The Farinograph

The farinograph is more widely used than any other flour-testing apparatus in the United States, and gives a wide range of information about the potential baking quality of a given sample of flour. It measures the dough’s resistance to breakdown, thereby assessing flour strength. Essentially, the farinograph is a miniature mixer, holding either 50 grams or 300 grams of flour, water jacketed for temperature control, with two mixing blades that generally are geared to 63 rpms. A dough is mixed, and the force required to turn the blades is measured and recorded on a grid. The curve that results as the dough first increases in strength and then begins to deteriorate is called a farinogram. The farinogram moves forward mechanically as the test proceeds, coinciding with the 1-minute intervals that are represented along the horizontal axis of the grid. What is known as “Brabender Units” are measured in increments of 5 units along the vertical axis. To explain the various measurements that the farinograph gauges, we will use the information from the flour sample lab analysis given earlier, which the photograph of the actual farinogram illustrates.