DEVICE WITH ADVANCED TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR TEXTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FOOD

摘要

The invention relates to a device intended to determine the texture of food at various positive or negative temperatures. According to the invention, the device comprises a heating/cooling unit having three Peltier heating/cooling elements (9) which are cooled with recycled refrigerating medium and a detachable temperature-control chamber which comprises, in its turn, a cylinder (18) provided at its bottom with a screw (19) and laterally with an orifice (O) for a temperature sensor (22) intended for measuring the real temperature of a food sample (1), a teflon-like polymeric cover (20) having at its top a central orifice (O) for introducing and moving a specific strain body (25), the temperature of the food sample (1) within the cylinder (18) being maintained constant, within the range of 0.1°C by means of a differential control system comprising the temperature sensor (22) introduced into the food sample (1), another temperature sensor (23) mounted within a contact and heat transfer plate (7) and a differential electronic thermostat (21).