Farinograph Bowl

In baking, a farinograph measures specific properties of flour. The farinograph is a tool used for measuring the shear and 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.  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:

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