Quality driven design uses specified product qualities as a starting point for process design. By backward reasoning the required. process conditions and processing system were found. In this work dynamic optimization was used as a tool to generate processing solutions for baking processes by calculating optimal operation strategies which give a basis for process and unit operation design. Two different approaches for dynamic optimization had been applied: calculation of continuous trajectories based on the calculus of variations (1) and calculation of switching trajectories by using control vector parameterization (2). Optimization of bakery processes was performed for different product specifications and by using different heating sources: convective, microwave and radiation heating. Moreover, effects of variations in dough properties on the optimal processing system were also evaluated. The results showed that dynamic optimization procedures were versatile tools to achieve a better and a more flexible design by generating a number of solutions from the specified final product qualities. Furthermore, the results underpinned the well known empirical fact that different final product specifications require different baking strategies. It was also shown that the initial dough properties have significant effect on baking procedures, and that combining several heating inputs improved the flexibility of the process operation. In addition, optimization for continuous trajectories gave overall a better result than using the switching trajectories. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.