What Is the Best Way to Measure the Color of Bread?

When buying bread, you're met with a plethora of options. Whether in a bread aisle or bakery, you're surrounded by all types of bread loaves and will likely reach for the freshest, most beautiful option.

When choosing a loaf of bread, what do you look for? Color is probably one of your top criteria — it tells you a lot about the product you're looking at. That knowledge should translate to your manufacturing process, and the best way to ensure the color of your bread is suitable is through a spectrophotometer.

Why Measure Bread Color?

Consumer pressure is a major reason that most manufacturers and distributors within the food industry utilize color measurement tools. When a buyer reaches for any food product, they hold certain expectations of how it will look, taste, and perform. If they see bread that's too dark for their tastes, they'll assume it's burnt, which affects its flavor as much as its appearance. Too light, and it will appear undercooked.

Keeping track of the color of bread does as much for your development process as it does for your brand's public face. It helps you ensure:

• Quality: Bread color closely relates to your baking process. Getting that perfect golden crust means you've put the dough in the oven for the right time, resulting in light, fluffy bread that tastes excellent and looks great. Color measurement introduces a new level of quality assurance that makes sure your bread is the perfect solution for your sales goals.
• Safety: When your bread is too light, it can indicate the loaf is undercooked, and selling undercooked bread can open you up to significant liability. When measuring for color, you can institute color thresholds that require your bread to reach a certain color level before it's sellable, making you and your buyers much safer.

Use the Best Tools for the Job

Of all the color measurement tools available, food-grade spectrophotometers offer you the most information with faster and more reliable data. For more than seven decades, our team at HunterLab has made it our specialty to develop spectrophotometer solutions for all food industry workers. For bread color measurement, the MiniScan EZ 4500 is our top tool.

The MiniScan EZ 4500 is a handheld spectrophotometer you can carry anywhere in your facility, opening you up to countless color testing opportunities. You can categorize and label every measurement, keeping data to compare against future batches without taking up any bench space. Our onboarding software translates to all common color scales, allowing you to organize your information your way.

Request Your Quote Today

Ensure the accuracy you need for bread color measurement with a quality device from the experts in color measurement technology. Request your quote from HunterLab today.