The effect of temperature on dough viscosity, and its consequence for the control of dough temperature

Abstract

In bakeries, it is important that successive batches of dough (‘doughs’) for the same product have the same temperature. Dough temperature can be controlled by adjusting the temperature of the water to be used. An automatic calculator for the required water temperature was designed on the basis of the assumption that the final dough temperature is a linear function of flour, water and bakery temperatures. This paper describes a physical model which predicts the values of the coefficients and of the constant term in this linear relationship. The decrease in dough viscosity with increasing temperature is an essential part of the model. It is argued that this effect of temperature on dough viscosity reduces the effects of flour and water temperatures on the final dough temperature. Heat transfer between the dough and the air in the bakery also reduces their effects, but is, under normal mixing conditions, less important than the effect of temperature on dough viscosity; only with small doughs and with slow and long mixing is it more important.