Digital Refractometer for Brix Measurement in Food

This Hanna Instruments digital refractometer measures Brix in foods and food solutions generally.

Why it is measured

Brix stands in for concentration across an enormous range of food work: jam set, sauce reduction, syrup strength, tomato paste, dilution ratios in a dispenser. It is fast, it needs a drop, and it correlates with what the product will be like.

Where it is used

• food processing plants
• sauce and preserve production
• beverage dispensing checks
• incoming raw material control

How a refractometer works

Light bends by a different amount depending on how much is dissolved in a liquid. A refractometer measures that bend and converts it to a concentration scale. It needs one or two drops, gives an answer in seconds, and has no reagents and nothing to consume.

A digital instrument compensates for temperature automatically, which is the difference that matters: refractive index shifts with temperature enough that an uncompensated reading in a warm room is simply wrong.

Practical note

Clean the prism between samples with water and dry it; a sugar film left from the previous reading biases every one after it.

Supplied as one model.