Food Scientists: Please Explain the Final Dough Temperature (FDT) Formula

This is undoubtedly a question for a food scientist. I have seen online a formula to calculate the water temperature needed to achieve a final/desired dough temperature:

water temp = (FDT)*(mult. factor)-(room temp)-(flour temp)-(friction factor)-(preferment temp)

So for a desired dough temp of 78ºF on a straight dough (no preferment, mult. factor = 3) worked by hand (friction factor = 0) with room temperature flour (say 72º), you would need to make your water 90º, i.e.,

90 = 78*3 - 72 - 72 - 0

I've practiced this a couple of times now, and it seems to work to within a degree or so...magic! I'm baffled as to why, though. It seems quite suspect that no weights are contained in the formula. And, getting even more scientific, no specific heats.

Can someone please explain where this useful formula comes from? I'm a physicist by trade so this is really fascinating, and I would love to know the derivation. (Math doesn't scare me.) 😂

For reference, here are two of the places that I found this formula:

Thanks!

Best Answer

If kneading does not significantly heat up the dough, and the process is sufficiently quick then, by basic thermodynamics, the final dough temperature (FDT) is the average of the temperatures of the ingredients. (JoutlawPhysics points out in a comment below that this assumes equal masses of ingredients, which is usually only approximately true.) Hence

FDT = (water temp + room temp + flour temp + preferment temp)/4.

Here 4 is the `multiplication factor'. In general the multiplication factor is the number of temperatures involved, minus one. Rearranging the formula above we get

water temp = FDT*(mult. factor) - room temp - flour temp - preferment temp.

Your formula is the small generalization allowing for the heating effect of friction during kneading or mixing of the dough.

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What is final dough temperature?

Monitoring Dough TemperatureFinal Dough Temperature (FDT)Typical Bulk Fermentation Duration75\xb0F (24\xb0C)4.25 \u2013 4.5 hours78\xb0F (25\xb0C)4 hours80\xb0F (26\xb0C)3.25 \u2013 3.5 hoursDec 9, 2017

How do you calculate temperature of dough?

First, pick the temperature you want your dough to be at the end of mixing and kneading. For this example, our target dough temperature is 78\xb0F. Next, multiply the DDT by 3 (the number of variable temperatures other than water temperature that affect dough temperature: room, flour, friction).

How much does the dough temperature change from the friction of the mixer?

For instance, if you mix the dough for 1st speed for 4 minutes, and 2nd speed for 3 to 4 minutes, a rough estimate is that there will be a 24\xb0F to 28\xb0F increase in temperature due to friction temperature.

What is the typical desired dough temperature for most yeasts doughs?

Bread yeasts attain an optimum growth temperature in the mid-90\xb0F range. One might think, therefore, that in order to favor yeast development, we should aim for bread dough in the mid-90s.

How Bread Dough Temperature Affects Fermentation | Principles of Baking

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