## 3 Results and Discussion
### Temperature Measurements  
For the lower, core, and upper dough surfaces, the mean temperature evolution throughout baking is shown in Figure 5. At the beginning of the baking process, the upper surface is directly subjected to radiative and convective heat flux, while the lower surface is in contact with the baking plate, subjected to conductive flux. Thus, the temperature increases inside the dough more slowly than on the surfaces. The upper and lower surface temperatures continuously increase during baking, reaching 170 \({}^{\circ}\)C on the lower surface and 245 \({}^{\circ}\)C on the upper surface. Bread surfaces cross 100 \({}^{\circ}\)C within 7 s for the lower surface and 5.8 s for the upper, responsible for crust formation [42; 43]. The temperature on the upper surface is higher than on the lower surface. The lower surface is in contact with the baking band at 400 \({}^{\circ}\)C, subjected only to conductive heat fluxes of 7.8 kW/m\({}^{2}\). In \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}{c} **Number** \\ **Pieces/Test** \\ \end{tabular} } & \begin{tabular}{c} **Dough** \\ **Water** \\ **Content \%** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Dough** \\ **Sample** \\ **Mass (g)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Bread** \\ **Average** \\ **Mass (g)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Average** \\ **Water Mass** \\ **Loss (g)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Bread Water** \\ **Content (g)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Bread Water** \\ **Content (g)** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Average Mass** \\ **Loss (\%)** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline \
\begin{tabular}{c} Test 1 \\ (Day 1) \\ \end{tabular} & 20 & 31.8\% & 100 & 85.1 \(\pm\) 1.49\% & 14.9 \(\pm\) 8.89\% & 16.9 & 20\% & 14.9\% \\ \hline
\begin{tabular}{c} Test 2 \\ (Day 2) \\ \end{tabular} & 20 & 31.8\% & 100 & 85.3 \(\pm\) 1.39\% & 14.7 \(\pm\) 8.30\% & 17.1 & 20\% & 14.7\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: Mass loss measurements. contrast, the upper surface is directly exposed to the burner flame and the baking chamber walls, thus exposed to convective and radiative heat fluxes. In the baking chamber walls, the temperature is around 600 \({}^{\circ}\)C, with heat flux evolving from 8.3 to 28.6 kW/m\({}^{2}\) along the baking chamber [4]. The bread core temperature increases slowly during the first four seconds of baking, followed by a more rapid, ramp-like rise over the next six seconds, until a plateau is reached at around 99 \({}^{\circ}\)C, which corresponds to the boiling point of water. As the dough heats up, surface water begins to evaporate early in the process. As internal temperatures continue to rise, ebullition occurs within the dough core, where water transitions to steam, absorbing latent heat and temporarily slowing further temperature increases. As more moisture evaporates and the dough becomes drier, the rate of temperature increase resumes. A temperature gradient gradually develops from the crust region toward the core, and the internal temperature approaches the boiling point independently of the oven's external temperature [31; 44]. Such thermal behavior, especially in high-temperature bread ovens, can be effectively modeled and visualized using CFD simulations [45; 46]. This temperature trend has been seen in most baking processes and for different types of bread [29; 47; 48]. Although the core temperature typically stabilizes at around 99 \({}^{\circ}\)C, this value alone does not confirm that starch gelatinization or full internal structural development is complete, particularly in short baking cycles [49]. In this study, baking was considered complete when the bread reached its final puffed shape, the core temperature plateaued near 99 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and visual indicators confirmed full expansion and crust formation typical of commercially baked Lebanese bread.