About
Expert Pea Grading
Tenderometer.eu exclusively supply the Tenderometer system for pea maturity measurement in the UK and Europe. We have worked with these systems for many years and have developed a great working knowledge of their features and applications.
Food Technology Corporation approached us in 2015 to supply the Tenderometer in the UK as a result of our success in providing their other products. After five successful years we were appointed the exclusive European and UK distributors of FoodTechCorp Tenderometer systems in 2020. Over thirty systems have been sold in Europe and the UK over the last two years.
Tenderometer.eu is a trading name of Spectronic CamSpec Ltd, scientific laboratory instrument suppliers.
History
Tenderometer systems have been around since 1966, when the Kramer shear cell was first designed for determining the ripeness of peas.
The modern Tenderometer system we supply today has been recently revised to include a guard and other refinements. It is still founded on the same principles as the original Kramer shear cell. It remains the instrument of choice for testing peas and legumes since 1966.
Application
Peas must be vined, transported, graded and frozen all within a time critical window of 150 minutes, therefore ensuring crop quality is retained throughout harvest.
The Tenderometer is used firstly to decide the optimal time to vine. Samples are taken from around the field and tested, giving an indication of their ripeness. It is then used to grade the peas, based on their texture.
High grade peas are the top brand, Birds Eye peas, while the harder, low grade peas are excellent for soups and pot noodles. This is because they maintain their physical properties when exposed to the high temperature retort process.
While the peas are kept in storage, before being shipped out to retailers, they are periodically defrosted and tested by Tenderometer again for quality control.
