Ketchup's main ingredients are tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, salt, and spices. The components are mixed and cooked during manufacturing, and the tomato solids concentration is measured to guarantee consistency in taste and colour. Additionally, ketchup manufacturers use natural fertilisers and pesticides to address concerns about the use of chemicals.
Introduction
Whether you love burgers or French fries, tomato ketchup is the ultimate partner for your comfort food. One of the leading names in tomato ketchup is Kissan ketchup.
From using it while cooking to using it as a dip, the versatility of ketchup makes it very popular in households.
But how is your favourite tomato ketchup made?
Tomato sauce, when combined with water, vinegar, sugar, salt, and herbs, makes tomato ketchup. The "Hot Break" method is often used to prepare tomato paste.
This process involves heating the pulped tomatoes to 200°F (90°C). The pectin’s gelling property is released during high-pressure homogenisation, which gives the ketchup the desired viscosity.
Thickeners, based on starch, may also be present in ketchup.
Before jumping onto the tomato ketchup production method, let us first learn about its history.
Did you know? The world record for the most giant ketchup bottle was set in 2001 in Collinsville, Illinois. The bottle, which stands 4 feet tall and weighs 770 kg, contains enough ketchup to fill 32,000 regular-sized bottles!
History of Tomato Ketchup
The first known form of tangy sauce can be traced back to ancient China. It was a brine made from shellfish known as "ke-tsiap".
Sometimes, pickled fish were also used in the brine. Incorporating various herbs, fish brine, and spices, "ketchup" was adapted by neighbouring nations.
While visiting Malaysia and places around Singapore in the late 16th century, English sailors instantly liked the flavour so much that they repurchased the sauce with them.
Due to a lack of availability of some exotic Asian ingredients used in ketchup making, English chefs had to innovate and add different ingredients to match the flavour of the original batch.
Some of these ingredients include cucumbers, almonds, mushrooms, and oysters.
Ingredients in Ketchup
Tomato ketchup contains various ingredients, including spices, tomatoes, vegetables, and preservatives such as sugar, alginate as a stabiliser, spice extracts, vinegar, acetic acid, onions, garlic, and chillies. It also contains salt (sodium chloride).
Also Read: What is the Process of Juice Manufacturing [Packaging and Processing Explained]
About Tomato Ketchup Manufacturing
Before getting to the step-by-step manufacturing process of tomato ketchup, we will look at some of the points to consider while making tomato ketchup.
- The composition may vary due to various factors during the tomato ketchup manufacturing process. Maintaining the desired viscosity is necessary to ensure quality products.
- To increase water retention capacity, filter fibrous strands in tomatoes. After mixing, a high-pressure homogeniser is used for the desired consistency.
- Reduced solid content produces a thicker product. Hence, this technique can also be employed to boost yields.
- The second processing method gives ketchup the desired viscosity. This process involves thickening additives such as xanthan gum, pectin, or starch. Moreover, high-pressure homogenisation is avoided in the second processing method.
- Any approach requires a mixing apparatus that disperses powdered ingredients into the water to get a finished product devoid of agglomerates.
Now, let us read about the raw materials involved in tomato sauce manufacturing.
Raw Materials Used in the Tomato Ketchup Procedure
The main ingredients in your favourite ketchup are tomatoes, sugar, salt, vinegar, spices, onions, garlic, and other flavourings.
Typically, granulated cane sugar or beetroot sugar is used as a sweetener.
Dextrose or liquid sugar in the form of maize syrup or glucose syrup are additional sweeteners. The white vinegar aids in keeping the ketchup fresh.
Allspice, cassia, cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, pepper, ginger, mustard, and paprika are common spices that improve tomato flavour.
Some producers think that whole spices offer a better, milder flavours than ground or oil-based spices. Premixed or encapsulated spices are used in more contemporary processes.
However, they are easier to use but more expensive.
Step-by-step Process of Manufacturing Tomato Ketchup
The manufacturing process of tomato ketchup in a factory includes several steps, as follows:
1. Pulping
Tomatoes are precooked and sliced before being pumped into cyclones or machines that separate the pulp from the seeds, skins, and stems. Some of this pulp is preserved as a paste for use later in the year.
The majority is filtered via screens and processed further into ketchup.
The modest variations in ketchup formulations between brands are mostly due to variations in spices or flavourings. A higher ratio of sugar and spices to tomato juice is needed for a thicker consistency.
Sometimes formulas must be slightly modified to remove any fluctuations in tomato acid and sugar content. This usually happens when growing conditions change.
2. Adding Ingredients and Cooking
Pumped into cooking tanks or kettles, the pulp is heated to boiling and maintained at a temperature higher than 80°C. The tomato pulp is mixed with measured proportions of sugars, vinegar, salt, spices, and flavourings.
To prevent evaporation, volatile oils are not introduced early in the boiling process with spices, salt, and sugar.
Typically, dehydrated onion or garlic powders purchased from various companies are added. Rotating blades inserted in cookers or kettles circulate the mixture as it cooks for 30 to 45 minutes. The temperature is carefully controlled to ensure the components are absorbed without overcooking.
3. Finishing
The ketchup mixture is then processed via a finishing machine when cooking is finished. Finishers use screens to remove extra fibre and particles, resulting in a smoother consistency.
Ketchup is sometimes milled at higher temperatures and pressures for a smoother consistency.
4. Removing Air
To prevent discolouration and bacterial growth, ketchup is de-aerated. Unpleasant air pockets could result from too much air, hindering the closing process.
5. Filling
The ketchup temperature must not drop below 88°C as it moves from the receiving tanks to the filling machines to avoid contamination. The ketchup is immediately sealed in the containers to maintain product freshness after being filled.
Ketchup containers come in different sizes and forms.
6. Cooling
The containers are cooled to avoid flavour loss through stack burning, which happens when ketchup remains at high temperatures after cooking is finished. Ketchup containers are chilled in cold water or cold air.
Also Read: Why Does Fruitcake Last So Long? [Manufacturing Process Explained]
7. Labelling and Packing
The ketchup containers are also labelled and labelled with information about the product. This includes the ingredients, the date, the place of manufacture, and the shelf life.
Before delivery, the bottled ketchup could undergo another inspection. Typically, the complete process of making ketchup takes two to three hours.
Advantages of the Industrial Ketchup Production
There are some advantages of the production of tomato ketchup in industries, which are as follows:
- Technology: Due to advanced technology, quick thickener and stabiliser dispersion significantly shorten the processing time.
- Texture: The finished product has a smooth texture with enhanced colour from increased ingredients.
- Homogeniser: The homogeniser can process the product faster and with fewer passes since the product being fed into it is homogenous and has small particles.
- Mixer: After homogenisation, a mixer can be used as a "polishing step" to enhance ketchup's texture, viscosity, and gloss.
Quality Control
Sampling the product at various stages of manufacture ensures ketchup quality. Tomato producers must follow the rules for pesticides and fertilisers.
- Sustainability: Natural fertilisers and pesticides address growing concerns.
- Safety measures: Safety measures, including inspections of ingredients and processing machinery, are taken during tomato ketchup processing.
- De-aeration: De-aeration during production can prevent colour deepening due to oxidation, but oxidation can still occur after containers are opened.
- Consistency: Maintaining consistency in the colour and flavour of ketchup depends on the concentration of tomato solids.
- Quality: Ketchup's physical consistency determines its quality, with higher grades obtained at slower speeds.
Conclusion
By creating tomato strains that are superior in colour, flavour, and firmness, ketchup producers continue to raise their products' standards. To reduce chemical pesticides, tomato hybrids are being developed to increase disease resistance.
For a healthier option, ketchup producers developed low-calorie ketchup with low-salt substitutes. Manufacturers have created salsa-style ketchup with less sugar.
This is mostly used in Spanish salsas and marinades to enhance flavour. Because consumers want safer, more practical, and recyclable containers, packaging technology is improving.
We've got every last bit of information about one of the world's favourite sauces. This includes its unexpected global history and the answer to the question, "How is ketchup produced?"
After learning how tomato ketchup is manufactured, it gives that omnipresent red bottle a whole new perspective.
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