Instruments that probe dough the way fermentation does — by stretching it. In the test, a disc of dough is clamped and inflated with air until the bubble bursts, while pressure is recorded throughout. The resulting trace, an alveogram, distils dough behaviour into numbers: the peak shows tenacity, or resistance to stretching; the length shows extensibility; and the area under the curve estimates baking strength. Millers use these values to blend wheats to specification and breeders to select varieties, since the test predicts gas retention and oven spring. It remains a cornerstone of wheat and flour trading worldwide.