If you experience uneven baking, moisture retention, inconsistent product quality, or low production capacity, Reading Thermal’s SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger will improve your confidence in your commercial oven.
Reading Thermal, headquartered in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, has been focused on commercial baking process measurements for more than 25 years. We manufacture and support the SCORPION® 2 Data Logger, a profiling system that has become a baking industry standard. With this powerful diagnostic tool, you will gain the ability to understand and improve your proofing, baking, cooling, and freezing processes.
Sensor Measurements
When you connect smart sensors and sensor arrays to the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and pass them through the oven with the product, the measurement system is able to capture the four main baking parameters:
Temperature (air, band and product core)
Oven temperature has an impact on oven-spring, drying/dehydration, and color formation during baking. Insufficient or excessive heat can also lead to unwelcome changes in texture and taste. The Scorpion® 2 Temperature Sensor Array measures the temperature at product level, in fixed positions across the conveyor, and delivers a precise picture of temperatures from side-to-side and end-to-end.
Air flow (velocity)
In a convection oven, the airflow comes primarily from the air distribution plenums. In a radiant oven, it comes from the moving conveyor, the exhaust system, and natural combustion air currents. Measuring oven air velocity with the SCORPION® 2 Air Velocity Sensor is crucial because airflow will influence the texture, firmness, coloration, and baking time of the final product. The profiles will help you spot airflow differences between baking zones and undesirable air currents at the entrance or exit of the oven that can cause inconsistent baking.
Heat flux (energy transfer)
Specific product characteristics are defined by the amount and type of heat applied during the baking process. The differences explain why one oven bakes differently than another. And analyzing and controlling these differences is critical to understanding how the finished characteristics of a product will be affected. The SCORPION® 2 Heat Flux Sensor measures radiant and heat fluxes at product level and displays the results in Btu/hr·ft2 or convective W/m2.
Humidity
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. While baking, your products use the available moisture in your oven. Without humidity, the quality and texture of your products will not turn out as expected. High oven humidity can lighten the crust color of baked goods and prevent it from burning. Lower humidity typically results in crustier bread. Global bakeries trust the SCORPION® 2 Digital Humidity Sensor, to accurately measure the absolute moisture content of the thermal environment in heating and cooling processes.
Reading Thermal’s innovative SCORPION® 2 Data Logger is essential for optimization of your commercial oven. Contact us online or call us at (610) 678-5890 Ext. 2 to explore our state-of-the-art sensors and sensor arrays.