Basic knowledge models for the processing of bread as a solid foam

The breadmaking process can be defined by the succession of operations with operating conditions as input variables and dough properties as output ones, any output variable at step i being an input at step i+1. In this paper, we strive to show how the main properties of bread, density, porosity and alveolar structure (crumb), can be predicted from basic knowledge models (BKMs). So we have defined the variables of breadmaking, proposed BKMs for the two first operations, mixing and proofing, and underlined the needs to define them for shaping and baking, after a short review of existing models. The specific energy delivered during mixing is determined by a simple balance equation in order to predict gluten structuration and dough viscosity, the main output of mixing operation. Then an analysis of dough proofing at different structural scales, by rheology and imaging, allows to assess its alveolar structure, and to fit the kinetics of porosity and stability by phenomenological models. Finally we show how these BKMs could be integrated in order to help the design of baked products with target properties.