Substituting your Meat at mealtimes: Part 4: Sausage shearing – texture comparison

Reformed Products:
Sausage Shearing using Warner-Bratzler 
 
For the testing of circular samples, the Warner-Bratzler Blade (as shown in Figure 4) is recommended, as it provides a larger cutting surface around the product at the start of the test by means of its triangular notch in the middle of the blade. 

With a slotted base insert, the knife is able to cut through the entire sausage providing a crude method with little sample preparation which lends itself ideally to quick quality determination. It is the most common biting or shearing system for the assessment of meat and meat products. 

This fixture is an empirical technique developed approximately 70 years ago and employed by quality control/assurance personnel and meat researchers. It remains one of the most widely used devices to provide measurements of meat texture quality. 

Figure 5a shows typical texture analysis curves comparing a shearing test on pork and Quorn sausages. The results (as shown in Table 5b) indicate that pork sausages required the larger force and total energy (work) to shear. The shearing of muscle fibres and connective tissue in this product clearly requires much larger energy than the shearing of more finely comminuted products as is such for Quorn which would be perceived by the consumer to have a softer texture.

 










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We can design and manufacture probes or fixtures for the TA.XTplus texture analyser that are bespoke to your sample and its specific measurement.

Once your measurement is performed, our expertise in its graphical interpretation is unparalleled. Not only can we develop the most suitable and accurate method for the testing of your sample, but we can also prepare analysis procedures that obtain the desired parameters from your curve and drop them into a spreadsheet or report designed around your requirements.

For more information on how to measure texture, please visit the Texture Analysis Properties section on our website.

The TA.XTplus texture analyser is part of a family of texture analysis instruments and equipment from Stable Micro Systems. An extensive portfolio of specialist attachments is available to measure and analyse the textural properties of a huge range of food products. Our technical experts can also custom design instrument fixtures according to individual specifications.

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