DETERMINATION OF CHOCOLATE VISCOSITY

A critical appraisal of the Casson model for measuring chocolate versus a new proposed method is performed. The new method is validated with both research grade rheometers and factory grade viscometers. This includes elements of measurement uncertainty. In this way, a new reference method is validated for the viscosity of chocolate and related cocoa products using factory grade viscometers. It involves recording: (1) the value of the stress at a shear rate of 5 s -1 to represent the yield stress of chocolate, (2) the value of the viscosity at a shear rate of 40 s -1 to represent the high shear viscosity, and (3) the difference between the viscosity measured at a shear rate of 40 s -1 during the ramp up and down in shear rate to represent thixotropy. Results relate to the solid to liquid glass transition of dispersions under applied stress, and it is shown that they reflect existing theories of stress induced formation and rupture of fractal aggregates, for particle crowded colloidal suspensions with low interaction energy.