Brabender is the name of the manufacturer [Duisburg, Germany] of the Brabender Amylograph or Viscograph, which was the starch industry's established method for determining the viscosity characteristics of starch as it gelatinizes in water. The instrument is a rotational viscometer that allowed the continuous determination of viscosity as the initial suspension of granular starch is heated, gelatinized to a paste, then cooled under closely controlled conditions. Starch concentration, heating/cooling rates and holding periods at defined temperatures can be varied. The Brabender viscosity of a starch is not an absolute quantity; different instruments can give different results even under the "same" test conditions.