Bakery

Consumers have strong perceptions of how bakery products should feel and behave when being consumed.

That's why bakery products have a relatively narrow range of associated textural properties.

Deviation from an anticipated texture could be interpreted as a reduction in quality, e.g. staling or freshness.

Measuring the textural characteristics can identify the differences in bakery products and their links to perceived quality.

For example, moistness in cakes and hardness in biscuits are seen as positive attributes. A certain softness in bread is desirable, but moistness in bread is considered a sign of staleness.

Behaviour of raw materials and components within automated bakeries is important for efficient high quality manufacture. The effect of storage on shelf-life is a critical factor to consider when selling into a distribution network.

We have a range of fixtures, designed exclusively for dough and bakery raw ingredient testing, to meet the requirements of the industry.

Testing of bakery products will also include mimicking the consumer interaction (handling of an item) to determine its acceptability, eg squashing a bread loaf to see how fresh it feels.

Other baked products that can be tested include coatings or fillings, where the raw ingredients or components can impact the final texture as it reaches the consumer.

As well as texture analysis our versatile products can also be used to control the quality of bakery product packaging e.g. testing the peel strength of plastic film and crush resistance of cardboard packaging.