Humidity is a way of impacting crust color. You can weigh the ingredients the same way, mix to the same time, proof at the same target, and run the oven at the same settings. Then a batch comes out a shade darker, a shade duller, or strangely uneven across the rack. That’s why Reading Thermal products for temperature and humidity monitoring for commercial bakery ovens in Canada are so important. They help you spot humidity drift early and make a simple adjustment before it turns into waste, rework, or quality complaints.
Why a Small Humidity Change Can Shift Crust Color
Crust color isn’t just about heat. It’s also about how moisture behaves on the surface of the dough in the first part of the bake. If the air in the oven is a bit drier than usual, moisture can leave the surface faster. That can push browning to start sooner and run harder, especially on lean doughs and products with exposed surface area.
If the air is a bit more humid than normal, the opposite can happen. The surface may stay wetter longer, delaying browning and changing the shine and tone of the finished crust. Even when the internal bake finishes correctly, the look can drift. Customers notice color first. So do your quality teams.
The Hidden Humidity Swing You Do Not See on the Control Panel
Many bakeries rely on what the oven says it is doing through temperature readouts and other data. But humidity is often the missing piece. You might feel it on a foggy day or notice it when crusts start looking different, but you can’t manage what you cannot see.
This is where the hidden swing lives. It’s not always dramatic. It might be a subtle dip after a lunch break when doors open more often. It might be a gradual shift across a long run as the oven dries out. It might be a pattern that shows up only on certain products, because different loads release moisture differently.
How Reading Thermal Helps You Catch Drift Early
Once you can track humidity alongside temperature, you stop guessing. You start noticing repeatable patterns. Reading Thermal focuses on practical monitoring that fits real production. Our humidity data sensors make it easier to see what is happening over time, not just in a single moment. Instead of relying on memory or isolated checks, you can build a clear picture of the environment your product is actually baking in.
If a humidity swing is tied to a specific time of day, a specific oven or a specific changeover, a logger trend can make that obvious. You can compare a normal run to a problem run and see where the curve separates. That is often all it takes to point your team toward the right fix, whether it is a steam timing tweak, a ventilation check or a process adjustment around loading.
Reading Thermal also offers tools that support profiling work, such as our SCORPION® 2 Profiling System, which can help you connect environmental conditions to product outcomes. You don’t need a complicated lab setup. You just need consistent data that your team can understand and act on.
Learn more about products for temperature and humidity monitoring for commercial bakery ovens in Canada from Reading Thermal by calling 610-678-5890 or contacting us online.