Bread crispness and morphology can be controlled by proving conditions

Bread crust crispness is lost when water migrates from crumb to crust during storage. To what extent water migration is influenced by morphology is not known. Therefore, the effect of crispy rolls morphology on crust crispness was studied. Crispy rolls were prepared at three proving volumes: 300 mL (short proving), 500 mL (control) and 800 mL (long proving). X-ray microtomography was used to characterize morphology. Water transport from crumb to crust was determined. Short proved crispy rolls showed lower rate of crust water uptake while longer proved rolls showed faster uptake during cooling down. Sensory analysis revealed higher crispness for short proved crispy rolls after the same storage time at low RH. We hypothesize that shorter proved crispy rolls with finer crumb morphology, more closed structure, smaller gas cells with less gas cells interconnections and a thicker crust have a significant positive effect on water uptake kinetics and crispness retention.