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Probes and techniques for testing the texture of cereal products. M. I. Johnson. Texture Technologies,
6 Patton Drive, South Hamilton, MA 01982-1924.
The presentation will review probes and techniques used by
commercial companies for testing the texture of baked goods, pasta products, doughs, batters, fillings, bars,
tortillas, extruded products and flakes. While the discussion will briefly cover the best use of common
probes such as knife blades, puncture probes, three-point bend rigs, cylinder probes and cone probes, the
primary focus will be directed on interesting recent test techniques, sample handling procedures and
fixtures. Test techniques to be covered include those for quantifying the crunchiness of extruded products,
'cake' and toast style products, the crispness and bowl life of cereal and flakes, the tensile characteristics of
films, the firmness and shelf life of granola bars, the spreadability of shortenings, the firmness of pasta, and
the brittleness of tortilla chips. Probes and fixtures to be discussed are the Chen-Hoseney Dough Stickiness
Fixture, the SMS/Kieffer Dough & Gluten Extensibility rig, Ottawa Cell, Kramer Shear Cell, the
multiple-puncture fixture, film fixture, tug fixture, TTC spreadability rig, and several custom designed probes for
crunchiness. All of these fixtures have been applied creatively to quantify both common and unusual
textural attributes.
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