Village Bakery Lab: from Wheat to Bread

Mix a dough, let the yeast raise it, fire a brick oven, and bake. Every number comes from the model: yeast growth and CO₂ gas, heat stored in the brick, heat conduction and evaporation in the loaf, starch setting and browning.

Quick start: press Run this preset for me and watch, or play it by hand: Knock back and shape, Light fire, wait for the dome to cool to about 280 C, Load loaves, Take out when the core reaches 96 C, then open the Slice view.

Preset

1. Dough and proof

Flour protein (gluten strength)

Water (hydration, % of flour)

Fresh yeast (% of flour)

Salt (% of flour)

Added sugar (% of flour)

Proofing room temperature

Mix a new doughKnock back and shape

Marks on the glass tub show 1x, 2x and 3x the starting volume. A dough is ready around 2x; past the gluten limit the gas leaks out and it over-proofs.

2. The wood-fired brick oven (pich)

Firewood

Spray water for steam when the loaves go in

Light fireRake out embers

3. Loaf and bake

Shape (heat flows in 3-D, 2-D or 1-D) Round boule (sphere)Long baton (cylinder)Flatbread (slab) Dough weight per loaf

Loaves in the oven

Cross-section shows Crumb and crustTemperatureGelatinised starchMoisture

From wheat to this loaf

4. Experiments and numerical checks

Question 1. Does a loaf twice as thick take twice as long? The sweep bakes six sizes in a fixed 235 C oven, finds when each core reaches 96 C and compares it with the pure-diffusion prediction (t ~ L² / α).

Run bake-time sweepPure-conduction check

Question 2. How much faster does dough rise when it is warmer? Time to double at 11 temperatures, and the effective Q10.

Run proofing sweep

Independent numerical checks

Running...

The science (equations, assumptions, limits)

Family-friendly: the baker is unseen and nobody handles the hot oven. A wood-fired oven at 250 C and above is a real burn hazard; this lab only models the physics and does not replace safe practice.