What happens to the bread during the cooling process?
Bread cooling is a mass and heat transfer unit operation. During cooling, baked bread loses moisture and dries out due to differences in water content between the crumb (higher moisture content) and crust (lower moisture in exterior part that is exposed to convective cool air currents). 2
What happens to the temperature gradient during baking?
The temperature gradient, between product’s core (higher temperature) and cooling environment (lower temperature) causes the product to lose heat to the surroundings. This gradient is at its maximum at the end of baking and beginning of cooling, but decreases to reach zero with progressive cooling. 2
Why does bread go stale in the refrigerator?
Bread and other baked goods (like cakes and cookies) are not prone to bacterial spoilage but they do go stale. It happens to all baked goods, but the process is much more rapid in the refrigerator as the cold accelerates the re-crystallization of the starches. Freezing, on the other hand, halts the process.
Why is vacuum cooling used in the baking process?
Vacuum cooling is a rapid method that is suitable for products that are unstable and prone to collapse as they cool. Vacuum cooling allows bakeries to avoid the dependence on prevailing atmospheric conditions, achieving consistent results and uniform cooling at all times.
What happens if you bake at too low temperature?
Dry cakes, cookies or loaves of bread may be the result of having baked too long in a too-cool oven. If your baked goods are consistently dry, check your oven temperature. Overly dry baked goods can also result from incorrect measurements or a poorly designed recipe with too much flour, leavening or shortening.
Bread cooling is a mass and heat transfer unit operation. During cooling, baked bread loses moisture and dries out due to differences in water content between the crumb (higher moisture content) and crust (lower moisture in exterior part that is exposed to convective cool air currents). 2
What causes baked goods to be dry in the oven?
Overly dry baked goods can also result from incorrect measurements or a poorly designed recipe with too much flour, leavening or shortening. Too little sugar can also cause your baked goods to be dry. Coarse and grainy breads, cookies or cakes frequently result from an inadequately heated oven.
What happens when you cut into bread after it is baked?
Most people don’t realize that the final stage of baking bread is to let your bread cool properly. Slicing into a hot loaf of bread can cause bread to tear instead of slicing cleanly through, or it can be gummy on the inside .
