LAUSR

Abstract Contact time between dough and its contact surface (e.g., proofing cloth and conveyor belt) can be up to several hours during production. Currently, there is no established method that determines time-dependent adhesion behavior between dough and contact surfaces. Therefore, different measurement methods were verified and a new Contact Time Measuring (CTM) cell for a texture analyzer was developed, determining the time-dependent adhesion behavior between dough and bakery surfaces: For a polyester proofing cloth the maximum adhesion force increased significantly from 0.04 ± 0.01 N–0.11 ± 0.02 N (1–30 min), whereas no significant increase was observed for cotton proofing cloths. Moreover, macroscopically visible structuring of thermoplastic polyurethane conveyor belts had a positive effect on dough adhesion even after longer times (Fmax,t=30min = 0.11 ± 0.02 N), whereas smooth conveyor belts exhibit strong adhesion to dough after shorter contact times (Fmax,t=1min = 0.15 ± 0.03 N). Overall, the CTM method provides new insights on processing-relevant adhesion behavior.