Introduction of Testing Instruments in Food and Beverage Factory

Food and beverage factories need to carry out various sampling tests on the products to ensure their quality and taste of the products. In addition, before industrial production, it is often necessary to test the taste, shelf life, color and other indicators of the product to meet the taste needs of consumers in the market. Therefore, large and medium-sized beverage factories are usually equipped with a laboratory, and comprehensive testing of various indicators of the product is required to find the optimal solution. Below we will give a brief introduction to the testing instruments commonly used in beverage factories.

The viscometer is mainly used to measure the viscosity of various fluids such as food and beverages, seasonings, sauces, resins, condensed milk cream, pharmaceutical preparations and cosmetics. In food and beverage factories, the material transferring, sterilizing and filling is based on the viscosity of the products, especially when producing sauce materials, yogurt and other products with high viscosity, it is necessary to measure the viscosity value of the product, and select the appropriate processing equipment on this basis. In the production of formulated beverages or sauces, the viscosity of the final product can also be increased by adding emulsifiers or thickeners. The viscosity of the material is usually expressed in cP or mpa.s. Well-known brands of viscometers include American Brookfield, Koelher and Japanese Atago, Trusco, etc.

The Bostwick consistency meter is an instrument for measuring the texture and structure of food. Whether in the laboratory or on the production site, it can quickly test whether the sample meets the standard viscosity, consistency and fluidity. It is made of 2mm electrolytically treated steel plate and equipped with a standard 100ml sample tank. The product consistency value usually expressed at xx cm/30S, such as the tomato paste consistency is 6-8cm/30S. The main brands are the consistency meter of the British Endecotts company and the American CSC Scientific.

Measurement steps:

Step 1: Pour the sample to be tested into the sample tank behind the spring door;

Step 2: Press the lock on the spring door to make the spring door pop up instantly, and use a stopwatch to start timing at the same time;

Step 3: The progress of the fluid flow in the instrument can be accurately measured by the precision scale on the base plate. The physical properties of the sample (viscosity, fluidity, etc.) can be calculated by comparing the flow rate over a specific time period (usually 30 seconds).

It is used for precise weighing, especially the weighing of various ingredients in the experiment of mixing beverage ingredients. The accuracy of the electronic balance can reach 1/100,000. The balance adopts a high-performance single-chip microprocessor control to ensure balance precision and stability, METTLER TOLEDO is a major international brand.

The thermometer is used to measure the temperature of the product. In the process of mixing, heating and sterilization of food and beverages, there are strict requirements on the temperature of materials. Therefore, when testing the production of products, the detection of temperature is particularly important. Thermometers are divided into experimental and industrial use. Laboratory thermometers are mainly portable thermometers; Industrial thermometers include electronic thermometers, pressure thermometers and metal thermometers, it is a conventional configuration on heating tanks, sterilizers, evaporators, dissolving tanks and other equipment that requires heating and cooling.

The pH meter is an instrument used to measure the pH value of a product. The pH of the material in food and beverages has important reference significance for the sterilization process of the material and the taste of the final product. The pH meter used in experiments is usually portable. In the biological fermentation system, the fermenter will also be equipped with a pH meter to monitor the pH value of the product in real-time. The pH value ranges from 0 to 14, 0 to 7 is acidic, 7 to 14 is alkaline, and 7 is neutral. The main brands for pH meter are METTLER TOLEDO, Bluelab, Atago and so on.

The refractometer is used to measure the soluble solid content (Brix value) of products, and is widely used in sugar, food, beverage and other industrial sectors as well as agricultural production and scientific research. It can be divided into a hand-held experimental Brix meter and an industrial Brix meter. In the production of concentrated fruit juice or puree, the evaporator needs to be equipped with a Brix meter to detect the Brix value of the output product.

It is used to detect metal components in food and is an important detection equipment to ensure food safety. It is widely used in the production of sauces, juices and beverages. It is divided into pipeline on-line metal detectors and finished packaging metal detectors. Dozens of metal components can be automatically detected and with an automatic rejection device. Internationally-renowned brands include S+S, S&S, Mettler Toledo and other brands.

The water quality analyzer is an instrument used to monitor various components in water. Mainly refers to the instrument for measuring BOD, COD, ammonia nitrogen, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, suspended solids, calcium and magnesium and other metal ions, turbidity, PH, dissolved oxygen and other items in water. As water is the most important part of beverages, the testing of water sources on daily basis is a must, and the wastewater discharge must be tested to meet the environmental and safety requirements in beverage factories.

It is used for bacterial constant temperature culture test, and is used for research and production of bacterial cell culture, breeding, fermentation and other departments in medical and health, pharmaceutical industry, and biochemistry. The temperature range is room temperature +3℃-65℃, and the temperature is controlled by the microcomputer.

It is used for rapid detection of the total number of viable bacteria, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella, Streptococcus, yeast and other microorganisms in food. It has important reference significance for the detection of microbial indicators before and after sterilization of products in food and beverage factories. Well-known brands are Mettler Toledo, thermofisher, etc.

It is a device used to measure the content of carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages.

protein detection for dairy beverages, constant temperature water bath tank for sample reagent heating, disk centrifuge separator, freezer, measuring containers such as measuring cylinders, beakers, conical flasks, graduated straws, volumetric flasks, colorimetric tubes, etc., for measuring samples, an ultra-clean workbench.