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Texture characteristics of solidified plain chocolate and milk chocolate were determined in instrumental and sensory studies. The instrumental parameters included compression strength, melting properties, maximum tensile force during hesion testing and the maximum size of dispersed solid components. To classify the sensory texture impressions into intensity ranges, by using appropriate samples, a reference scale was derived allowing a sensory panel to assign unknown chocolate samples to the respective intensity ranges. Instrumental control of the reference samples ensures satisfactory relations between instrumental and sensory data.

Instrumental studies of chocolate are used to investigate the influence of composition, fat content and type of fat on the texture of different plain chocolates and milk chocolates. The quality of the replacement fat influences the texture more than the fat content. As a result of the chocolate's after‐crystallization and recrystallization during storage, the composition's influence are increasingly intensified.

The texture characteristics of chocolate are greatly influenced by processing conditions. By means of instrumental texture studies the effect of variations in the conching process parameters, of precrystallization and after‐crystallization during storage is illustrated. In order to compare the results, the exact precrystallization of the chocolate masses before moulding is of special importance.

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