Why Tissue Bread Layers Peel Cleanly: The Role of the Closed Pullman Pan

Keeping sub-millimeter laminated layers parallel and intact through oven spring would likely be the main challenge in producing tissue bread at scale. The lidded Pullman pan, together with dough strength and roll-in fat selection, could largely determine whether the finished cube peels into clean, flexible sheets.

ByMaite Carricaburu

The contemporary version of this product, a cube whose layers peel away individually like tissues, gained traction through Truffle Bakery in Hannam-dong, Seoul, which popularized the “Tissue Bread” name and was widely reported as a viral sensation by mid-2024.

Base Dough Rheology for Repeated Sheeting

On high-speed laminating lines, flour quality targets focus directly on sheeting performance, balancing resistance to roller shear against the extensibility needed for deep gauge reduction:

  • Flour strength: builds sufficient gas retention and membrane stability for ultra-thin dough webs to withstand oven spring without structural rupture.
  • Dough tenacity: provides the mechanical resistance needed to prevent the cold fat slab from puncturing through the dough envelope during initial roller passes.
  • Dough extensibility: allows progressive sheeting down to sub-millimeter gauge with minimal risk of edge tearing or pinholing along the reduction table.
  • Viscoelastic balance: favors an extensible, low-recoil gluten matrix that helps limit elastic snap-back after cutting and panning.

Hydration is deliberately kept tighter, around 54%, compared to standard pan bread formulas that often exceed 62%. Keeping free water restricted prevents moisture from migrating into the butter layers during sheeting, which would otherwise destabilize the fat emulsion and smear the lamination.

Formulation would support this balance in several ways:

  • Dough butter around 6% flour basis lubricates gluten strands and helps reduce elastic recoil after sheeting.
  • Sugar at roughly 13% competes with gluten for water, slowing excessive gluten development while lowering water activity.
  • Milk contributes casein and calcium, which may reinforce tenacity, and lactose, which baker’s yeast does not ferment and which would remain available for browning.
  • Osmotolerant yeast strains are generally preferred in high-sugar doughs to limit cell damage from osmotic stress.
  • Salt at 1.5% strengthens the gluten network and moderates fermentation rate.

Roll-In Fat Selection: Butter Versus Industrial Margarine

The laminating fat influences both machinability and eating quality. Typical contrasts between the two fat types include:

  • Melting and plasticity: dairy butter melts at 33.5°C with a workable range around 16°C, while laminating margarine or shortening melts at 41°C across a broader window centered around 19°C.
  • Crystal structure: butter tends to crystallize in the stable beta form, with larger crystals that may fracture when cold. Margarine is designed around fine beta prime crystals that offer high deformability.
  • Sensory profile: butter would melt cleanly and release aromatic volatiles such as diacetyl and lactones, while margarine could leave a waxy film on the palate.
Incorporation of shortening for puff pastry shaping.

On a continuous high-speed line, butter might oil out or tear the sheet if dough temperature climbs above 19°C through friction and shear. Margarine, with a more constant yield stress, would typically tolerate these conditions with less risk of melting. Fat selection could therefore involve weighing line tolerance against flavor and mouthfeel.

Lid Confinement During Oven Spring

In the first 10 minutes of baking, water vaporization and thermal expansion of trapped gases drive a rapid increase in volume. In an open pan, this expansion would mostly travel upward, which could cause the top to burst open, crack, and disorganize the lamination.

Once the dough contacts the sealed lid, upward expansion stops. Pressure inside a confined fluid acts equally in all directions, so internal pressure would redistribute toward the corners, side walls, and edges of the pan.

This contained pressure compresses the dough layers against the films of melted fat, preventing asymmetric puffing. The layers consolidate into continuous, parallel horizontal planes that, after cooling, peel away like sheets of paper without tearing the crumb.

Steam Retention Inside the Closed Pan

The residual air volume in a closed Pullman pan is small. Moisture released from the dough early in the bake quickly saturates this space, reaching 100% relative humidity at the dough and metal interface.

Tissue Bread unmolding from pullman pan. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mWI9RTKIrA

This saturated environment produces three direct effects:

  • Surface drying is delayed compared with open baking, preventing premature crust hardening.
  • Peripheral starch gelatinizes uniformly around 70°C in the presence of abundant surrounding moisture.
  • The crust remains micro-thin (under 0.8 mm), soft, glossy, and flexible on all six faces, allowing the layers to peel apart cleanly without tearing.

Browning Control and Heat Transfer Through the Pan Walls

The formulation carries high levels of browning substrates, including sucrose, lactose, and lysine from milk and butter solids. Under direct oven exposure, these would likely brown quickly.

  • Radiation shielding: the metal lid blocks direct infrared radiation from oven walls and heating elements, which in an open pan could scorch the surface within minutes.
  • Conduction through the pan: heat reaches the dough mainly through the pan walls, typically aluminized steel with a silicone or PTFE coating.
  • Surface temperature buffering: saturated steam in the chamber may hold the bread surface around 102.5°C for much of the bake. This buffer could give the heat front time to bring the core above 94°C, for gluten coagulation and starch setting, without excessive browning of the outer faces.

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