Probing and Three-Point Bend Methods Compared to Sensory Scales as Measurements for Cookie Texture

Cookies, an important product of the food industry, have distinctive textural attributes that affect consumer perception of quality. Reliable methods of texture evaluation of cookies are important to monitor the manufacture of consistent, consumer acceptable products. Instrumental methods for textural evaluation that correlate with sensory values can help with the speed, cost, and ease of evaluating during processing. A study was conducted to evaluate differences and similarities between two instrumental methods and sensory evaluation of texture evaluation for seven commercially available varieties of cookies (two shortbread, pecan shortbread, a soft and hard sugar cookie, and a soft and hard oatmeal cookie). The probing method involved multiple probes of each cookie and threepoint bending broke the cookie into two pieces to measurement of hardness. Probing a soft cookie gave one smooth peak resulting in only one measurement of maximum peak force. Alternatively, when a hard cookie was probed it gave multiple peaks. The probing method, typically used for softer cookies, used multiple probes to obtain peaks that varied depending on type of cookie. Differences (p