The modifications occurring during dough to crumb (D/C) transition of French bread (350 g) were studied in an instrumented pilot-scale oven for doughs with different contents of minor components, soluble, lipids and puroindolines. Internal temperature measurements showed that, for most compositions, complete D/C transition occurred between 55 and 70 degrees C, after 5 min of baking, and coincided with maximum loaf expansion. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in excess of water performed on samples taken during baking (3 and 5 min) showed that starch gelatinization and melting developed continuously during D/C transition for various contents of the soluble fraction in dough. Dynamic thermomechanical analysis (DMA) on dough showed that dough stiffened between 60 and 70 degrees C, as seen by the increase of elastic modulus E' by more than one decade, for all dough compositions. Relating these changes to the results of baking experiments, D/C transition was assigned first to gluten reticulation and, to a lesser extent, to continuous starch granule swelling.