Baking Science
Starch gelatinisation is what turns wet batter into crumb
Somewhere between about 60 and 80C, starch granules absorb water and swell into a gel. That transition is the moment a batter…
Baking Science
Gluten, leavening, sugar and heat — why the recipe says what it says.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 1 of 2
Baking Science
Gluten is two proteins and water is what introduces them
There is no gluten in a bag of flour. It forms the moment water arrives, and everything you do afterwards decides how strong a network it becomes.
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Baking Science
The Maillard reaction needs heat, protein and a surface that has dried
Browning is not just cooking for longer. It requires a specific combination of conditions, and a wet surface will never produce it…
Baking Science
Caramelisation and Maillard get confused, and they are not the same
One needs only sugar and a lot of heat. The other needs protein and starts much lower. Telling them apart explains why some things…
Baking Science
Oven spring is gas expansion, and it stops when the crust sets
The dramatic rise in the first ten minutes is not the yeast working harder. It is physics, and it has a hard deadline.
Baking Science
Fermentation makes gas, but the flavour comes from the bacteria
Yeast is the engine and the bacteria are the seasoning. Separating those two roles explains why a fast loaf tastes of nothing and a…
Baking Science
Baker's percentages let you rescale, compare and diagnose any recipe
Expressing everything against the flour weight turns a list of ingredients into a description of a dough that you can reason about.
Baking Science
Altitude changes every leavened recipe, and pressure is the reason
Lower air pressure means gas expands more freely and water boils cooler. Both effects work against a rising batter at the same time.
Baking Science
Egg proteins set between about 62 and 82C, and that governs everything
Yolk and white coagulate at different temperatures, which is why custard curdles, meringue sets and cake crumb holds together at…
Baking Science
Fat tenderises because it interrupts, not because it lubricates
Butter in a cake does not make the crumb slippery. It gets between flour proteins and starch and physically stops them building a…
Baking Science
Why bread goes stale fastest in the fridge
Staling is not drying out. It is starch recrystallising, and that process has a temperature preference that puts the fridge at…
Baking Science
Amylase, falling number and why bakers add malt to flour
Flour contains enzymes that convert starch into sugar. Too little and the loaf bakes pale and rises poorly; too much and the crumb…