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Improved Temperature Homogeneity of Cake Batter and Cake Quality with Reduction in Heat Conductivity of the Baking Pan at the Ends

¹Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Dongguk University–Seoul, 26 Pil-Dong 3-ga, Jung-Gu, Seoul 100-715, Republic of Korea. ²Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agro-Industry, Kasetsart University, 50 Gnamwongwan Rd., Ladyao, Jatujak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand. ³Center of Advanced Studies for Agriculture and Food, Kasetsart University Institute for Advanced Studies, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand. ⁴Corresponding author. Phone: +66-2-562-5042. Fax: +66-2-562-5021. E-mail: waraporn.b@ku.ac.th

With high competition in bakery markets, baking process improvements in efficiency are necessary. Sliced butter cake is a well-known bakery product. It is baked in a long, rectangular aluminum pan in which it is difficult to manage homogeneous heat distribution throughout the whole cake. Alteration of pan thermal properties through the Biot number concept (reducing thermal conductivity at the ends of the pan to increase Bi to 1.30) improved homogeneity of the heat distribution as well as the cake qualities throughout the whole cake piece by modifying the cake properties at the problematic location adjacent to the ends of the pan (hot zones, where crust thickness was reduced from 0.32 to 0.23 cm, cake height increased from 6.8 to 7.4 cm, and cake and crust colors improved). Waste from size defects (cake height too short and crust too thick) of butter cake in the hot zones was also reduced. The sensory results revealed improvement in the softness, moistness, and overall liking of the cake. Higher homogeneity in the cake temperature improved cake production by reducing baking time through application of higher thermal convection of hot air in the baking oven. Such findings confirm a simple approach for baking improvement through selection of proper baking tray materials. Biot number is a useful concept for baking optimization process design.