This innovative technology saves energy and time compared to conventional baking
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna optimizes baking by direct application of an electrical current. Electric shocks were used to heat gluten free bread from the inside. This innovative technology saves energy and time compared to conventional baking applying heat from the outside.
The study was conducted at the Institute of Food Technology of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) Vienna. A technology named “Ohmic heating” was used and adapted to the production of gluten free bread. First results show superior quality of the Ohmic bread while energy and time were saved during the manufacturing process.
The principle is well known from the good old light bulb: an electrical current passing through a wire heats it up until it glows. This is due to its electrical resistance and the Ohmic law leading to the dissipation of electrical energy into heat. Taking a bread dough instead of a metal wire results in the same effect – it’s not glowing but heating up. And the heat can be used to bake the product. Exactly this was done by a team around Prof. Henry Jäger from the Institute of Food Technology at BOKU Vienna. This smart solution was in particular used for gluten free bread that is challenging to bake.
The heat is generated instantaneously in the complete dough”, explains Prof. Henry Jäger. “This is the main advantage of the Ohmic heating technology. Conventional baking in the oven requires more time since the heat needs to penetrate from the outside towards the center of the dough.”. “Achieving such convincing results and improving the efficiency of the process at the same time was finally also surprising for us.” he added. Special equipment from the BOKU Core Facility Food & Bio Processing was used by the team for the development and optimization of this promising baking concept.