Unveil Flour's Potential with Mixolab 2: Elevate analysis beyond mixing properties. Uncover valuable insights for better bakery operations and product quality.
Flour is a complex ingredient whose capabilities cannot be summarized simply based on levels of protein, ash, starch, or other parameters. Without putting the flour through the complete baking process, you are left with only part of your flour’s story.
Bakeries have long relied upon smaller test batches or baking trials to be certain on the quality of their flour and other ingredients. However, relying solely on baking trials to verify flour quality can become time-consuming and costly.
Moreover, there are technologies available today to help bakeries reduce their reliance on baking trials with objective information on flour and dough behavior for their specific products.
Technologies to help bakeries streamline certain aspects of the baking process are not new.
For decades, the BRABENDER Farinograph® and the CHOPIN Technologies Mixolab 2 have been the industry standards for analyzing a flour’s mixing properties. And it’s true: Both the Farinograph® and Mixolab 2 are effective for assessing a flour’s water absorption capacity, development time, and dough stability.
However, mixing properties are just a single aspect in the grander story of a batch of flour. Nevertheless, this is the point in the story where the Farinograph® stops, leaving your analysis at a critical cliffhanger.
The Mixolab 2 not only leads you through the early stages of analysis, but it simulates the same steps of a complete baking trial while providing additional insights on product shelf life, enabling total clarity on how a batch of flour will adapt to your baked product.
Mixolab 2, shown above, is an all-in-one technology to help bakers analyze flour properties by simulating the baking process.
What is the Mixolab 2?
Compared to the Farinograph®, Mixolab 2 provides more complete insights to assess how a batch of flour will be used in baked goods.
- Comprehensive, all-in-one flour & dough analysis instrument
- Versatile testing for cereals, flours, and doughs, including gluten-free
- Simulate the entire baking process and gain insights on important quality parameters
Unlike the Farinograph®, the Mixolab 2 includes a heating element within the mixing bowl that allows users to assess flour and dough through the entire baking process for factors such as:
- Protein weakening due to mixing and temperature
- Enzymatic activity
- Starch gelatinization and retrogradation (relating to shelf life)
This versatility also makes the Mixolab 2 ideal to adapt to new challenges and recipe formulations.
In fact, in just 45 minutes, and in 1 single tool, Mixolab 2 can simulate an entire baking process on just 50g of flour, and also obtain 5X the amount of information on flour quality than the Farinograph®.
How could these additional insights help you manage your product quality & consistency?
Additionally, data from the Mixolab 2 can help bakery operations significantly reduce their reliance on baking trials. For example, this video summarizes a case study where a biscuit manufacturer developed a protocol with the Mixolab 2 that allowed them to cut routine baking trials in half, resulting in significant savings.
If Mixing Properties are All You Need, that’s OK
The Farinograph® protocol within the Mixolab 2 will provide you with the same analysis curve as the traditional Farinograph® instrument, but at a higher level of precision1,2, and with clearer interpretation of the results. The Mixolab 2 has shown through years of testing with the BIPEA and their Proficiency Testing Scheme (PTS) protocols to be completely aligned with Farinograph results.
Even if you are only interested in mixing properties right now, you always have the option to upgrade your Mixolab 2 to its complete analysis package.
It’s Time to Reduce Your Reliance on Costly Baking Trials
Whether you are seeking a time-saving technology method to obtain quantifiable insights on flour quality or looking for a way to enhance your Farinograph® testing protocol, Mixolab 2 integrates seamlessly into baking operations to interpret your flour’s complete story.
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1. “General Measurement Uncertainty and Specification Implications for Farinograph-Based Rheological Measurements of Wheat Flour” (January-February 2017) Cereal Food World; Vol 62. No 1.
2. Pacific Northwest Wheat Quality Control Council (https://wwql.wsu.edu/pacific-northwest-wheat-quality-council/)