Why is Viscosity Measurement Vital in Food Manufacturing?

There’s no denying that people have become more health-conscious than before. Gone are the days when consumers would buy food products without checking the ingredients, manufacturing procedures and quality assurance labels. With the increasing importance of premium-quality foods, manufacturers in the food production industry often find it a challenge when it comes to fulfilling the expectations of the consumers. Hence, related measurements must be accurate, quick yet not very expensive. This is especially true for measuring physical dimensions like viscosity.

Determining the viscosity plays a crucial role in any industry that deals with fluid media. In fact, viscosity is pivotal to all the stages of the food manufacturing process. You can use a digital viscosity meter to measure the viscosity of tomato sauce, cereal mixes, sweetening syrups and other fluid-based food products.



Viscosity in Food – What Is It?

Viscosity, as we all know, is the internal resistance to flow in a fluid. A liquid material having a high viscosity will pour slowly when compared to a fluid with less viscosity. Viscosity alters when there is a change in the fluid properties, precisely the molecular weight and density. As a consequence, the quality and texture of the food are also affected.

The chocolate industry is particularly reliant on viscosity testing. Most manufacturers use an NDJ digital viscometer to determine the thickness of chocolate. Maintaining the texture and flow of chocolate, when it is in a liquid state, is an inherently complex process and if not done correctly, it can affect the final solid state. Careful measuring of the viscosity of chocolate when it is in a melted state is crucial to obtain the correct density, taste and texture of chocolate when it becomes solid.

Viscosity is also essential in the baking industry. Maintaining the correct viscosity when baking or using the dough helps to ensure phase separation occurs at the right time during the baking procedure, impacting the quality of the baked products. For instance, what will happen if a cake batter has inappropriate viscosity? The phase separation will happen at the wrong time and result in an inferior-quality cake. Viscosity testing using the right type of digital viscosity meter is crucial as it provides reliable and repeatable results and ensures the quality of the product is maintained continuously from one batch to another.

Measuring Viscosity

A viscometer is commonly used to measure the viscosity of a food product. All thanks to the Rotational Viscometer technology that all viscometers are so user-friendly and highly functional today. Rotational viscometers are well-known for measuring a wide range of viscosity from 200-106000000 and have an accuracy range of ±1% to ±0.2%. Viscosity is measured by immersing a selected spindle inside the fluid sample. The spindle rotates at a specific speed and vigorously stirs to create a vortex. The instrument senses the resistance to rotation and the measured torque value is converted into a viscosity value in milliPascal-seconds (mPa.s) or centipoises (cP)

Rotational viscometers, like DV1 digitalviscometer, have the capacity to record and store up to 10,000 data points. Due to the cutting-edge software, you get important benefits like instant viewing of flow curves, achieving graphical presentation of data and calculating up to four data sets simultaneously.

It is also useful to know that flow resistance increases with different speeds and sizes of the spindle. Various types of spindles are required for measuring different samples and materials. However, it depends on factors like the used torque range, quantity of the available sample, material consistency and temperature requirements. Fortunately, due to the complete configurability and flexibility of modern viscometers, users can interchange various spindles as and when required.

Where to Get the Best Viscometer for Food Manufacturing and Processing?

Using the right type of viscometer is imperative for obtaining accurate viscosity measurements in the food manufacturing industry. Should you be looking for a reliable viscometer manufacturing company, you can contact Viscorun. The ISO 9001 certified company distinguishes itself for manufacturing a wide range of high-functioning and feature-rich digital viscosity meters, including DV1, SNB and NDJ viscometer varieties, specially designed for viscosity measurement of food samples. For more information, visit viscorun.com/products/viscometer/ndj/

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