MRI evaluation of local expansion in bread crumb during baking

The aim of this study was to undertake a dynamic and quantitative evaluation of the local evolution of porosity in a section of bread using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A prototype of an oven compatible with continuous MRI acquisition had been previously developed and installed in the probe of the imager. Oil microcapsules, which provide a very different MRI signal to that obtained from the dough, were also incorporated in the dough before proving, and their position in the bread was monitored throughout baking. Microcapsules delimited dough layers of which initial thickness ranged from 7 to 20 mm. Monitoring of the expansion of these layers is presented and discussed.Local expansion of the lower part of the bread predominated, contributing to 82% of the overall expansion at an oven air temperature of 130 °C. This was related to a slight escape of gas in this region, favored by one-dimensional heat transport. When the crust was formed early, as for an oven air temperature of 182 °C, local expansion did not cease with the crust setting and occurred to the detriment of the other regions, which were compressed.