Cereal Chem 54:534 - 557.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
The Ottawa Starch Viscometer---A New Instrument for Research and Quality Control Applications.

P. W. Voisey, D. Paton, and G. E. Timbers. Copyright 1977 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

A new versatile viscometer for measuring the properties of starch slurries during cooking is described and demonstrated. The effects of sample size, rotational speed, shearing gap size, and starch concentration on the characteristics of the viscosity, time, and temperature relationships were examined to establish optimum test conditions. The instrument records precise viscosity curves and indicates the slurry temperature in the region where it is undergoing shear. The viscometer is simple to calibrate and gives repeatable readings with 70 g of slurry. Essential starch characteristics can be obtained quicker than with existing instruments and more information is available about the initial swelling behavior. These advantages are gained in an instrument that simulates the conditions used in commercial processing. It was concluded that the Ottawa starch viscometer is useful for both research and quality control.