As baked goods often have an irregular surface and are partially covered with grains or pieces of chocolate, the surface as a whole is considered for the color measurement. Until now, the small measuring area of conventional colorimeters meant that several measurements had to be laboriously averaged.
Averaging
The measuring head of the Aeros can be adjusted horizontally and thus positioned eccentrically above the edge of a sample pan or the sample plate. For the measurement, the dish/plate rotates under the sensor while the device performs 35 measurements in 5 seconds and calculates the average value. This measures the surface of the roll/biscuit and provides an accurate and repeatable measurement of the color of the product.
Handling the samples is simple, as a bowl or a blank plate is simply covered with the product in a circle. Just make sure that the bottom of the tray is completely covered by the material, e.g. in the case of cookies double stacked on top of each other (see picture on the left).
Height adjustment of the Aero
The ideal height of the sensor above the sample is ensured by IR distance measurement and thus ensures exact color measurement. The sample then rotates under the eccentrically positioned sensor. During rotation, several measurements are taken in succession and the average value is automatically calculated. Due to the unusually large measuring area that is scanned, the overall color of the food can be reproduced very accurately.
A comparison with intermediate measurements without a measuring flash guarantees that the measurement is insensitive to the ambient light present.
As this non-contact measuring method is very user-friendly and the measurement results are extremely accurate and repeatable, this method is recommended for measuring small baked goods, bread rolls or other baked goods.
For manufacturers of baked goods, the degree of browning, lightness and darkness are a benchmark for the visual classification of their product. The BCU value is often included here. This is a Baking Contrast Unit (BCU) that indicates how light or dark a product appears. The scale ranges from 0.0 for dark products and up to 5.25 for light products. The BCU scale, as well as all other important color scales and indices (CIE L,a,b) are available in the integrated software of the Aeros.
HunterLab also offers solutions for measuring cookies and other baked goods with online or inline color measurement within the production chainand portable devices for measuring individual measuring points on the product itself.