ArizonaInstrumentLLC|3375NDelawareSt|Chandler,AZ85225|800.528.7411|www.azic.

com|MadeintheUSA

Providingaqualityproductisacomplexproblemthatbakersmustsolvetobesuccessfulinacompetitivemarket.Concerns
aboutthetaste,texture,appearanceandfreshnessarejustafewoftheriddles,andattheheartoftheseismoisture.Too
muchwaterinabakersproductcanleadtoproblemswithshaping,asoggytexture,andmoldandsporeformationsin
packaging.Toolittlewatercreatesstale,brittleandhardgoods.
Alongwiththeobstaclesassociatedwithwatercontent,determiningthemoisturelevelhasprovedtobejustascomplicated.
Decidingwhentotest,whatpartsoftheproducttotestandwheretotestarealldifficultchoicesthatneedtobemade,and
changesinthesedecisionswillaffecttheresultsobtainedfromtesting.Forinstance,doesthebakertesttheloafofbread
immediatelyafteritisremovedfromtheoven,beforewatermigrationiscompleteandestimatethemoistureoftheproduct;
ordoesthebakerwaituntilthemigrationhasoccurredandthentestformoisture?Additionally,thehistoricalmethodsused
formoisturedeterminationarelengthyprocessesthathindertheflowofinformationneededtodecideifaproductisreadyfor
releaseorifthereisaprobleminthebakingprocess.
Whilethedecisionwhentotestisstillleftuptothebaker,advancesinmoistureanalyseshavedramaticallyreshapedthe
antiquatedmethodsofthepast.ArizonaInstrumentLLChasledthewayonthisfront,developingrapidlossondrying
instrumentationthatprovidesreliableresultsinminutesinsteadofhours.Theseversatileinstrumentsimproveprocess
efficiencywhichwillallowforanincreaseinproduction,aswellasprovidevitalinformationwhichcanbeusedtomake
adjustmentsandoptimizethequalityofthebakedgoodsthatareproduced.
TraditionalMethods
Theapplicationoftraditionaltestmethodsofmoisturedeterminationisconsideredtobeelementarybybakersandscientists
alike.Oftentheprocedureinvolvestakingasmallrandomsamplefromaproduct,measuringitsmass,placingitinanovenfor
aspecifiedtimeataspecifiedtemperature,removingitandlettingitcooltoambienttemperature,thenreweighingthe
sample.The%moistureisdeterminedusingthefollowingequation:
%H =
(initiol moss - inol moss)
initiol moss
1uu
Wheretheinitialmassisdeterminedpriortooventreatmentandthefinalmassisdeterminedafterthesamplehasbeenin
theovenandcooledtoroomtemperature.Easeofuseiscertainlyhelpsmakethisadesirablemethod,butitalsohas
drawbacks.Thesemethodsfrequentlytakehourstoconduct,whichcanslowproductiondown.Also,therearenoinsitu
measurementsbeingtakentooptimizetheprocedure.Thesetypesofmeasurementswouldhelpreducecostandimprove
energymanagementandefficiency.
RapidLossonDrying
Rapidlossondryinginstrumentsoperateusingthesameprincipleastraditionalovenmethods,butareabletoaddressthe
drawbacksassociatedtothemwithoutchangingtheeaseofuse.Usersoftheseinstrumentsplaceaprescribedamountof
materialontoapanthatissittingonabalance.Oncethecorrectamountofmaterialisonthepantheinstrumentheatsupto
aspecifiedtemperatureandthewaterisevolvedoffofthesample.Multiplecriteriacanbeusedtoendthetest,but
frequentlytestsareendedwhenthechangeinmassisdeterminedtobenegligible.Thesetestsprovidetheuserwithrealtime
measurementsandoftenteststakeafewminutesinsteadofhours.
ArizonaInstrumentLLC|3375NDelawareSt|Chandler,AZ85225|800.528.7411|www.azic.com|MadeintheUSA

MoistureTesting

Sample
%Moisture
OvenTest
Oven
TestTime
%Moisture
Computrac
Computrac
TestTime
Bread 38.901 1hour 38.880 5:26
PoundCake 44.824 2hours 44.618 12:10
Cracker 2.8690 18hours 2.9220 4:20
ToasterPastry 6.7490 16hours 6.8740 5:45
ChocolateChipCookie 5.5679 16hours 5.6618 4:49

Table1.ComparisonofaveragetestresultsandtesttimesbetweentheOvenreferencemethodandtheComputracMoistureAnalyzer.
TesttimesfortheComputracaregiveninmm:ss.
Table1.describessomecommonbakedgoodsmoisturecontent.TheComputracandtheoventestsprovidesimilarresults
withalargedifferenceintesttime.

Graph1.Realtimemeasurementdatafromrapidlossondryinginstrumentation.
Graph1.showsinsitumeasurementsforbothrateandtotalmoisture.Thetestendsafter200secondswhenthechangein
lossissmallandisaddinganegligiblequantitytothetotalmoisturethatismeasured.
Conclusion
Rapidlossondryinginstrumentationhasproventoprovideamoredesirablemethodofmoisturemeasurementwhen
comparedtotraditionallossondryingtechniques.Itaddressesthedrawbacksassociatedwithconventionallossondryingand
whilemaintainingtheeaseofuseapplication.Thereductionintesttimesincreasesmanufacturingefficiencywhile
simultaneouslyreducingenergycosts.Additionally,thisinstrumentationisabletoproviderealtimemoisturemeasurements
tohelpusersoptimizemoisturemeasurementmethods.

JamesMoore,Chemist/QAEngineer

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