The air flow in your commercial bakery oven can have a major impact on the quality and consistency of your products. Industrial oven air velocity monitoring is the best way to bake your products to perfection.
Reading Thermal, a Reading Bakery brand, has been focused on measuring and understanding the commercial baking process for more than 25 years. We manufacture and support the SCORPION® 2 Data Logger, the “brain” of our measurement system and a powerful diagnostic tool that has become an industry standard for understanding and improving your proofing, baking, cooling and freezing processes.
Keep in mind that the four key oven baking parameters – temperature, air velocity, heat flux and humidity – are interrelated. They work together to control the quality of your final product, e.g., humidity is affected by air velocity and temperature. Once you invest in the full-featured SCORPION® 2 Data Logger, you can add smart sensors at any time to explore other oven variables.
Air velocity
Oven air velocity is the measurement of airflow inside the oven. Measuring it is important because, along with other parameters, air velocity influences the coloration, texture, firmness, and baking time of the final product. Oven air velocity can be measured and recorded with the SCORPION® 2 Air Velocity Sensor. The sensor array delivers a precise picture of airflow patterns inside the oven from side to side and end to end.
Temperature
Oven temperature causes physical and chemical reactions in dough/batter. Insufficient or excessive temperature during baking can lead to changes in fermentation and humidity levels, as well as undesirable changes in color, texture and taste. The Scorpion® 2 Temperature Sensor Array is designed to measure temperature at product level, in fixed positions across the conveyor, and delivers a true representation of what the product experiences over time.
Heat flux
Oven heat flux is the amount of energy transferred per unit area per unit time from or to a surface. It is the best indicator of oven performance during baking in terms of the product. Many bakers use oven heat flux profiles when attempting to produce the same product on two different lines or when trying to transfer product from one line to another. The two lines will produce the same product when the heat flux profiles match. The SCORPION® 2 Heat Flux Sensor is designed to measure convective and radiant heat fluxes at product level and display the results in Btu/hr·ft2 or W/m2.
Humidity
Oven humidity is a measurement of the moisture in the air. The moisture often comes from the product itself and represents a delicate balance that affects finished product quality in many ways; e.g., the amount of moisture left in a pretzel can determine its shelf life. The new SCORPION® Digital Humidity Sensor provides a better way to measure humidity in your oven, proofer, dryer, and cooling tunnel. It is engineered to be compatible with direct gas fired (DGF) ovens.
Find out about industrial oven air velocity monitoring with the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System from Reading Thermal and learn more about our exceptional sensors and sensor arrays. Contact us online, or call us at (610) 678-5890 Ext. 2 to learn more.