Application Studies / Tofu with Knife Blade

Tofu with Knife Blade

Industry:

Food

Attributes measured:

hardness

firmness

area of work

stiffness

Background

Consumers have clear expectations about the texture of the tofu which they use in their salads, oriental foods and other menus items. Among tofu’s key textural parameters are surface firmness and pliability and interior firmness. While manufacturers sell many different styles of tofu, it is often difficult to consistently produce the same style with the same texture. The industry’s quality control issues are whether it ships tofu which might have drifted from normal consumer expectations for that style, and how can it quantify the texture? We tested several different styles of tofu by the same manufacturer with the TA.XTPlus Texture Analyzer. The tofus were tested in the plastic containers in which they were sold in supermarkets and health food stores after excess water had been drained. The test consisted of penetrating 20 mm into the tofu at a test speed of 2.0 mm/second with a TA-43 knife blade (3 mm thick, 68 mm wide with a flat end).