The main objective of the study was to assess the influence of moisture content on short infrared absorptivity of bread dough. Weight loss, surface temperature and short to medium infrared absorptivity of dough were measured in a series of radiant heating experiments. A strong positive correlation between surface temperature and total heat flux absorbed by the dough samples was observed. The variation of infrared absorptivity of the dough is explained with the state of the water in the samples - vapor or liquid. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.