Calibrating Your Brix Refractometer
If you’re trying to develop your own gummy formula, you may have heard the term Brix Refractometer before. This tool is an essential part of the gummy formulation and we use them here at Endose every day.
This tool is important because it measures the sucrose content of your formula using refraction. Hence the term “Brix Percentage,” is commonly used to refer to the sugar content of a solution. Brix Refractometers are used daily in the food & beverage industries for products like milk, candy, fruit drinks, and more. Daily use of anything will wear it down, for Brix refractometers, it can throw off the accuracy of your sucrose readings. Knowing how to regularly calibrate your device is key to developing quality formulas consistently.
So how exactly do you calibrate a Brix Refractometer?
The first step to calibration is selecting your solution or calibration liquid. There are three types of solutions available, calibration oil, AG fluids, or sucrose solutions. When working with gummy formulas, we recommend calibrating your Brix Refractometer with VeeGee Scientific Refractometer Standards solution as it offers one of the most accurate calibration readings.
How to calibrate
Input Calibration Liquid.
Close Plate.
Allow the liquid to spread completely, with no gaps or bubbles.
Point toward a natural light source.
Look into the eyepiece and adjust so that the scale is in focus.
Adjust the calibration screw so that the refractometer reads zero exactly.
Use a test solution to read results and determine calibration.
Understanding Refractive Index
Now that you know the steps to calibrate your Brix Refractometer, it’s time to learn how to interpret and understand your calibration results.
Refractive Index (RI) is the number of light bends as it passes through a liquid solution. Brix is a unit of measurement for the refractive index, similar to inches or centimeters being a unit of measurement for length. When using a test solution to determine calibration, ensure you are using a solution you already know the RI for, like distilled water (0.0 RI)
Selecting the Right Brix Refractometer
There are a lot of different types of refractometers. You can choose from a manual handheld refractometer, digital handheld refractometers, Abbe refractometer or incline process refractometers. When working with gummy formulation, we recommend using a handheld Brix refractometer, like this one.
Looking for help with your gummy formula? The experts at Endose can consult with you on flavor, texture, ingredients, and more.
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