Dr. Hartel has been teaching Food Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for over 30 years and conducting research on a variety of projects related to phase transitions in foods.
Research
The primary area of research encompasses food engineering with a particular emphasis on phase transitions in foods. Crystallization and glass transitions play an important role in determining textural and physical properties of many food products. Understanding these phase transitions is critical to proper design, development, and control of many food processes. In particular, our research group studies crystallization of ice (freeze concentration, recrystallization in frozen desserts), sugars (refining, confectionery applications) and lipids (milk fat fractionation, mixed lipid crystallization in chocolates and confections) as well as glass transition events of importance to stability and shelf life of foods. This work involves the fundamental understanding of the physical chemistry of these phase transitions, kinetics, and applications of this understanding to real products. In general, we apply these principles to food products like ice cream, confections, chocolate and compound coatings, and dairy products.
For more information please visit http://foodsci.wisc.edu/grad_labs.php#HartelAnchor