Measurement of dough effective thermal conductivity using an integrated thermocouple during the bread baking process

The present study produced an integrated thermocouple in order to gain an understanding of the heat transfer mechanism during baking. The thin film thermocouple was made by depositing copper-nickel on a polyimide sheet base, and five hot junctions were arranged at regular intervals. Thermal electromotive force was proportional to the temperature difference between the reference and hot junctions. The study also used the integrated thermocouple to investigate heat transfer properties during baking that are equivalent to effective thermal conductivity, which include latent heat transport, water vapor diffusion, and heat conduction. The effective thermal conductivity crumbs increased according to the latent heat transportation effect caused by water vapor diffusion, and the thermal conductivity of crust was in agreement with its effective thermal conductivity value measured by the steady state parallel plate method. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 36(6): 373–385, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20165