Quality ingredients and careful handling are not enough to create a great product unless the heat and humidity in your oven are carefully monitored and regulated. The SCORPION® 2 Profiling System from Reading Thermal will help you measure the thermal temperatures of your baking processes in order to bake your products to perfection.
Reading Thermal, headquartered in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, has been focused on measuring and researching the commercial baking process for more than 25 years. We manufacture and support the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger which is now a standard in the baking industry.
The SCORPION® 2 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 will help you understand and improve your proofing, baking, cooling and freezing processes.
Sensor Measurements
Connecting smart sensors and sensor arrays to the SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and passing them through the oven with the product, enables the measurement system to capture the four main baking parameters:
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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.
4) Humidity: Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. As your products bake, they 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.
Different types of pluggable sensors are available, including one created for solid or tight mesh conveyors and one for open mesh conveyors.
All ovens bake differently. Thermal profiling with the innovative SCORPION® 2 Profiling System and Data Logger manufactured by Reading Thermal ensures that the conditions in your oven are well-suited to your processes and shelf-life requirements. Contact us online, or call us at (610) 678-5890 Ext. 2 for more information about our innovative products.