Three different methods for measuring dynamic dough density during proofing were investigated. The three methods included: monitoring the change in apparent mass of a dough piece suspended in silicone oil at 35 degrees C; monitoring the change in dough volume during actual proofing conditions with a novel imaging technique using structured lighting; and finally monitoring the dough volume changes in a rheofermentometer at 35 degrees C. All the methods resulted in similar dough density profiles. However, dough density appeared to level off sooner when the oil displacement method was used. This was not the case with the other two methods where density continued to decrease up to the end of proofing. Dough density at the end of fermentation process was related to the loaf volume after baking. The novel structured lighting method had the advantage of being low cost and measuring dough density in actual proofing conditions as used in breadmaking. (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.