Relating Sensory and Instrumental Texture Analyses of Atlantic Salmon

Sensory‐evaluated hardness of smoked Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar L.) was correlated with various response variables from instrumental texture analysis of raw or smoked cutlets (25 mm thick) using 4 different probes: 12.5‐ and 23‐ mm‐dia cylinders, a Warner‐Bratzler blade, and a 25.4‐mm‐dia sphere. Sensory hardness correlated significantly with analyses using all mechanical methods, but it was most accurately predicted by the 12.5‐mm‐dia cylinder in raw salmon (force and area at 90% compression; r = 0.70, P < 0.0001), and by the 23‐mm‐dia cylinder in smoked salmon (force at 90% compression and the area from origo to the 1st significant break; r = 0.63 to 0.64, P < 0.0001).