Quality can now be measured
more quickly
The Brabender ViscoQuick cools products down to 10 degrees or lower and measures
the viscosity even faster than ever. Interview with Markus Löns, Food Business Development,
and Jessica Wiertz, Manager Applications at Brabender.
Markus Löns Jessica Wiertz
Brabender GmbH & Co. KG has been
developing, producing and selling
devices and equipment for testing a
wide variety of material properties
since it was founded by Carl Wilhelm Brabender
in 1923. In 1928 the first Farinograph, a wheat
and wheat flour tester, was developed. Even
then, milestones were the development of devices
for examining flours for the bakery industry.
Brabender's ViscoQuick has so far mainly
been used in the milling, baked goods and
starch industries. Thanks to the further development
of the device, viscosity measurements
of up to 10 minutes are now possible. In addition,
starch products can be cooled down to
the consumption or processing temperature.
Mr. Löns, how did the development of
the ViscoQuick come about?
Markus Löns: There was a predecessor of the
Brabender Viscograph as early as 1939, the
Amylograph. However, the device could only
heat, but not cool. Around 1949/50, Brabender
developed the Viscograph, which could both
heat and cool, due to increased requirements
from the baked goods and starch industry. However,
the device needed about 90 minutes for a
normal measurement. This resulted in the Micro
Visco-Amylo-Graph in 1998, which had smaller
sample quantities and faster heating / cooling
rates; the measurement took place within 20
minutes. The ViscoQuick is the successor device
that shortens the measuring time to 10 minutes
if necessary. However, you can still measure with
20 or 90 minutes if that makes sense from the
user's point of view.
What is special about the ViscoQuick?
Markus Löns: The ViscoQuick can cool down
a lot, that makes the difference. So far, the relevant
devices in the food and feed area have
kept the temperature down to 50 degrees. From
a technical point of view, lower temperatures
were previously not possible or were difficult to
achieve. With the new device we can now cool
down to 10 degrees and lower. Starch and products
containing starch can therefore be cooled
down to the temperature at which they are consumed
or processed. We carried out two studies
6 Interview