Comparison of pound cake baked in a two cycle microwave-toaster oven and in conventional oven

The industrial and domestic use of microwaves has increased considerably over the past few decades. New researches about the interaction of different ingredients with microwave energy, has provided insight that is helping to improve the quality of microwave-baked products. The aim of this work was to determine the best potency and baking time conditions for pound cake and apply the image analysis methodology to analyze the structure of pound cake baked in a two cycle microwave-toaster oven compared with a conventionally baked. Weight loss, density, water activity, moisture, luminosity and seven parameters of Image Analysis were measured as baking quality parameters. Optimal baking conditions for the two-cycle microwave-toaster oven were obtained using surface response analysis. The best baking conditions resulted in a low power for the first cycle (204 W for 120 s), a high power for the second cycle (937 W for 70 s), and a toasting time of 5:30 min at 200 degrees C. Image analysis showed a 7% reduction in the crumb cell number of the cake baked with microwaves as compared to the conventional. The two cycle microwave-toaster oven generated a product with a higher volume (11%) and higher luminosity (2%) than the conventional process. Both of them were equally preferred by consumers, scoring 4.6 (I like very much) in a hedonic sensory test. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.