OBJECTIVE

To determine moisture content of cream cracker through forced draft oven.

To determine moisture content of cream cracker through moisture analyser.
To determine the difference of the mass between raw and dried samples.

INTRODUCTION
One of the most commonly measured of food properties material is moisture content.
The analysis will improved product quality through 100% convenience and confidence in
packaging of shipping process. Low moisture content enhances the keeping qualities of the
product. The methods depend on measuring mass of water in a known mass of sample. The
moisture content is determined by measuring the mass of food before and after the water is
removed by evaporation:
Moisture (%) = (weight moisture / weight of sample) x 100
To obtain an accurate moisture content measurement, it is necessary to isolate all of
the water molecules that were originally present in foods without changing the mass of the
food matrix. The drying conditions used in evaporation method are usually regulated in terms
of temperature and time so the results obtain are accurate. However, if the drying times are
too long or temperature is too high, one runs the risk of decomposing carbohydrates, which
generate water or volatizing dry matter, thus leading to false high reading in moisture.
Moisture content is an important factor in baking dough with high water content, such
as cream cracker biscuits. Low moisture content enhances the keeping qualities of the
biscuits. Evenness of the moisture content from the centre to the outside of the biscuit
requires penetrative heat and sufficient time for baking and cooling to avoid cracks in the
biscuits after packing.
Cream cracker biscuits differ from other baked cereal products such as bread and
cakes by having low moisture content. Bread typically has 35 45% moisture, cake, 15
30%, and biscuits, 1 5% moisture. This low moisture content ensures that crackers are
generally free from microbiological spoilage and have a long shelf life if they are protected
from absorbing moisture from damp surroundings or atmosphere.

CONCLUSION
Based on the result, mean of the moisture content of the sample was -1.1513. The
result was not perpendicular to the theory because the weight of the sample is higher after dry
in the oven. The moisture absorbs the sample which is exposed to the air. Its necessary to dry
the sample before the experiment to have minimal errors. As the recommendation, the
condition of the oven must 24 hours opened when dry the sample. After dry, when cooling
down the sample to the room temperature in the desiccator, not to cool it over the
approximate time. Next, the sensitivity error occurs when weighing the sample using
analytical balance. The balance does not give a stable reading because of air in and out when
the sliding-doors are open. To avoid, we must ensure that the condition of the analytical
balance is good before entering weigh the sample.