Flatbread baking process under time-varying input power in a home-scale electric oven: 3D CFD simulation with experimental validation

•Flatbread baking process in an electric oven is studied using a 3D numerical model.•The model is validated with experimental data in the presence and absence of bread.•Temperature field and starch gelatinization are studied under various input power.•Descending input power profiles reflect better performance in the baking process.•Preheating could reduce the effects of input power profile type on baking process. This study investigates the flatbread baking process in a home-scale electric oven by developing a three-dimensional transient numerical model using the finite volume method along with the discrete ordinates (DO) model, evaporation–condensation mechanism, and realizable k-ε model for the turbulent regime through the oven chamber. The validity of the proposed numerical model has been examined through a comparison with experimental data provided in this study, considering both scenarios with and without bread in the oven, where good agreement is observed between the numerical and experimental findings. Using the validated model, a qualitative and quantitative analysis is performed to study the flatbread baking process, focusing on temperature distribution within the oven and the bread as well as the degree of starch gelatinization during the baking process. The consideration of input power patterns is crucial in terms of both energy consumption and bread quality, making it imperative for electric oven designers. Consequently, under a fixed energy consumption of the oven, various time-varying input powers are employed to assess the bread baking process. For this purpose, six different scenarios are designed including constant elements power, linear/stepwise increase/decrease in elements power, and ON/OFF modes with constant power. The results demonstrate that employing time-varying input power profiles characterized by linear and stepwise decrease yields superior performance to control the baking process and quality of bread. However, preheating the oven prior to dough baking could potentially mitigate the impact of the input power profile type on the resulting final product.