Food shearing testing is a very popular test used in food texture analysis

It is common since many foods are first sliced or “sheared” by the front incisors when introduced to the mouth.

There are many different variations on the basic shear testing apparatus such as razor blades, V shaped blades, rounded blades and straight blades. We also offer a wire shear test cell for softer product like cheese and butter. Some versions such as the Warner-Bratzler meat shear design are somewhat standardized toward a particular type of food.

Although the description of “shear testing” is commonly given to any test that uses a cutting action to apply a stress to a food sample, the true engineering definition of shear, does not employ a blade but refers to a material being stressed from two opposite directions and then shearing within it’s own structure.