“The primary factor for a flour mill’s production of good quality flour is the purchase of a good quality wheat, or the mill’s ability to enhance the existing properties of the wheat. With MetaBridge software, technical features of the devices enable the user to access all kinds of data from different individual devices, instantaneously compare the data and use the technology in the most advanced and active way, by providing the convenience of remote services.”

Brabender has been a reliable and qualified measurement and control systems manufacturer for the food industry, for many years. It supplies laboratory equipment for sustainable quality control, especially for the flour and starch industries. The main application areas of these laboratory devices are the analysis of the rheological properties of flour, starch and other grain products to ensure that products such as bread, biscuits and other pastries are of standard quality, and keeping the analyses within a certain standardization for the manufacturer.

As Anamed&Analitik, we have been representing Brabender’s sustainable and reliable technology since 1975 in our country. Our company has become the mirror of Brabender in the Republic of Turkey, not only as its supplier but also by providing after-sales support and application training to the customers.

Brabender has taken all the rheological properties of wheat into account, so that a flour mill can supply a standard, quality and reliable product. The primary factor for a flour mill’s production of good quality flour is the purchase of a good quality wheat, or the mill’s ability to enhance the existing properties of the wheat. With MetaBridge software, technical features of the devices enable the user to access all kinds of data from different individual devices, instantaneously compare the data and use the technology in the most advanced and active way, by providing the convenience of remote services.

With the Brabender MT-C Moisture Analyzer, flour millers take their first step towards a quality product, by measuring the supplied wheat. In order to have an accurate moisture determination, first a good sample must be prepared, instead of putting the wheat directly into analysis. The wheat is made ready for analysis in MT-C Moisture Analyzer after crushing the wheat with Brabender SM-4 Break Mill. The MT-C is an electronic moisture analyser, working on the principle of moving air drying. 

Farinograph-TS

Analysis on this instrument is very simple and does not require any additional training. After selecting the desired drying method from the method list, place and position your sample in the electronic sample cup and start the analysis. The device can work with 10 samples at the same time. In addition, since it is a standard method, you will get precise and sustainable results compared to NIR and similar devices.

With the Brabender Quadrumat Junior, flour millers take the second step towards a quality production by grinding the wheat they supplied, in a precise and standard manner. The wheat sample prepared in the hopper flows into the first double break roller via an adjustable feed gate on the feed roller. After the first crushing is complete, intermediate screening is done and the sample is directed to the second crushing roller. The sample, of which the second breaking process is completed, moves to the rollers to be broken for the third time. Finally, the sample passing the double roller falls into the round sieve and despite the continuous activity, the device can properly self-clean. Commercially produced flour from the wheat would have a uniform quality.

Extensograph

Flour millers and bakery bakers take their third step to produce a quality product with Brabender’s GlutoPeak, “Rapid Flour Analysis” method. The quality of floured vital wheat gluten depends on several factors. The quality of the grain from which it is produced, as well as the drying parameters play an important pole on the properties of the gluten. The analysis is based on the recovery ability of gluten, found in wheat flour. A torque diagram is recorded, followed by the speed/flour evaluation, to determine the results for protein content, wet gluten content, water removal and W value. After defining the moisture content of the flour sample, approximately 9 grams of water and depending on the moisture content of the sample, 3 to 10 grams of flour are filled into the measuring cup. A water circulator, connected to the body of the device, is heated up to 36 degrees to optimize the analysis conditions, in other words, to ensure a homogeneous temperature distribution in the measuring cup. Thus, all the necessary conditions for analysis are met. GlutoPeak’s mixing paddle mixes the sample with the specified rotation speed (rpm) and displays curves according to the recovery time of the sample. If the sample has low gluten properties, it will take longer to recover, therefore the analysis can take 2 to 5 minutes and the gluten peak rises towards the end of the analysis. However, if the gluten properties of the sample are high, the analysis ends in seconds. Because high gluten recovers quickly and easily, so you can see the highest gluten and torque peak in the graph, then the curve distorts and drops due to mechanical energy input and the measurement ends. With this method, the development and change of gluten in the flour is monitored and plotted within seconds.

With the Brabender Farinograph-TS, flour millers take their fourth step towards achieving a quality product, through the analysis of the water removal and rheological properties of their products. Farinograph-TS provides instant information to the user, via MetaBridge software. It records on the chart the resistance of the dough, that is formed by the mixture of flour and water, against the deformation and thickening. This deformation occurs against the mixing (torque) movement of the blades in a standard time, speed (rpm) and temperature. In analysis, resistance is known as “consistency, stability”.  The amount of water added during the pupling process and the ability of the dough to absorb water are analysed. This is presented to the user in the graph as % absorption. Doughing time covers the time (min.) between the zero point and the maximum of the curve. Stronger flours with higher protein content have a longer development time, compared to weaker flours with equivalent particle size. The difference in minutes between peak time (when the top of the curve reaches 500-FU) and descent time (when the curve drops below 500-FU) is an indication of how well the flour resists over-mixing. Stronger flours are generally more stable than weaker ones, within the same wheat grade. It is optimally measured as the difference in Brabender Units (BU) between the top point of the curve and the point after 5 minutes. The MTI indicates how quickly the gluten structure breaks down after it reaches full development. Lower MTI values correspond to stronger flours, typically used in high volume production.

Flour millers take their fifth step towards a quality product by analysing the elasticity and durability of their samples with the Brabender Extensograph-E, in order to determine their properties in the oven. Loaf volume and crumb texture play a direct role in determining bread quality. Information on the extensibility properties of bread dough is seen directly from the extensograph spinning, also called extensogram. The extensogram represents the changes in resistance, also called the strength of dough to extension (R), as a fuction of the elongation distance (E). Working principle in general is that the dough sample is analysed in Farinograph-TS, divided into 4 equal parts and rolled, then molded into a cylinder under stationary conditions. Each dough sample is anchored inside the device’s fermentation drawer and allowed to rest at a controlled temperature. The dough samples in the drawer are attached to an integrated hook on the device and this hook pulls the dough down, at a constant speed. During this process, an extensograph curve is obtained, as well as the elasticity ability of the dough. The results obtained in the Extensograph-E are important in determining gluten strength and bread making properties. Fermentation time, flour type, changes in the formulas of the additives used in the dough can be determined by the data gathered from this device. 

The α-enzymatic activity, especially found in flour from sprouted wheat grains and normally found in rye flour, has major effects on liquefaction during dough heating, resulting in lower viscosity. Wheat varieties, climatic conditions and wheat milling processes affects the dough properties of the tested flours. Thus, the user can see the onset of gelatinization, the maximum gelatinization and the degree of gelatinization of the curve in the amylograph analysis