According to standard official methods, recording mixers (Farinograph, Mixolab, Doughlab, Mixograph) can be used to monitor dough development. The purpose is to mix wheat flour into dough, under controlled conditions, and compare characteristics of the resulting doughs. We are looking for changes, or lack of changes, between flours. The quality of a loaf of bread (and many other bakery products) is strongly dependent on the mixing.
Absorption represents the percent water, based on flour weight, required to develop a dough to the target consistency or tightness. Bakeshop absorption is generally higher, because of the inclusion of ingredients other than flour. Hard wheat flours, typically used for all kinds of breads and rolls, will generally be above 60% absorption while soft wheat flours, typically used for cakes and pastries, will generally be 50-60% absorption.
Mix time, also called development time or peak time, represents the time required for flour to absorb water and form dough under standardized conditions. In general, soft wheat flours have a shorter development time than hard wheat flours. Bakeshop times may vary significantly from these standardized time, because of other ingredients, different temperatures and mixer types, and different optimum consistency.
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