A new sensory vocabulary for crisp and crunchy dry model foods

The creation of a sensory descriptive panel for dry crusted, ‘crispy’ and ‘crunchy’ food products is presented. A sensory vocabulary comprising appearance, odour, taste, texture and sound is developed and the panel is trained to use these attributes. Model deep-fried battered snack and baked bread food products are used in the experiments with this panel. Special attention is given to ageing of the model products, and the effects this has on the sensory perception. The separation of the sensory assessment in a ‘first bite’ and a ‘during chewing’ phase turns out to be useful for this type of products, as does the inclusion of sound attributes. The vocabulary allowed both the effect of ageing and the differences between model products to be investigated in considerable detail.