The new Noodle/Pasta Loop Tensile Rig from Stable Micro Systems can help processors improve the resilience and consumer appeal of their cooked sheet pasta and noodle products, the company claimed.
"The Noodle/Pasta Loop Tensile Rig allows manufacturers to perfect the formulation of their products with the aid of repeatable, scientific analysis," stated Stable Micro Systems.
"This, in turn, leads to enhanced customer satisfaction."
Pasta processors normally set consumer guidelines for cooking times through extensive trials to ensure that consumers can produce ideal results at home.
The new device will give them a more accurate testing method the company claimed.
"In an age of increasing culinary sophistication and a more discerning consumer, finding a precise solution for creating the preferred 'al dente' pasta is of paramount importance," stated Stable Micro Systems.
The device attaches to the company's already existing TA.XTPlus texture analyzer.
It measures the force required to stretch cooked pasta or noodle samples to breaking point, providing a measure of their extensibility.
Previous clamping methods have encountered difficulties due to unequal pressure and failing at the sample mounting points, the company claimed.
"It is important that the product breaks within the gauge length in order to guarantee accurate test data," Stable Micro Systems stated.
"For this reason, the new rig comprises a unique annular sample cutter, producing a sample shape that impedes breakage at the holding points."
Prior to testing, workers must mount the samples to a separating rod fixture on washers specifically designed to prevent the noodles from breaking at the point of attachment.
The upper rod undergoes a vertical movement until the pasta breaks, while software records the force required to do so.
"Controlled testing not only provides unambiguous quality assessment standards but can also indicate how a product may react to further processing during manufacture," the company stated.
Stable Micro Systems' range of texture analysis fixtures also include a cooked pasta firmness and stickiness rig and a dried spaghetti flexure rig.