As a result of the cooling process in the vacuum cell, the baked goods lose a lot of water, which, without further changes in the process, can lead to dry products. To avoid this, it is necessary to reduce the baking time by 25 – 30 % in many cases. Over and above, the dough yield can be increased by one to two percentage points.
The same cooling program cannot be used in the vacuum cell for every product. Instead a specific cooling curve has to be prepared for all baked goods, where the time/pressure curve has been adjusted to the baked goods. Baked goods with a low scaling weight, such as wheat morning goods, generally require less cooling time than products with a large volume such as toast bread. Compact products with a high density, such as cheesecakes, also require a longer time in the cell than very airy products with a low density, such as croissants.
In the case of products with a very high scaling weight or a very high density, it is recommended to reduce the pressure in the cell more slowly or in several steps. In the case of an incorrectly set time/pressure curve or with unadjusted processing parameters, baked goods faults, such as dry products, separation of the crust from the crumb and tears in the area of the base of the products, can appear.
In addition to water, strongly volatile substances also evaporate in part during the vacuum cooling process. This can lead to a loss in aroma in some products. By the use of aroma-intense pre-products, such as dried sourdoughs, malts or malt extracts, the loss of aroma can be compensated.
The vacuum cell should be positioned directly next to the oven or the cooling process should take place in the vacuum cell immediately following the baking process. By already cooling the products before vacuum conditioning, the positive effects described do not occur.