THE MANUFACTURE OF TOMATO PRODUCTS TEXT

If a crown seal, either plain or of the self-opening type, is used as the closure, a pure cork insert should be used. As mentioned in a previous chapter, the composition cork insert does not work as well on wide-mouthed bottles as it does on those with a narrow mouth. The remarks which were made on the packing of No. 10 and gallon catsup also apply to the packing of chili sauce in these sizes. Microscopical Counts The counts of molds, yeasts and spores, and bacteria in chili sauce usually run very low. I have never seen a sample that ran high in molds, and very few that ran high in the other counts. The molds seldom run higher than 10, and counts of zero are often obtained. This is because practically all of the mold in tomatoes is on the outside and clings to the peeling. When the peeling is removed the mold is removed. As the peeled tomatoes are usually cut and cooked immediately after they are peeled, there is very little opportunity for the multiplication of yeasts and bacteria. Pulping the Trimmings Trimming pulp, or “skin and core,” as it is sometimes called, is made from that part of the tomato which is removed when the tomatoes are peeled. This consists of the peeling, with the tomato substance which clings to it, and the hard core at the stem end of the tomato. In as much as practically all of the mold in or on the tomatoes is retained in the trimmings, it is not an easy matter to work these trimmings up into a product which will mark up to the government requirements, and do it economically. If the tomatoes are firm and largely free from cracks around the stem end it is not so bad, but when they come in badly cracked, with tufts of mold growing in all the cracks, as is often the case late in the season, the amount of labor required to properly sort them makes the working up of trimmings unprofitable. When the trimmings show up fairly well, and the labor to handle them is available, there is no reason why the chili sauce packer or tomato canner should not utilize what would otherwise be a waste by turning it into pulp or “trimming catsup.” Government Attitude on Trimming Pulp The government does not object to the manufacture of tomato products from trimmings, but they demand that the product comply with the regulations as to micro-organisms, and that it be sold for exactly what it is, and if put up for sale to the consuming public, that it be labeled—“made from pieces of tomatoes,” or, “made from tomato trimmings,” or, if small tomatoes are worked up with the trimmings, “made from small tomatoes and tomato trimmings,” or, “made from small tomatoes and pieces of tomatoes.” Method of Handling Tomatoes When Trimmings Are Pulped If the trimmings are to be pulped the tomatoes must be very carefully sorted, and thoroughly washed, preferably in a rotary washer. As it is practically impossible to sort or wash the trimmings, the tomatoes must be in almost perfect condition when they enter the scalder. Washing the trimmings carries away too much of the tomato substance which clings to them, and sorting is not practicable, as the soft rot and mold becomes incorporated in the entire mass and it is impossible to separate it. The peelers can not be depended upon to sort out any substantial amount of rot when they do the peeling. Therefore the only thing that can be done toward keeping down the micro-organisms is _painstaking sorting of the whole tomatoes and thorough washing_ to keep out the mold, having the conveying equipment and tanks clean, and bringing the trimmings to a boil quickly to prevent multiplication of yeasts and bacteria. It is wise to steam out the peeling buckets and bucket conveyors at noon, as well as at quitting time, as the juice which lies in them is constantly undergoing fermentation. When the trimmings are pulped, either alone or with the small tomatoes, the tomatoes are all washed and sorted before they are graded. The trimmings should be cooked before they are run through the pulp finisher, so as to get all of the clinging tomato substance cooked away from the skin. The density to which to cook the trimmings can be judged fairly well by the eye, or the specific gravity test by weighing can be used. The pulp is canned the same as whole pulp. CHAPTER XII THE MANUFACTURE OF TOMATO SOUP Convenience and Economy of Canned Soup Canned tomato soup is a commodity which is increasing in favor with the housewife. The old method of preparing this soup in the home was to open a can of tomatoes, strain it through a colander, and stew it, adding butter, salt, sugar, spices, flour, and perhaps soda and milk. The modern way is to immerse a can of condensed tomato soup in boiling water for five minutes, open it, and mix the contents with an equal volume of hot water or hot milk. How much more convenient the modern way is, and when the quality is just as good and often better than can be obtained the long troublesome way, it is natural that canned tomato soup should become increasingly popular. Buying the canned soup is also cheaper than buying the canned tomatoes and making the soup from them. Factors Upon Which Success Depends The maker of tomato soup should be a crank on quality. There is no other tomato product in which quality is at a greater premium. In catsup and chili sauce, heavy spicing and mixing with lots of vinegar and sugar help to mask the tomato flavor, but in soup the spicing is light, no vinegar is used, and being eaten as a food in itself, instead of as a condiment with which to flavor a food, the palate quickly detects inferiority. Also, the palate is just as quick to detect that pleasing fresh tomato taste which should be the basis of all good soup. The quality of the tomato stock is the real important thing. Fresh tomatoes may be used or a fine grade of pulp may be used, and either will make an excellent soup. With poor tomato stock a good soup cannot be made no matter what you do to it. Spicing artistically, and making rich by the use of plenty of good butter, will not make amends for poor quality of tomato stock. To succeed in making tomato soup the manufacturer must at least make good on the following counts: first, his soup must be palatable, that is, pleasing, to the taste with no lingering unpleasant after-taste; second, it must not be too sweet or too sour; third, it must be uniform in consistency, smooth when poured out of the can, and must not get lumpy or grainy after being in storage a long time; fourth, it must not curdle fresh milk, even though the housewife adds no baking soda when mixing milk with it; fifth, it must be reasonable in price and attractively packed in popular sizes. Unpalatability I will discuss these points a little further. What makes tomato pulp unpalatable and what causes an unpleasant after-taste? The most common cause is poor tomato stock, or tomato stock which has been overcooked. Such a foundation for soup will almost invariably leave a lingering unpleasant after-taste in the mouth. Another thing is too much flour, masking the flavor of the tomato and giving it a somewhat “pasty” taste. Another thing is the injudicious use of spices, producing unpopular flavors, or using one spice, such as bay leaves, for instance, in such large proportion that almost every other flavor is masked. None of these defects are rare in tomato soups, and they all cause unpalatability to some extent. Proper Sweetness Getting proper sweetness is not nearly so easy as one might suppose. It is not so difficult when the soup is made from fresh tomatoes, although even then every batch must be tasted after all but a few pounds of the sugar is added, and the amount of sugar varied according to the sweetness of the tomatoes. When the weather is moderately dry, with plenty of sunshine, the tomatoes are usually sweet and do not require so much sugar, but tomatoes which ripen during rainy, dark, cold days are not so sweet, and a little more sugar is needed. When making soup from canned pulp it is necessary to watch the sweetness of the pulp very close, and it may be necessary for the cook to vary the sugar on a 100–gallon batch ten or fifteen pounds during a day’s run. Canned pulp often varies greatly in sweetness, and if held in storage for many months it often loses some of its sweetness on account of the action of living, acid forming bacteria, which may not be present in large amount, but nevertheless, in time, have a noticeable effect on the sweetness of the pulp. When pulp is purchased for the purpose of making soup its sweetness should be one of the first considerations in passing judgment on it. Gradual Souring of Pulp When the soup manufacturer makes his own pulp and works it up into soup during the winter months he will probably find that he will save on his sugar bill if he will pack the pulp in No. 10 cans and sterilize it—at least that part of the pulp which must be held in storage several months. In this way living, acid forming bacteria are killed, and the danger of the pulp losing its sweetness during months of storage is greatly minimized. The fact that the gradual souring of pulp in 5–gal. cans, even though very slight, is due to the action of living, acid forming bacteria can hardly be doubted. Bacteriological tests supplemented by chemical analyses would determine the matter definitely, but there is evidence in the experience of every canner to show that this souring is due to the fact that the pulp is not sterile. Canned tomatoes are always sterilized and can be kept in storage for years without losing their sweetness. Pulp packed in 5–gallon cans is not sterilized and quite a after-sterilization percentage of it will lose much of its sweetness on being stored for six months, and after being stored a year still more is lost. It takes hundreds of pounds of expensive sugar to make up for this loss of sweetness when the pulp is made into soup. Sampling Of course, a cook is not infallible in his judgment as to just what is the right sweetness and he needs the co-operation of others at the factory. The factory manager should make it a point to sample the soup several times a day, and also to have others sample it. It is better to have it just a little less sweet than it should be than to have it too sweet. The consumer can always add a little sugar but cannot take any out. The third point mentioned above—that of uniform consistency and smoothness, will be discussed fully under the cooking and shaking processes. Proper Acidity I stated as the fourth point that the soup should not curdle fresh milk, even though no soda is added by the housewife. One of the favorite ways of preparing canned tomato soup in the home is to mix it with an equal quantity of hot milk. The experienced housewife knows enough to add a pinch of soda to the milk before adding the soup, and she may also know that she will get a smoother mixture if she slowly pours the soup into the milk, stirring constantly, than if she pours the milk into the soup. The inexperienced housewife does not know these things, and often she opens the can and mixes it with milk without reading the admonition on the label as to how the cream of tomato soup should be prepared. Sometimes she forgets to add the soda, or does not thoroughly dissolve it, or does not add enough of it, and then there is disappointment. In order to guard against such disappointments the soup canner should so prepare his product that curdling of the milk cannot occur under any method of mixing. The way to do this is to add enough soda to the soup to reduce the acidity to a point where it will not curdle fresh milk, whether the soup is poured into the milk or the milk into the soup. The canner can then print a notice on the label of the can to the effect that it is not necessary to add soda to this soup when preparing it as “cream of tomato,” as the soda is already in it. The acidity of the tomato is the active principle which causes the milk to curdle. If this acidity runs 0.60% it will curdle the milk badly. If it is reduced to 0.50% it will still curdle the milk, but if it is reduced to 0.40% it will not curdle the milk, if the milk is fresh. The aim of the soup maker should therefore be to keep the acidity of the soup between 0.30 and 0.40%, not allowing it to go above or below these limits. If it is reduced below 0.30% the flavor of the tomato begins to be effected—in fact, if possible, it is best to keep the acidity between 0.35 and 0.40% to avoid any possibility of loss of tomato flavor. Now, the packer will ask—“How am I going to do this acidity testing? I’m not a chemist, and have no chemist at my factory, or any laboratory.” The acidity test on pulp and soup is a very simple one. The equipment required scarcely amounts to anything, as the sample can be taken by volume. Any chemist will be glad to show you how to make this test and to secure for you the few accessories needed. Why is there less danger of curdling if the soup is poured into the milk than if the milk is poured into the soup? The soup contains all the acid, and the milk contains none. If the soup is poured into the milk slowly, with stirring, the acid is slowly added to the milk, and is diluted, there being at the beginning of the mixing a very small volume of acid and a large amount of milk. If, however, the milk is added to the soup, a small volume of milk is at first being thrown into a large volume of acid, and naturally the danger of curdling is considerably increased. But if the acidity of the soup is not above 0.40% and the milk is fresh, there will not be an appreciable amount of curdling no matter which way the two are mixed. A statement as to the proper way of mixing with milk should be made on the label. Price and Quality That the soup, to be a success, must be popular in price and packed in convenient sizes is self evident, and there is no need of dwelling on this point. Practically all of the tomato soup on the market is packed either in the 10½ oz. or 16 oz. size, and almost all of it is cheap in comparison with other foods, but it is a mistake to cut the quality one iota in order to shade the price. The mark for quality should be set at the highest point possible and the price to correspond. The canner may book a lot of new business with a low price and mediocre quality but he is not likely to hold it. Almost anyone would rather pay a cent a can more and get better quality. Microscopical Counts The first operations in soup making are the same as in pulp. The same care must be taken in sorting and washing the tomatoes, and the government authorities put soup on the same basis as other tomato products when it comes to microscopical analysis. The fact that soup contains flour and butter makes the counting of yeasts, spores, and bacteria under the microscope a difficult operation. The molds, however, show up almost as well in soup as they do in pulp. Beginning the Cook and Adding Soda The tomatoes must be cycloned before they are converted into soup. Crushed tomatoes will not do. The cycloned juice for each batch is measured in the same manner as for catsup, and any of the types of cooking kettles that are used for catsup are satisfactory for soup. For a 100 gallon batch of finished soup, using the amount of flour I am going to recommend, about 28 or 29 bushels of tomatoes will be required. As soon as all of the tomato juice for the batch is boiling in the cooking kettle the soda is added. The amount of bicarbonate of soda to use depends upon whether the soup is being made from fresh tomatoes or pulp, and if made from pulp the soda should be varied according to the pulp’s acidity. It is nearly always necessary to use more soda in pulp than in fresh tomatoes, and if the pulp is old goods which has lost much of its sweetness, and in which the acid has been increased by the slow but telling action of living bacteria, still more soda must be used. For fresh tomatoes 18 to 20 oz. of soda is enough for a batch of 100 gallons when finished, but for pulp, as high as 30 oz. may be required. If it takes more than this to reduce the acidity of the pulp to the proper point, that pulp had better be used for some other purpose than soup. There is a limit as to the amount of soda that can be added without loss of tomato flavor. The soda is added a little at a time while the pulp or tomato juice is boiling. The cook must allow considerable room for effervescing, so that the formation of the carbonic acid gas will not cause much of the contents to be lost by flowing over the top of the kettle. Cutting the foaming tomato juice with a sharp spray from the hose will help to keep the effervescing mass down. Butter, Spices and Onions After the effervescence from the addition of the soda has stopped, the butter, spice, and onion are added. Of course, the more butter that is added the richer the soup will be, but the idea should be to give the soup the butter flavor without adding so much that the cost will mount up beyond a reasonable limit. I would suggest 6 or 7 lbs. of butter to 100 gallons of finished soup. The butter will so thoroughly distribute itself during the boiling that every drop of the soup will contain practically the same amount. It is not necessary to use a fancy print of butter. If the butter is a little mottled, or the salt isn’t quite as evenly incorporated in it as it should be it makes no difference, as the butter fat and salt all become evenly distributed in the soup after boiling for a minute or two. The butter, however, should be sweet and clean. Rancid butter should not be used. Soup should not be heavily spiced, as many people do not like highly seasoned soups, and if it isn’t hot enough for some consumers they can add as much pepper as they want to. So far as I know the spices most commonly used are white pepper, paprika, cassia, mace, cloves, bay leaves, and celery salt. Black pepper should not be used at it makes black specks in the soup which are apt to be mistaken for dirt. About 7 oz. of white pepper to 100 gallons of finished soup will give it sufficient spiciness. If paprika is used this can be cut down somewhat. Cassia, mace or cloves are used in small amount, 1 oz. of either being ample. Pepper, cloves, and cassia are added at the beginning of the cooking and mace is added just a few minutes before the flour. It is said that celery salt gives tomato soup a very nice flavor but I have never tried it. Some people like bay leaves, but I have tasted canned tomato soup with a very decided bay leaf taste which I thought was about as poor as any soup I have ever tasted. The onions are chopped the same as for catsup, and 4 lbs. is about the right amount for 100 gallons of soup. Sugar and Salt The sugar can be added at any time after the spices, butter, and onions, but about 5 lbs. should be held back from the average amount being used, figuring that we are cooking a 100 gallon batch, and after the sugar and salt is in, the contents of the kettle should be tasted before the balance of the sugar is added. It may be that the last 5 lbs. are not needed, or it may be that all of it is needed and also an additional 5 lbs. For fresh tomatoes about 25 or 30 lbs. of sugar may be sufficient for a 100 gallon batch, and for pulp it may be necessary to use as much as 50 lbs. or even 60 lbs. in some cases. After the condensation has continued until the boiling mass is of the consistency of thin pulp the salt is added. The same grade of salt is