The Volscan Profiler in Bakery Research

Loaf volume is of paramount importance to bread quality evaluation. It is a vital aspect of the consumer’s perception of value as in bread and other leavened goods, higher volume for a given weight is invariably associated with a more aerated crumb and superior texture.

For a baker or bread manufacturer, each batch of flour has to be evaluated by test baking to ensure that bread is made to a uniformly high quality. One component of this quality control is measurement of the volume of the bread, which can give information relating to the density of the bread crumb and the strength of the gluten in the flour. This volume information can then be used to modify the dough mix used in bread production to produce bread of the appropriate quality. This procedure is important, not only for the inherent qualities of the bread, but to ensure that the selected dough-piece weight produces a loaf of the correct size for the standard tins used in the baking process.