A Brabender farinograph

 

Mechanical farinograph

In baking, a farinograph measures specific properties of flour. It was first developed and launched in 1928.[1] The farinograph is a tool used for measuring the shearand viscosity of a mixture of flour and water. The primary units of the farinograph are Brabender Units, an arbitrary unit of measuring the viscosity of a fluid.[2] The farinograph is a variation of the Brabender Plastograph that has been specialized for the baking industry, and it is used around the world for the objective measurement of a variety of flours.

A baker can formulate end products by using the farinograph's results to determine the following:[citation needed]

• Water absorption

• Dough viscosity, including peak water to gluten ratio prior to gluten breakdown

• Peak mixing time to arrive at desired water/gluten ratio

• The stability of flour under mixing

• The tolerance of a flour's gluten