Cereal Chem 38:14 - 21.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

An Apparatus for Measuring the Torsional Strength of Macaroni.

L. P. Karacsonyi and A. C. Borsos. Copyright 1961 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

A device is described for measuring the torsional strength of macaroni and spaghetti. The standard error of the means of ten measurements was 1.79 kg. per cm[2]. A highly significant correlation of + 0.85 was found between torsional strength and bending strength of 25 samples of macaroni but neither of these properties was significantly correlated with the "wet weight" of the macaroni after cooking. However, the smaller the value of the torsional or the bending strength, the more observable were such defects as inelasticity, splitting, checking, or tendency to become sticky upon cooking. This device is particularly useful for detection of hidden failures in macaroni. In a macaroni specimen a fissure running in a straight line along the axis of the cylinder, or very fine irregular cracks or checks, can exist. Such a macaroni may show a rather high bending strength, but when twisted, just as during cooking, it disintegrates.