Controlling Internal Food Temperature in Industrial Bakery Ovens

Controlling internal food temperature in industrial bakery ovens is easy when you take advantage of the innovative SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger from Reading Thermal. It will help you measure, capture, and store oven profile data, such as temperature, air velocity, heat flux and humidity.

Reading Thermal, a Reading Bakery Systems brand, has been focused on measuring and understanding the commercial baking process for over 25 years. We manufacture and support the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger which enables you to monitor actual in-process conditions and get the critical information you need to correct problems and maintain optimum process control.

This powerful diagnostic tool has become an industry standard for understanding and improving your proofing, baking, cooling and freezing processes.

Importance of Measuring Oven Temperature

Oven temperature causes physical and chemical reactions in dough/batter, and temperatures that are too low or too high during baking can lead to changes in fermentation and humidity levels and undesirable changes in surface coloring, texture and flavor.

If you produce bread, artisan bread, rolls, hamburger buns, cakes, biscuits, or other bread products, you understand that several stages of the process are temperature-dependent, such as oven-spring, drying/dehydration, and color formation.

Too much heat coming from one direction in the oven can cause the bottoms of the loaves to burn before the crusts brown properly. An oven that is too cool usually produces a heavy and unappealing loaf with a pale or soft crust.

Measuring and controlling internal food temperature is also key to achieving food safety. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires commercial bakeries to provide validation of process controls, or thermal kill steps, in an effort to reduce food borne pathogens, such as Salmonella spp, in ingredients and finished products.

Temperature Sensor Array

The Reading Thermal 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 your product is experiencing over time.

Different types of pluggable sensors are available, including one designed for solid or tight mesh conveyors and one for open mesh conveyors.

The sensor array is connected to the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger and travels through the oven with the product (with the oven under full load), producing an exact picture of temperature from side-to-side and end-to-end.

There are 2 types of pluggable temperature sensors. One is an Air/Conveyor sensor that is designed to measure the surface temperature of the conveyor as well as the air temperature directly above the conveyor. This Sensor is designed for solid or tight mesh conveyors and measures air and band temperatures.

The other pluggable temperature sensor is an Air/Air sensor. It is designed to measure upper air temperature immediately above the conveyor, and lower air temperature of the air rising through the conveyor.  It is meant for open mesh conveyors.

Improve your products and processes by controlling the internal food temperature inside your industrial bakery ovens with the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger. Contact Reading Thermal online or call our headquarters in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania at (610) 678-5890 Ext. 2 to learn more.