Baked and Buttered (mcallen_tx)

Three changes occur while the stacked disk structure equilibrates with the high-temperature oven. First, the layer of dough bakes into bread, a low-water-content material with a large number of nonconnecting small air spaces. Second, the tomato paste dehydrates, and third, the mozzarella undergoes a complex series of transitions involving protein denaturation and lipid rearrangement from regular liquid crystal to more disordered states.