Measuring Sauce Texture: Dispensing from Actuated Product Containers

Actuation Force test

Actuation Force Testing allows measurement of the force required to, for example, release mustard, ketchup or salad dressing  from dispensers, such as is found in fast food restaurants. 

Manually-actuated spray pump dispensers or finger pumps rely on the consumer to generate a hydraulic pressure in the pumping engine in order to dispense the fluid. 

Dispenser designs may change or vary or the every-increasing market for child friendly products may require adaptations.

Measuring Sauce Texture: Sachet/Tube Content Removal

The sauce market is diverse and the number of types of sauces is growing, whilst the product definitions are blurring between countries. 

Over the past years the more traditional table sauces have developed with new flavours and different packaging, and can now be seen being used as dips and marinades – a far cry from the conservative character these products had in the past.

A large proportion of condiments  and gravy stocks are now being produced in sachet or tube portions for quick and easy use, as well as to facilitate long-term storage. For products in tubes, the ability to squeeze the product out effectively is essential and is fundamental to its ease of removal from the packaging when required.

Measuring Sauce Texture: Extrudability

One of the most recent interesting innovations in the soups market was the launch of a range of Squeeze and Stir cup soups, made from concentrated purée rather than powder. These are designed to be squeezed into a cup and mixed with boiling water.

Extrudability is the work required to push or force out (or expel) a product. For products in tubes, such as syrups and icings, removal of the contents relies upon the consumer squeezing the packaging to extrude the product.

The ability to squeeze the product out effectively is essential and the consistency of the contents of a tube or sachet is therefore fundamental to its ease of removal from the packaging when required. 

Measuring Sauce Texture: Stickiness, Tailing & Stringiness

There are differences between types of sauces; tomato ketchup has a short character, whilst Asian sauces, like chilli sauce, tend to be more long in character. This textural difference is also highlighted in spoon coating and tailing when deposited.

In some foods, cohesive and adhesive properties greatly influence the performance of food before consumption, and the perception of texture in the mouth. Stickiness is commonly viewed as a negative food attribute, but in certain foods (like sweet sauces and syrups), a level of stickiness is not only tolerable but desirable. In semisolids, the stickiness is caused by sugars, fats, gums, starches or mixes of these ingredients.

Measuring Sauce Texture: Consistency and Cohesiveness

Back extrusion test for assessment of consistency

TESTING HOMOGENEOUS SEMI-SOLIDS: e.g. syrups, caramel, thick gravies, table sauces, ready meal sauces.

There is now diversity and new opportunities in formulating “table sauces”, both sweet and savoury, with a wide variety of flavours, rheological and textural properties which can be obtained or modified using different types and concentration of ingredients.

By controlling formulation and processing, a wide range of physical properties can be produced. In describing the consistency of foods, terms like “mouthfeel”, “body” and “stringiness” can all be understood and require a method for measurement.

It’s all in the Sauce – Measuring Mouthfeel

Sauces are the culinary workhorse of the food world. They add colour, a concentrated burst of complementary or contrasting flavour, and texture to everything from salads and pasta to meat and fish. 

Savoury or sweet, hot or cold, thin or thick, a topping or a mix-in, sauces have crossed cultural borders and are part of virtually all major cuisines. And sauces and soup products are flying off store shelves as consumers look for ways to enhance recipes.