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      1. Home
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      Tag: flour testing

      How to Extend the Life of Your Laboratory Equipment

      admin
      March 4, 2026

      Laboratory instruments are a significant capital investment — whether purchased new or as verified pre-owned units. With proper maintenance, leading instruments from manufacturers such as Perten, Bastak, Chopin, and Carbolite can provide accurate, reliable service for 15–20 years or more. Neglect, by contrast, accelerates wear and leads to costly breakdowns at the worst possible moments. Follow the Manufacturer’s Maintenance Schedule Every instrument comes with a recommended maintenance schedule covering cleaning intervals, lubrication points, consumable replacement, and periodic calibration. These schedules are not suggestions — they are the result of engineering analysis of failure modes. Document every maintenance action in a log book alongside the date, operator, and any observations. Control the Laboratory Environment Temperature and humidity fluctuations are silent destroyers of precision laboratory equipment. Electronic components, optical systems, and mechanical bearings all degrade faster under variable environmental conditions. Aim to maintain your laboratory at a constant 20°C ± 2°C and relative humidity between 50% and 60%. This is especially important for balances, NIR instruments, and polarimeters. Use the Right Consumables The temptation to substitute cheaper generic consumables for manufacturer-specified parts is understandable but frequently costly. For Falling Number instruments, for example, off-specification viscometer tubes alter the fluid dynamics of the test and produce systematically biased results — invalidating all data generated until the error is identified. Always use manufacturer-approved consumables or verified equivalents. Train Your Operators The majority of instrument damage in flour laboratories is caused not by mechanical failure but by operator error. Overloading balances, using incorrect cleaning solvents on optical surfaces, failing to allow warm-up time, and mishandling glassware are all preventable causes of instrument damage. Invest in thorough initial training and refresher sessions when procedures or personnel change. Address Issues Promptly An unusual reading, an unfamiliar noise, or a slower-than-normal response are all early warning signs that something is developing. Addressing these signals promptly — by consulting the service manual, contacting the manufacturer, or engaging a specialist — almost always results in a simpler and cheaper repair than waiting until the instrument fails completely.

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      Why Sample Preparation Is the Most Overlooked Step in Grain Analysis

      admin
      March 4, 2026

      Laboratories invest heavily in state-of-the-art analysers — and rightly so. But the quality of any analytical result is fundamentally limited by the quality of the sample presented to that analyser. In grain and flour quality control, sample preparation is the most underinvested and underappreciated part of the testing process. The Milling Step: Why It Matters Most flour laboratory tests — Falling Number, Gluten Index, Alveograph, Farinograph — are performed on flour milled from whole wheat. The laboratory mill used for this purpose has a direct influence on results. Particle size distribution, damaged starch levels, and even temperature during milling all affect the performance of the resulting flour in subsequent tests. Standard laboratory mills for grain analysis include the Brabender Quadrumat Junior, the Bühler MLU-202, and the Perten LM 3100. Each produces a slightly different flour fraction. Comparing results between laboratories using different mills requires careful harmonisation. Dividing the Sample Representatively Before milling, a bulk grain sample must be reduced to a laboratory sub-sample without introducing bias. Hand scooping from the top of a bag is not acceptable — it will almost always over-represent lighter, lower-quality grain that has risen to the surface. A rotary sample divider or riffle box divides the sample randomly and representatively, regardless of grain heterogeneity. Conditioning Before Milling Tempering grain to a standard moisture level before milling is critical for reproducible flour yield and particle size. Most standard methods specify tempering to 15.5% moisture for one hour before milling. Skipping this step, or rushing it, introduces both between-run and between-laboratory variability that cannot be corrected downstream. Cleaning and Cross-Contamination Laboratory mills must be thoroughly cleaned between samples. Residual flour from a high-protein wheat sample will inflate the protein reading of the next soft wheat sample run through the same mill. Clean the mill with a small cleaning sample (which is discarded) between each production sample. Fuhler Labor offers pre-owned laboratory mills and sample preparation equipment from leading manufacturers, all verified to be in working order prior to listing.

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      5 Common Mistakes in Flour Laboratory Testing (and How to Avoid Them)

      admin
      March 4, 2026

      Even the best laboratory equipment produces unreliable results if the testing procedure is flawed. After years of working with flour and grain laboratories, we have seen the same errors appear repeatedly — often in facilities that consider themselves well-equipped. Here are the five most common testing mistakes and the practical steps to eliminate them. 1. Inconsistent Sample Conditioning Most flour laboratory tests are highly sensitive to moisture content. Failing to condition samples to a standard moisture level (typically 14% for wheat flour) before testing introduces systematic variability. Always use a conditioning chamber and allow adequate equilibration time — a minimum of 2 hours, preferably overnight for cold samples arriving from storage. 2. Skipping Instrument Warm-Up Electronic laboratory instruments — particularly NIR analysers and Falling Number units — require warm-up periods for their heating elements, electronics, and optics to stabilise. Running tests immediately after switching on the instrument is a common source of outlier results. Follow manufacturer warm-up specifications religiously. 3. Neglecting Reference Sample Checks Running certified reference materials at the start of each testing session is the only reliable way to verify that an instrument is performing within specification. Many laboratories skip this step to save time — and then spend far more time investigating unexpected results. A simple daily check with one certified reference takes less than five minutes and protects every result that follows. 4. Poorly Maintained Sieves and Consumables For gluten washing and sedimentation tests, damaged or clogged sieves are a frequent source of error. Sieves should be inspected regularly under magnification, replaced on a scheduled basis, and never cleaned with abrasive materials. Similarly, Falling Number viscometer tubes should be inspected for scratches, which alter fluid dynamics and introduce measurement bias. 5. Inadequate Sample Homogeneity A 10-gram sub-sample for a Falling Number test must be truly representative of the lot being assessed. Failing to properly mix and split bulk samples before sub-sampling is one of the most common root causes of between-laboratory discrepancies. Use a rotary divider or riffle splitter to ensure representative sub-samples, particularly for heterogeneous grain lots with potential sprouting pockets.

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      Alveograph vs. Farinograph: Which Rheology Test Is Right for Your Mill?

      admin
      March 4, 2026

      Dough rheology sits at the heart of flour quality specification. Two instruments dominate this space in commercial flour laboratories: the Chopin Alveograph and the Brabender Farinograph. Both assess how dough behaves under mechanical stress, but they do so in fundamentally different ways — and each is better suited to particular applications. The Farinograph: Mixing Behaviour The Farinograph measures resistance to mixing as a function of time. A standardised dough is mixed in a temperature-controlled bowl and the torque required to maintain mixing speed is recorded continuously. The resulting farinogram reveals several key parameters: The Farinograph is indispensable for characterising flour’s water absorption and its behaviour under sustained mixing — critical information for industrial bakers optimising dough process parameters. The Alveograph: Extensibility and Tenacity The Chopin Alveograph takes a different approach. A standardised dough piece is inflated like a bubble until it bursts. The pressure-volume curve generates three key values: P (tenacity/resistance), L (extensibility), and W (baking strength — the area under the curve). The P/L ratio expresses the balance between dough strength and extensibility. Which Should You Choose? Many mills run both. However, if resources require a choice: if your customers are industrial bakers focused on process consistency, the Farinograph is typically prioritised. If you supply craft bakers, export wheat for grading, or need to match specifications from French, Spanish, or Italian buyers, the Alveograph is the standard reference instrument in those markets. Fuhler Labor stocks verified pre-owned Chopin Alveographs and Brabender Farinographs, making it practical for smaller mills to access both platforms without the capital expenditure of new equipment.

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      Gluten Index vs. Wet Gluten: Understanding the Difference

      admin
      March 4, 2026

      Gluten quality is central to bread-making performance, yet two of the most commonly discussed gluten measurements — the Gluten Index and Wet Gluten content — are frequently confused. Understanding what each actually measures, and when to use one over the other, can significantly improve how you interpret your lab results. Wet Gluten Content: How Much Wet Gluten measures the total quantity of gluten protein in a flour sample, expressed as a percentage of the fresh sample weight. It is determined by washing a dough ball under running water until all starch and soluble proteins are removed, leaving only the gluten network behind. The result tells you how much gluten is present — but nothing about its quality or strength. Typical wet gluten values for bread wheat flour range from 25% to 35%. Higher values generally indicate more protein, but a flour with 32% wet gluten and weak gluten structure will still produce poor bread volume. Gluten Index: How Strong The Gluten Index, developed by Perten Instruments and standardised under ICC Method 158, goes further. After washing, the wet gluten is forced through a sieve in a gluten index centrifuge. The proportion that passes through the sieve versus the total gluten gives the Gluten Index — a value from 0 to 100. Using Both Together The most complete picture of gluten quality comes from combining both measurements. A flour with moderate wet gluten (27%) but a high Gluten Index (95) is likely to produce excellent bread. A flour with high wet gluten (34%) but a low Gluten Index (40) will disappoint bakers despite its protein content. Instruments such as the Perten Glutomatic 2200, available as a verified pre-owned unit through Fuhler Labor, perform both measurements in a single automated workflow, saving significant time in busy flour laboratory environments.

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