Editing Croissant (section)

===Baking===
[[File:La parisienne unbaked croissant.jpg|thumb|rightUnbaked dough]]
During baking, the transient [[gluten]] network turns into a permanent network.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Goesaert|first1=Hans|last2=Slade|first2=Louise|author-link2=Louise Slade|last3=Levine|first3=Harry|last4=Delcour|first4=Jan A.|date=2009-11-01|title=Amylases and bread firming – an integrated view|journal=Journal of Cereal Science|series=Special Section: Enzymes in Grain Processing|volume=50|issue=3|pages=345–352|doi=10.1016/j.jcs.2009.04.010}}</ref> At higher temperatures, intermolecular [[Disulfide|disulfide bonds]] form between glutenin molecules, as well as between [[gliadin]] and [[glutenin]]. With more bonds being made, the gluten network becomes more rigid, strengthening the croissant’s crumb texture. Additionally, the baking process significantly stretches the dough layers due to the large macroscopic deformation that occurred during fermentation’s dough lift.<ref name=":0" />

Starch undergoes [[Starch gelatinization|gelatinization]] as a result of baking.<ref name=":3" /> Prior to baking, starch granules absorb a small amount of water at room temperature as it is mixed with water to form predough. As long as the dough’s temperature stays under the gelatinization temperature, this granule swelling is limited and reversible. However, once the baking process begins and the dough is exposed to temperatures above the gelatinization temperature, [[amylopectin]] crystallites become more disordered inside the starch granules and cause an irreversible destruction of molecular order.<ref name=":0" /> At the same time, [[starch gelatinization]] actively draws water from the gluten network, further decreasing the flexibility of the gluten. Currently, the extent of [[amylose]] leaching and granular structure distortion during the baking of croissants is still unknown.

Roll-in fat gradually melts as the temperature in the oven increases. Some of the melting fat can migrate into the dough, which could then interfere with gluten protein crosslinking.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry|last1=Sievert|first1=Dietmar|last2=Hoseney|first2=R. Carl|last3=Delcour|first3=Jan A.|date=2000|publisher=Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA|isbn=9783527306732 |doi=10.1002/14356007.a04_331.pub2|s2cid=137346105 }}</ref> The fat phase also contributes to dough lift through gas inflation, which will be described next.

Water is converted to [[steam]] during the baking process, which is the main factor behind the leavening of the dough. The water for steam production comes from both the dough layers and the roll-in fat. As the fat melts, the continuous oil phase is no longer able to stabilize the water droplets, which are then released and converted to steam.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Borwankar|first1=R. P.|last2=Frye|first2=L. A.|last3=Blaurock|first3=A. E. |last4=Sasevich|first4=F. J.|date=1992-01-01|title=Rheological characterization of melting of margarines and tablespreads|journal=Journal of Food Engineering|series=Rheology of Foods|volume=16|issue=1|pages=55–74|doi=10.1016/0260-8774(92)90020-7}}</ref> Although the exact mechanism of steam entrapment is still unclear, it is likely a result of both steam expanding inside each dough layer and steam migrating to oil layers, where it inflates gas bubbles. The steam migration to oil phase is likely due to the smaller pressure differential required to inflate a bubble of steam in liquid fat than in solid dough.<ref name=":0" /> As the concentration of steam increases between dough layers, the increased pressure causes the dough to lift. During the entire baking process, only half of the water vapor contributes to dough lift, as the other half is lost through micropores and capillaries of interconnected dough layers.