3
wheat 0 417 1680 0.055 7.85 g
rye 0 443 1680 0.055 7.39
Crumb
wheat 44.4 h 450 2800 0.28 22.2
0.315’
rye 45.9 h 500 3000 0.37 24.7
0.356 (
 Table 1 - contd.

Product Temperature Moisture Density Specific Thermal Thermal Reference

(“Cl content (Wm-7 heat conductivity dijjksivity
(%, wet basis) (Jlkg W (wlm W (m2/s) X IOY

n
Dough 41.7 1600’,d 0.6 d Neznanova
et al. (1978) F
??
Dough 1880-2180 Ordinanz
(1946)
Bread
white O-100 44-4.5 2720-2850
brown O-100 48.5 2850
Dough Polak (1984)
dry 30 0 1260’
wet O-30 44.4 h 2516’
Bread solids 3 0.361 Tadano (1987)
24 0.378
Bread Tichy (1974)
rye/wheat 46.7 b 55.8
Dough Tschubik and
wheat 44.8 586 2801 0.314 19.16 Maslow
45.1 629 2805 0327 19.16 (1973)
 rye 53.6 718 3023 0.407 18.75
53.9 701 3027 0.396 18.75
Bread
loaf 42.5 545 2742 0.248 16.66
tin loaf 45.0 500 2805 0.232
Crust
loaf 0 420 1675 0.055 8.00
tin loaf 0 300 1675 0.041
Bread, white Unklesbay et al. 2
8 min 307.3 0.72 + 0.04 (1981) 3
16 min 284.6 O-67 f 0.02 &
24 min 275.1 0.66 * 0.03 :
32 min 263.6 0.64 f 0.02 3Y
2.
c
“Added amount of water as % of total weight.
%
Talculated from moisture content on dry basis (%).
%
(Calculated.
“Estimated from diagram. S-
‘Volumetric specific heat ( Crp ).
 TABLE 2
Moisture Content, Density and Thermal Properties of Bakery Products Other Than Bread
5
Product Temperature Moisture Density Specific Thermal Thermal Reference
KY) content (Wm-‘) heat conductivity di@sivity
(%, wet basis) (‘I& K) (wlm W (m’/s) X I@

Biscuit Hwang and

3.15h 1875.7 Hayakawa
353h 1942.7 (1979)
3.87 h 1934.3
Cracker 2.72 h 1595-2
255 h 1570.1
Biscuit dough Kulacki and
AACC 4.1” 1252.3 + 17.6 2940 + 170 0.405 f 0.022 8-12 Kennedy
hard-sweet 8.5” 1286.6 + 8.8 2804 f 380 0.390 f 0.037 8-12 (1978) n
Biscuit 0.07 Standing
0.16 (1974) $
Yellow cake Sweat (1973) *
batter 41.5’ 693.5 2950 0.223 10.9
edge l/4 done 40’ 815’ 0.239 8.6
centre l/4 done 40’ 815’ 0.228 8.6
edge l/2 done 39’ 360’ 0.147 21.4
centre l/2 done 39’ 290’ 0.195 16.1
edge 314 done 36.5 ‘ 265 ’ 0.132 18.5
centre 314 done 37.5 ( 265 ( 0.135 16.9
edge done 34’ 285’ 0.119 15-O
centre done 35.5 L 300 ( 2800 0.121 14.3
Tortilla dough 55,65,75 50,55,60 1102-1173 298-317 0*0366-0.1079 10.5-30.8 Griffith
(1985)

“Added amount of water as % of the total weight.

Walculated from moisture content on dry basis (%).
“Estimated from diamarn.
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 175

method is that after short periods of time in the oven the dough has not
stabilized and it therefore collapses easily after being taken out of the
oven. This affects the accuracy of determination of the volume and
hence the density.
Unklesbay et al. (1981) measured the moisture loss, the volume, the
bulk density, a porosity ratio and the thermal conductivity of white bread
loaves baked in tins. Four loaves, in eight replicates, were baked for 8,
16, 24 and 32 min. As a result of the increase in volume and loss of
water, the bulk density decreased during the heating. The decrease was
most pronounced between 8 and 16 min of baking. A line heat-source
probe, described by Sweat and Haugh ( 1974), was used to measure the
thermal conductivity. This measurement was performed on bread cooled
for 12 h at 20°C. A slight decrease in the thermal conductivity with
increased baking time, from 0.72 W/m K to 0.64 W/m K, was registered.
The difference, however, could not be verified statistically.
Bakshi and Yoon ( 1984) measured the water content, density, specific
heat and thermal conductivity of bread rolls baked for 10 min. Samples
were removed during baking and the changes related to time of baking.
Both the moisture content and the density decreased with heating time
and the time dependence was described by the following relationships:
Xwh= 41.53 x IO-“‘“lx’ 5 (Oh)
o = 225 x 10-04095 t
(hdm3)

The specific heat was measured by a calorimetric method; an indirect

method of mixing developed by Hwang and Hayakawa (1979) who stated
that the method could be used even at temperatures above the boiling
point of water. Bakshi and Yoon, however, did not report the tempera-
ture of the samples at their measurements. According to the authors the
specific heat of the bread solids was 1130.44 J/kg K. In this case the
definition of bread solids is not clear. For the bread rolls the specific heat
was a linear function of the moisture content expressed by:
CP = 30.56 X,, + 1130.44 (J/kgK)
The thermal conductivity was measured with a line source probe
similar to that used by Unklesbay et al. ( 198 1). The change in the ther-
mal conductivity during baking was related to the change in the density
and the moisture content. The following regression equation was
derived:
il = 0.6792 - 0.0551 X,, + 0.0020 p
+ 0*0009 Xi,, - 0.000024 X,, p (W/m K)
 TABLE 3
Equations for Calculation of Moisture Content, Density, Thermal Properties of Bakery Products

Reference Prodr4ct Eql4atiorrs

Bakshi and Yoon White bread X =41_53 x lO~“‘“lX”’ n

$225 x 10-ll.u~lYsr a
(1984)
e
Cr, = 3056X,, + 1130.44 *
A= 0.6792 - 0.055 1X,,,, + 0.002Op + 0.0009X;, - O.O00024X,,p
b - O.O00024X,,p
Johnsson and Bread crumb C,=1.60(1-X,,)t+X,,CvS+1373(1-X,,)
Skjoldebrand Bread crust C,=2.62(1-X,,)t+X,,Cv1+1263(1-X,,)
e++
= o,oooo3 le’ w0673S3r,. /
(1984) a

Mete1 et al. (1986) Dough wheat p = 2272.2 - 4,97 T

20-90°C d= -@23+0.178x lo-‘T

I, = 1.38 -0.023X,,
,I=0~31-0~82x10-‘X,,+0~13x10-~T
a=(15~41+0134~10-‘T)~10-~
a = (2658 - 0*16X,,) X lo-*
a=(16*15-0.113x lo-‘X,,,,+O.l26X lo-‘T)X 1Omx
a=(17*65-0.84x lo-“p-0.49X 10-2X,,+0.89~ lo-*T)x 10mx
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 177

-II
178 C. Rask

The thermal conductivity was also represented by a model proposed

by Poppendiek et al. ( 1966):

where V,, l?, and V, are the volume fractions and A,, A,, and ;2, are the
thermal conductivities of water, solids and air, respectively. The thermal
conductivity of unproofed dough, referred to as bread solids, was 0.386
W/m”C, compared with the calculated value of 0.309 W/m”C. The
deviation of the calculated values from the measured thermal con-
ductivity in bread rolls was within 5% except for the first 2 min when the
deviation was greater due to the collapse of the dough.
Neznanova et al. (1978) and Kafiev et al. (1987) have reported on
measurement of volumetric specific heat (Crp) and thermal conductivity
in bread during baking. The details of the methods are not given in the
articles, but are published elsewhere (Ginsburg et d, 1975, 1980). The
results were published as diagrams. The study by Neznanova et al.
showed the change in thermal conductivity and volumetric specific heat
with time of baking. The experiments were made both in a Brabender
oven and an infrared (IR) oven. According to the diagrams the initial
value of the thermal conductivity was about 0.5-0.6 W/m K and that of
the volumetric specific heat 1.6 x lo3 kJ/m3 K. Both the thermal con-
ductivity and the volumetric specific heat decreased rapidly during the
first minutes of baking. The thermal conductivity reached a minimum
within 3-4 min and then increased to its initial value at the end of baking.
The volumetric specific heat continued to decrease and the final value
was about 0.5-0.75 x lo3 kJ/m3 K. The graphs also indicate that the
properties measured depended on the type of oven. The baking time,
defined by the time elapsed before the crumb reached a temperature of
97-98°C was shorter in the IR oven.
Similar changes in volumetric specific heat and thermal conductivity
were reported by Kafiev et al. (1987). They investigated the effect of
additives, such as diacetyl tartaric acid esters of monoglycerides, and one
bread improver named Volzski-2. The moisture content, the density and
other dough characteristics were not specified so it is difficult to draw
any generally useful conclusions about the changes in the thermal
properties from these results.

The influence of temperature and moisture content

The effect of temperature on thermal diffusivity was studied by Johnsson

and Skjiildebrand ( 1984). By means of thermocouples they measured the
temperature at specified locations in white bread during baking. The
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 179

temperature dependence of the thermal diffusivity was calculated using

the Fourier equation. The crust was assumed to be a finite slab and the
shape of the interior was assumed to be a cylinder. Since mechanisms
other than pure conduction were involved in the heating and contributed
to the change in temperature, an effective thermal diffusivity was
derived. The effective thermal diffusivity of the crust was expressed as:
aeff= AeB’“’
In this expression t,, is the mean volume temperature in accordance
with Lykow (1955), while A and B are constants. The values of A and B,
determined by regression analysis, were stated to be 0*000031 and
-0.067383, respectively, with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. The
error in the effective thermal diffusivity due to imprecision in the tem-
perature measurements was 0.1 x 10 - 8 m?/s. No calculation of the error
due to the accuracy of thickness measurement was given.
The authors stated that, for the interior, this model was valid only at
temperatures between 30°C and 6O”C, and for this temperature range a
constant thermal diffusivity of 40.7 x lop8 m2/s was given. This calcula-
tion model thus failed to show the dependence on temperature of the
thermal diffusivity within the bread.
To determine the specific heat of the crust and the crumb Johnsson and
Skjoldebrand (1984) used differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The
measurements were performed at three different water contents (0, 9
and 17% in the crust, and 0,9 and 29% in the crumb). The samples were
heated from 17°C to 127°C at a scanning rate of lO”C/min. The DSC
measurements are carried out at constant volume, which is indicated in
the following equations obtained by linear regression:
crust C, = 2*62( 1 - X,,) t +X,,,,, C,,w+ 1263( 1 -X,,) (J/kgK)
crumb C, = l-60( 1 - X,,) t +XwbCvw
+ 1373( 1 - X,,,,) (J/kgK)
The specific heat of water was taken as constant, at 4200 J/kg K.
However, according to Polak (1984) the temperature dependence of the
specific heat of water can be expressed as:
C,W=[4~179-0~000217t+0~000013t~].103 (J/kgK)
At a temperature of 32°C which is in the normal temperature range of
a dough after proofing, C’,*calculated from the above expression is 4 185
J/kg K. Mohsenin ( 1980) has given a value of 4179 J/kg K at this tem-
perature. At 100°C the specific heat of water is 42 16 J/kg K (Polak), and
4287 J/kg K (Mohsenin).
The specific heat of dried doughs at a temperature t”C can, according
to Polak ( 1984) be derived from:
C,=[1*114+0-00486tl.10” (J/kgK)
180 C. Rask

The mean value over the temperature range 0°C to PC can be calculated
from:

CP=[1~114+0~00243t].103 (J/kgK)
For moist dough the corresponding relationship is:

c,,=[cp”;~~cpw] .103 (J/kgK)

or
C,=[(l -XV,) cp,,+xvbCp,l.103 (J/kgK)
The influence of moisture content, temperature and density on the
thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity has been reported by
Mete1 et al. (1986). They investigated yeast doughs within the tempera-
ture range 20-90°C. The density varied from 480 kg/m3 to 770 kg/m3
and the moisture content from 39.5% to 45%. The expressions, derived
by regression anlaysis, are given in Table 3.
The thermal conductivity of the solid phase in white bread was
investigated by Tadano (1987). The bread was compressed to obtain
different degrees of porosity and then freeze dried. An effective thermal
conductivity was determined at 3°C and 24°C both before and after
drying. Two different methods were used: a hot-wire method and a
stationary parallel-plate method. From the measured effective values the
thermal conductivity of bread solids was calculated from various series-
parallel models described in the literature. These calculations gave a
thermal conductivity of O-361 W/m K and 0,378 W/m K at 3°C and
24”C, respectively.
The specific heat has also been measured at low temperatures.
Mannheim et al. (1957) not only determined the specific heat of white
and whole-wheat bread solids below and above 0°C but also calculated
the ice fraction and enthalpy at different temperatures. The bread
sample to be tested was packed into a can and cooled to the test
temperature (from + 1°C to - 200°C). The can was then put into the
calorimeter, i.e. a Dewar flask. Distilled water was used as heat exchange
medium and held at a constant temperature of 24°C. The moisture
content of the samples was determined by drying. Assuming that the
specific heat of bread solids and water, respectively, contributed to the
specific heat of the bread in proportion to their mass fractions, the
specific heat of bread solids was calculated from the heat balance at a
particular moisture content. Based on the observation that the apparent
specific heat was constant in the temperature range - 200°C to - 70°C
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 181

at 657 J/kg K, it was assumed that at - 70°C all the water present was in
a frozen state. At - 40°C the fraction of unfrozen water was 11.2%
(white bread) and 16.0% (whole-wheat bread), compared with that
reported by Pham (1987) of 36.2% in white bread and of 26.5% in
whole-wheat bread.
The specific heat, the latent heat of fusion, the ice fraction, the thermal
conductivity and the thermal diffusivity of non-fermented doughs during
thawing were determined by Lind (1988). Differential scanning
calorimetry was used for the determination of the specific heat and the
latent heat, whilst the transient hot-strip (THS) method according to
Gustavsson et al. (1979) was used for the determination of the two other
properties. The THS method was difficult to apply to the measurement
of thermal diffusivity of dough. Lind therefore also calculated the
thermal diffusivity from specific heat, thermal conductivity and density.
The THS method could not be used during the phase transition and, in
the region of melting, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity were
calculated from the ice fraction. At - 40°C 35% of the total water was
unfrozen.
An equation for calculating the enthalpy of low-fat foods has been
published by Riedel(1978). The equation, given in Table 3, was valid in
the temperature range - 40°C to + 40°C.

Modelling of the baking process

Tichy (1974) derived a mathematical model of heat and mass transfer

during baking. To be able to simulate the course of the temperature and
the changes in water content of bread, Tichy used the finite difference
method. From the temperature history of the centre of the bread he
calculated an equivalent or effective thermal diffusivity (a,,):

where His the height of the bread in metres, r, is the time in seconds and
r* is dimensionless time defined as r* = N X 0.00 1524. N is the dimen-
sionless time step; N= O,..., 160. For a fixed rye and wheat bread
of 1500 g, Tichy calcualted a mean effective thermal diffusivity of
55.8 x 10e8 m2/s. The total baking time was 55 mm.
The method of Tichy has also been used by Kriems and Reinhold
(1980a, 1980b). They calculated an equivalent thermal diffusivity after
baking times of 10, 20, 30 and 40 min. The calculations were made for
rye bread, wheat bread and for bread made from a mixture of rye and
182 C. Rask

wheat in different proportions and the results were given as a function of

time and final density. For all breads investigated, there was only a slight
increase in the thermal diffusivity between the 10th and 20th minute.
The largest increase occurred between the 20th and 30th minute of
baking. The final density was largely dependent on the amount of wheat
flour present. The greater the proportion of wheat flour the less was the
final density, i.e. the greater was the porosity due to a greater increase in
volume during baking. The thermal diffusivity ranged from 0.24 X 10e6
m2/s, for rye bread after a baking time of 10 min, to 1.38 X lo-” m2/s, for
the wheat bread after 40 min. Thus the thermal diffusivity increased with
decreasing density and increasing baking time. The effective thermal
diffusivity was also calculated after storage for 24 h at a temperature of
25°C and found to be 125 x lo-* m2/s. It was not reported how this
measurement was made, but the fact that the thermal diffusivity in this
case was independent of the density, was regarded as evidence of the
contribution to heat transfer by steam in the interior of the dough during
heating (compare with Nebelung in the next paragraph).
A mathematical model describing the baking process has also been
prop&ed by Nebelung ( 1979). He used one model for the oven and one
for the product. By combining the two, the baking process could be
simulated. For the crumb, Nebelung calculated the thermal conductivity
with the porosity ( I,V) as a variable:

Thethermal conductivity of the gas in the pores (A,) was assumed to be

equal to that of saturated air at 20°C.
The porosity was calculated from the difference between the volume
of the crumb and the initial volume of the dough.

w,l_b
Vtotal

For bread made with wheat flour Nebelung found a porosity of 0.226
and a thermal conductivity of O-315 W/m K. Corresponding values for
rye bread were: porosity 0.221 and thermal conductivity 0.356 W/m K.
Nebelung stated that during baking the heat was not transferred by
conduction alone. Heat transfer by evaporation and condensation of
steam must also be taken into account, resulting in an effective thermal
conductivity, Leff, consisting of one constant term, Adough,and one time-
related term, jlvap,the latter depending on the evaporation of water in the
dough. The effective diffusivity, a,,, was calculated for the whole baking
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 183

according to:

It was assumed that the mean value of the specific heat was constant
while the mean density changed during baking. In this model, &, and
hence also jleff were dependent on the external heat transfer. This means
that the thermal diffusivity was dependent on both the properties of the
product and the conditions in the oven. Nebelung showed this for two
different kinds of oven: a laboratory oven and a tunnel oven with several
temperature zones.
Nebelung ( 1974) has also published thermal property values for
dough, crust and crumb. These are mean values taken mainly from the
East European literature. The values are listed in Table 1 together with
the thermal conductivities of white bread and rye bread calculated from
Nebelung’s model.

OTHER BAKERY PRODUCTS

Hwang and Hayakawa (1979) have developed a method for measuring

the specific heat of highly hygroscopic foods, or samples at a tempera-
ture above 100°C. Among the materials tested were crackers and bis-
cuits. The results can be found in Table 2. Hwang and Hayakawa (1980)
also developed a method to estimate the bulk density of cookies during
baking. Samples were collected from 11 locations in a multi-zone band
oven at a local bakery. When corrected for shrinkage, both during and
after baking, the density during baking could be correlated to tempera-
ture and water content. The following relationship was found for the
three different kinds of cookies examined:
~=[Boo+B,~T+B~,Xdb+B,lT.Xdh].lO~ (kg/m3)
The values of the constants ‘B’ had to be determined for each of the
cookies. The validity of the relationship has not been tested for other
products.
To determine the heat transfer in a band oven, Standing (1974)
estimated the thermal conductivity in biscuits by measuring the tempera-
ture at two locations, 2 and 5 mm from their base. During these
measurements the biscuits were heated by conduction from a hot plate.
The plate temperature was varied from 159°C to 208°C and the thermal
184 C. Rask

conductivity was calculated from a heat balance over the hot plate and
the biscuit. Thus the calculated conductivity included the resistance to
heat transfer between the plate and the surface of the product. The
thermal conductivity was greater 5 mm from the base (0.16 W/m K) than
at a distance of 2 mm (O-07 W/m K). The experiments also indicated that
the conductivity decreased at higher plate temperatures.
Kulacki and Kennedy (1978) measured the density, the specific heat,
the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity of two commercial
biscuit doughs (AACC dough and hard-sweet dough). The density was
derived by weighing a known volume of dough. The determination was
carried out at 25°C and the results appear in Table 2. The specific heat
was measured using the method of mixtures at three different tempera-
tures. The tabulated values are the averages of the three values. The
thermal conductivity was determined by a single-plate method and was
measured at several temperatures in the interval 24-64°C. Because of an
unexplainable decrease in the conductivity at the higher temperatures
the tabulated values are mean values valid for the lower temperatures
only. The thermal diffusivity was calculated from p, CP and each of the
L-values. The results were presented in a diagram showing that the
thermal diffusivity varied between 8 X and 12 X 10ms m*/s.
The thermal conductivity of yellow layer cake was investigated by
Sweat (1973). The measurement was carried out on samples of different
degrees of bakedness and at different locations in the cake. A thermal
conductivity probe was used and the samples were cooled at about 28°C
before measurement. Density and moisture content were also measured.
In order to calculate the thermal diffusivity Sweat estimated the specific
heat of the cake by assuming that CP for the non-water fraction was half
of that of water.

During baking the specific heat decreased slightly, from 2950 J/kg K
in the batter to 2800 J/kg K at the centre of the fully baked cake. There
was a marked decrease in density from about 800 kg/m3 to about 300
kg/m3 at times between one-quarter and one-half of the total baking
time. During the same period the thermal conductivity decreased and the
thermal diffusivity increased. These changes were more marked at the
edge of the cake than at the centre.
Griffith (1985) determined density, specific heat, thermal con-
ductivity, and thermal diffusivity of a reconstituted corn-based tortilla
dough. In these experiments a transient method was used; a copper
cylinder was packed with dough of specified moisture content and the
cylinder was heated from the outside. The temperature in the centre of
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 185

the dough and at the surface was measured by thermocouples. Assuming

that heat was transferred by conduction in the dough, Griffith calculated
the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity from the slope of the
time-temperature curve and the temperature difference between the
centre and the surface. The specific heat was derived from the density,
the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity.
The thermal properties were determined at temperatures of 55°C
65°C and 75°C at moisture contents of 50%, 55% and 60% and for
heating times of O-08 h, 0.17 h, 0.25 h and 0.33 h. The results of this
investigation illustrated the complex influence of time, moisture content
and temperature on the properties. The density and the specific heat
were found to be independent of the heating time but dependent on the
moisture content. In addition, the specific heat depended on the tem-
perature. The thermal conductivity was influenced by the moisture
content as well as the temperature and the heating time. The thermal dif-
fusivity increased with prolonged thermal treatment, and was also
dependent on the temperature and the moisture content. Since the
pattern of the changes was varying both with temperature and moisture
content only the ranges of the values are given in Table 2.

DISCUSSION

Density

The range of the densities tabulated (Table 1 and 2) is very wide, from
about 180 kg/m3 for a white bread to about 1290 kg/m3 for a biscuit
dough. East European bread is denser than American bread and rye
bread is denser than wheat bread.
During baking, the density falls with increasing bread volume and
decreasing water content. The bulk density of an intact loaf of bread thus
decreases with baking time. However, comparing different parts of the
bread it is seen that, although the crust may have a less porous structure,
due to the lower water content in the crust its density is less than that of
the crumb. The difference in density between the dough and the crumb
does not depend on the water content but on the volume expansion
occurring during baking. Thus the volume expansion of the crumb
results in a decrease in the density, the moisture content being sub-
stantially unchanged’ (Table 1: Tschubik & Maslow, 1973; Nebelung,
1979; Makljukow & Makljukow, 1983).
186 C. Rask

Specific heat

The specific heat of bread and bread dough varies greatly with the water
content. From Table 1 it can be seen that the specific heat of dough and
crumb, having about the same moisture content, ranges from 2740 J/kg
K to 3030 J/kg K, whereas the specific heat of the drier crust is about
1680 J/kg K. The specific heat of dough reported by Ordinanz (1946) is
less than that reported by the other authors. Neither the moisture
content nor the method of measurement are given by Ordinanz. Table 2
indicates that the specific heats of other bakery products may be of
similar magnitude to that of bread.
The specific heat of the biscuits and crackers investigated by Hwang
and Hayakawa (1979) is comparable with that of a bread crust and
yellow cake (Sweat, 1973), and the specific heat of biscuit dough
(Kulacki & Kennedy, 1978) is similar to that of a bread dough. The
number of products in Table 2, however, is small compared with the
great variety occurring.
According to Mohsenin ( 1980) the specific heat of various undried
foods is greater than that calculated from the specific heat of the dry
solid and the moisture content. This is thought to be an effect of bound
water which may have a higher specific heat than free water (Freeman,
1942). Pham (1987) reported an amount of bound water of 9% in white
bread at a moisture content of 37.3% wet basis, and of 6.4% in whole-
wheat bread at a moisture content of 42.4% wet basis. The effect of
bound water may also have had influence on the measured specific heat
in some of the studies reviewed. Mannheim et al. (1957) assumed that
the specific heats of the bread solids and of the water were additive and
their calculations gave a value of 15 5 8 J/kg K. This is somewhat greater
than the specific heat of dry dough calculated according to Polak (1984),
of 1260 J/kg K, of a dry crumb according to Johnsson and Skjoldebrand
of about 1400 J/kg K, and of bread solids reported by Bakshi and Yoon
(1984), of 1130.44 J/kg K. In the study of Johnsson and Skjoldebrand
(1984) the experiments were restricted to water contents of not more
than 29% on wet basis although bread doughs as well as crumb have
moisture contents of about 45-55% (Table 1).
Figure 1 shows the specific heat of bread and dough in relation to the
moisture content. The values are taken from those publications cited, in
which both the specific heat and the moisture content are given. The
specific heat calculated according to Bakshi and Yoon (1984) is also
plotted in the figure, as is the specific heat of crumb derived from the
expression proposed by Johnsson and Skjoidebrand ( 1984). In the latter
calculations the moisture content according to Bakshi and Yoon, and an
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 187

3.6

3.4

3.2 0

1
-w
3-l 0 l
0
2 2.6 -
01
f 2.6 -
3 / q
2.4 - vv
i; vvvv XXX
Johnsson & Skj6ldebmnd V
r 2.2 -
0 XXX
F XX
‘ii 2-
Bakshi & Yoon Xx
x
v) 1.6 -

0 dough wheat
+dough ye
0 crumb
A crust

0 20 40 60

Moisture content (X wb)

Fig. 1. Specific heat of dough, crust, crumb and intact bread as a function of moisture
content.

assumed increase of the temperature at the centre of the dough were

used. Both curves show that, as baking proceeds and water is lost from
the bread, there is a decrease in the specific heat value towards that of
the crust.

Thermal conductivity

Linear expressions for calculating the thermal conductivity of many

kinds of food have been suggested by several authors. Miles et al. ( 1983)
and Mohsenin (1980) have listed some of these and Mete1 et al. ( 1986)
has given linear relationships based on moisture content and tempera-
ture of yeast doughs (Table 3).
From Table 1 it is seen that the thermal conductivity of dough is about
O-4 W/m K, compared with that of water of 0.62 W/m K at 32°C
(Mohsenin, 1980), whereas the thermal conductivity of the crumb is
about O-3 W/m K and that of the crust is about 0.05 W/m K. In Fig. 2 the
thermal conductivity versus moisture content is plotted. The figure also
shows the change in the thermal conductivity according to Bakshi and
Yoon ( 1984) who related thermal conductivity to moisture content and
density during baking. This showed a decrease with decreased moisture
content as baking proceeded except for the last few minutes when the
 C. Rask

0 dough wheat
+ dough rye
4 crumb
A ctwst
0.6 -

0.5 -

0.4 -

0.3 -

0.2 -

X
X
Bakshi k YoonXXXXX X X ’

0 20 40 60

Moisturecontent (X nb)

Fig. 2. Thermal conductivity versus moisture content.

conductivity increased. A similar decrease, followed by an increase in

thermal conductivity, is reported by Kafiev et al. ( 1987) and Neznanova
et al. ( 1978). However, dough and bakery products are porous materials
in which the degree of porosity and the orientation of the pores must be
considered. A plot of thermal conductivity versus density, as in Fig. 3,
shows that, the lower the density of a dough or a crumb, the lower the
thermal conductivity. The accuracy of models such as that proposed by
Bakshi and Yoon (1984) is highly dependent on the accuracy of
measurement of the density. The authors claimed that their
measurements failed for samples baked for 1 min and 2 min. However,
comparison of values estimated from their equation deviate approxi-
mately 10 kg/m3 (5%) from those measured after baking times of 7 mm
and10min.
When measuring thermal conductivity of dough and moist products,
moisture migration may occur and should be kept at a minimum. The
time of measuring should therefore be as short as possible and a
transient method is recommended (Mohsenin, 1980; Nesvadba, 1982;
Ohlsson, 1983). Others errors to consider arise from the insertion, of a
probe into an unstable structure, as in doughs and partly baked products,
since this may rupture the structure close to the probe giving rise to false
values.
 Thermal properties of dough and bakery products 189

0.8

0.7 - Unklssboy et al. V

V$
0.6 - +

0.5 - 0 0
0

q
0.4 - ++
0

no
0.3 - 0
0
0 0
0
0.2 - 0 dough wheat
+dough rye
Bakshf k Yoon;
0 crumb
0.1 - %I# A crust

AA
A

0 I I I I I I I I I I I
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
Density (kg/m)xlO -3

Fig. 3. Thermal conductivity versus density.

The work by Lind ( 1988) shows that at temperatures below the initial
freezing point ( - 25°C) the thermal conductivity of non-fermented
dough is about 0.9-1.0 W/m K and above the freezing point it is about
0.5 W/m K.
To calculate the heat transfer during baking a value for an ‘effective’
thermal conductivity which includes other mechanisms of heat transfer,
is needed (Nebelung, 1979; de Vries et al., in press). De Vries et al.
calculated the change in temperature of a dough during baking. They
assumed a model in which heat is transferred by conduction in the liquid
dough phase and by evaporation and condensation in the gas phase.
With these assumptions the calculated changes in temperature agreed
better with measured values than calculations based on conduction
alone. A thermal conductivity of 0.33 W/m K and a heat capacity
according to Johnsson and Skjoldebrand (1984) were used.

Thermal diffusivity

Most of the values reported for thermal diffusivity are derived from
density, specific heat and thermal conductivity. The accuracy is therefore
dependent on the accuracy of these three properties. Figure 4 shows the
thermal diffusivity of bread and dough versus density. As with the other
 C. Rask

160

150 -

140 -
V
qdough wheat
130 - ;: p;;: rya

A crust
120 - V effectb diffusivity

110 -

100 -

90 -

60 -

70
-I
60

50

40

30

20
EJ
10 I

0 I I A
I I I 1 I I 1 I 1
0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1

Density (kg/m)xl$

Fig. 4. Thermal diffusivity versus density.

thermal properties, the thermal diffusivity is lower in the crust

(3-8 X 10ex m*/s) than in the crumb or in the dough (15-25 X 10e8
m*/s). At temperatures below - 16°C the thermal diffusivity is
40-50 x lop8 m*/s (Lind, 1988).
The values of Johnsson and Skjoldebrand of 40.7 X 10Vx m*/s, Kriems
and Reinhold of 24-138 x 10ex m*/s, and Tichy of 55.8 x lo-’ m*/s are
effective thermal diffusivities which include other mechanisms of heat
transfer than pure conduction. Migration of vapor is a probable explana-
tion of the increase in thermal diffusivity noted after the longer times of
heating (Griffith, 1985). Other factors influencing the results of Griffith
may be structural changes, the water-holding capacity and the length of
the heating time. The dough was dried, tied and re-wetted to actual
moisture content. The question arises, therefore, as to how this prepara-
tion influenced the dough structure and whether this dough had
properties comparable with a fresh dough. Dickerson ( 1965) described a
similar method of measuring the thermal diffusivity of foods. He claimed
that in order to eliminate the initial transient a certain lag time is needed.
The following relationship was found:
 Thermalproperties of dough and bakery products 191

where a is thermal diffusivity in square inches per minute (1 inch = 2.5

cm), r is time in minutes, and r is radius in inches. In the study by Griffith
this criterion was fulfilled only after a heating time of 20 min.

CONCLUSION

During baking the dough characteristics change considerably. Attempts

have been made to follow the baking in order to evaluate these changes,
but so far no complete study has been published. However, as a first
estimate, the thermal properties in Figs l-4 and Tables 1 and 2 can be
used. If the circumstances call for better accuracy the thermal properties
must be measured in each individual case. Another possibility, not
discussed in this article, is to calculate the thermal properties by means
of a computer program such as COSTHERM (available from M. Kent,
Torry Research Station, Aberdeen - ed) (Miles et al., 1983).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author’s thanks are expressed to Vassilis Gekas who translated

most of the Russian articles, and to STU, the National Swedish Board for
Technical Development, for financial support.

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