How to Use Objective Analyzers to Get More Out of Your Baking Tests

Bakers know that precision and quality are the bread and butter of successful baking. Yet, controlling flour quality and understanding dough behavior remain challenges in a world where subjective evaluation often dominates. Fortunately, there are baking tests and cutting-edge objective analyzers, which bring data-driven insights to the art and science of baking. Join us as we take a look at insights from our recent “Make the Best of Your Baking Tests with Objective Analyzers” BAKERview and how you can elevate your quality control and R&D processes by leveraging tools like Rheo F4 and TheiaVu.

Why Run a Bread Baking Test?

A bread baking test is a controlled small-scale production run conducted in a lab or pilot plant setting. Its primary goal is to evaluate the quality and performance of flours and ingredients under conditions that simulate actual production. Think of it as a test kitchen for wheat flours and dough additives.

This process gives bakers the ability to observe and feel dough behavior, providing invaluable insights for fine-tuning recipes. However, baking tests come with limitations, such as high subjectivity, time and material costs, and a lack of deep understanding of dough mechanics.

Current Limitations of Baking Tests

Baking tests are useful but far from perfect:

1. Subjectivity: Sensory evaluation depends heavily on the operator’s expertise, making results highly variable.
2. Material and Time-Intensive: Tests often consume significant raw materials and take hours—hardly ideal for R&D or routine quality checks.
3. Black Box Processes: Steps like proofing can dramatically impact results, but traditional tests offer a limited understanding of the “why” behind outcomes.

To overcome these hurdles, objective analyzers can provide clarity and efficiency.

Revolutionary Tools for Baking Tests

RheoF4: Mastering Fermentation Science

The RheoF4 analyzer shines where traditional baking tests falter: understanding fermentation. This tool simultaneously measures dough development, gas production, and gas retention, all of which are critical for achieving optimal volume and texture.

How It Works:

• Measures dough height using a piston connected to a height sensor.
• Tracks total gas production and release using a pressure sensor and soda lime cartridge.

Applications in Bakery Tests:

• Temperature Impact: RheoF4 reveals that higher fermentation temperatures boost gas production and volume, but excessive heat may weaken gluten.
• Yeast Viability: The device identifies yeast performance over time, providing actionable data to adjust fermentation times for aging yeast.
• Gluten’s Role: Understand how gluten’s extensibility and tenacity contribute to gas retention and dough volume.
• Salt Dynamics: RheoF4 captures the nuanced effects of salt on osmotic pressure, moderating gas production and dough development.
• Gluten-free: Works well with understanding the gluten-replacement techniques in fermentation systems, which contributes greatly to the development of gluten-free bakery products.

TheiaVu Vision Inspection System

Designed for final product evaluation, TheiaVu delivers quick, accurate, and comprehensive measurements. Unlike traditional methods, which often require multiple devices (scales, calipers, colorimeters, and volumeters), TheiaVu simplifies everything into a single system.

What Can TheiaVu Measure?

• Bread, buns, bagels, tortillas, and more.
• Features like volume, crust and crumb characteristics, and small variations between batches.

Advantages for Bakers:

• Speed: Analyze a single product in 10 seconds or a batch of 10 in under a minute.
• Versatility: Works with delicate, deformable products.
• Customization: Tailor parameters to fit specific product requirements.
• Objectivity: A quantifiable method that produces data sets.

Data-Driven Insights for Better Bakes

Here’s where objective analyzers truly rise to the occasion. They transform subjective impressions into actionable data, offering precise control over the baking process. For example:

• Proofing Clarity: Rheo F4 demystifies proofing, enabling bakers to optimize gas production and retention for the perfect rise.
• Rapid Final Product Analysis: TheiaVu identifies subtle differences in recipes and batch consistency, helping bakers define and adhere to product specifications.

These tools also save time and reduce waste, making them ideal for cost-sensitive R&D projects.

Curious to learn more? Watch the BAKERview here:

Smarter Tools for Superior Tools

It’s time to bring your bakery’s process and technology into the future. To make informed decisions about flour quality or fine-tune recipes, traditional baking tests are helpful but not enough. By incorporating tools like TheiaVu and Rheo F4, bakers can see the big picture, the fine details, with unprecedented clarity.

So, why settle for guesswork? Let data drive your dough decisions, and watch your quality control process rise to new heights. To learn more about these tools, explore KPM Analytics’ full range of objective analyzers and transform how you bake. 

It’s the YEAST you can do for your bakery!

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