The Chopin Alveograph is a tool for

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

quality measurement. It measures the flexibility of the dough produced from the flour, by inflating a bubble in a thin sheet of the dough until it bursts. The resulting values show the strength of the flour, and thus its suitability for different uses. It was developed in 1920 in France by Marcel Chopin, who named it the Extensimeter.

History

Developed in the late 1920s in France by Marcel Chopin, the Chopin Alveograph is used in

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

worldwide. The ''alveographic test'' enables to measure the tenacity (resilience), the extensibility, and elasticity of a dough (standardized mix of flour and water). This measurement of the strength of

s is considered as a good index of the baking quality of baking flours. In France, it has been used in regulations since at least 1963 as a criterion in milling for the composition of flours destined to the "french" type bread-baking. Agronomist Norman Borlaug (

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in 1970) used this invention to select varieties of wheat for tropical environments.

Description

The Chopin alveograph is composed of two inseparable elements: * a kneading-machine equipped of an extraction passage which enables the development of the dough and the extraction of it for the preparation of the dough pieces in order to realise the alveographic test. * the alveograph in itself which measures the three-dimensional extension of the piece of dough, which is deformed like a bubble. That extension mode reproduces the deformation of the dough under the influence of the pushing of gas. Still used nowadays, the Chopin alveograph is manufactured b
Chopin Technologies
subsidiary of the KPM Analytics company. They produce a derivative device called the which, among other uses, measures the degree of degradation due to pest and

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...

, and the protection provided by

insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed t ...

s and

fungicide Fungicides are biocidal chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores. A fungistatic inhibits their growth. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality ...

Usage Protocol

Calibration

1. Press the button 60/92 2. Place the calibrator and tighten the lock screw. 3. Open the valve to the maximum 4. Launch the air by pressing button 92/60 5. Adjust the high pression on 92 with the arrow, then press ok 6. Adjust the low pression on 60 with the valve

Experience

1. Press on the green graph 2. Select the little note at top right to settle parameters 3. Pour 250g of the sample 4. Fill the burette with salt solution (2.5%) function of the flour humidity 5. Start the chronometer by pressing the green button 6. Open to the maximum the burette overhead the hole of the tank 7. At the end of the two first periods, stop the arm at the bottom of the tank by pressing the red button and scrape off the flour 8. At 8 min, press on the arrow 9. Remove the first centimeter of the emerging dough 10. When the dough arrives at the level of the notches, cut the dough and flatten it with the rolling mill. 11. Re-oil the tray between every dough pieces 12. Cut a circle with the die-cutter and place in the oven 13. At the last dough, press the red button first and the arrow 14. Clean the tank 15. At 28 min, press a long time on the 1 to reset the chronometer 16. Center the dough, place the two covers, tighten the lock screw and remove the two covers 17. Press the red/green button then press again when the bubble bursts.

Bibliography

* Chopin, Marcel, ''Cinquante années de recherches relatives aux blés et à leur utilisation industrielle'', Boulogne, 1973.

References

External links

Chopin Alveograph videosChopin Alveograph manufacturer's leaflet
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Chopin Alveograph Guide
from AHDB

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