Tomato ketchup is a condiment made by mixing concentrated tomato paste with water, sugar, vinegar, salt and seasonings. The tomato paste is typically manufactured using the “Hot Break” method. With this method, pulped tomatoes are heated to 200˚F (90˚C).
Adding ingredients and cooking
- 4 The pulp is pumped into cooking tanks or kettles and heated to boiling. Foaming may occur if fresh tomato pulp is used, but can be corrected with anti-foaming compounds or compressed air. Precise amounts of sweeteners, vinegar, salt, spices, and flavorings are added to the tomato pulp. Most spices are added early in the cooking process. To avoid excessive evaporation, volatile spice oils and vinegar must be mixed in later. Onions and garlic can be mixed in with the spices, placed in a separate bag, or chopped and added to the pulp. Salt and sugar may be added at any stage of cooking though it is better to add sugar later to prevent burning. The mixture cooks for 30-45 minutes and is circulated by rotating blades installed in the cookers. The temperature must be carefully regulated to insure absorption of the ingredients without overcooking, which creates a flat body.
- 5 Once the cooking is complete, the ketchup mixture passes through a finishing machine. Finishers remove excess fiber and particles through screens, creating a smoother consistency. The ketchup passes to a holding tank before further processing.
- 6 The ketchup may be milled at higher temperatures and pressures to achieve a smoother consistency.
Preparing tomatoes
- 2 Tomatoes are harvested mechanically between June and July. The fruit is commonly conveyed by water from the trucks into a flume, or an inclined channel. The water method washes the tomatoes and protects them from bruising while they pass from the truck to the factory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture or state inspectors approve and grade tomatoes to meet initial requirements. The tomatoes are sorted, washed, and chopped. Next, precooking, or scaling, in stainless steel vats preserves the tomatoes and destroys bacteria.
The history of ketchup and the history of advertising are inextricably intertwined. This is especially true in the case of the H.J. Heinz Company, a firm that pioneered many elements of the prepared food business and the modern advertising industry.
Born in 1844, Henry John Heinz began helping his mother with her gardens along the Allegheny River, just east of Pittsburgh, when he was nine years old. He learned business practices while working as a bookkeeper for his fathers brickyard and at night school. By his teens he was employing three women to help process garden products and bottling his mothers horseradish for distribution. Heinz distinguished his horseradish from his competitors by using clear glass bottles to emphasize the products purity.
Twenty years later, Heinz was operating another family food processing firm. Riding the New York elevator one day in 1892, he saw a sign advertising 21 varieties of shoes. He took the concept, came up with a figure of 57 because he thought it was a memorable number, and created the catch phrase “Heinz 57 Varieties.”
In 1893, seeking to bolster attendance at the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Heinz distributed thousands of small tokens throughout the fair grounds. The tokens were redeemable for a free Heinz souvenir, a watch charm in the shape of a pickle, at the food pavilion, which was soon overrun with visitors. The “pickle pin” went on to become one of the best-known corporate souvenirs in history, with over 100 million distributed.
In 1898, Heinz bought the Iron Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, renamed it the Heinz Ocean Pier, and operated it until 1945 as a free public attraction with antique displays, lectures, concerts, and motion pictures amid the displays of Heinz products and souvenirs.
William S. Pretzer
- 3 The chopped and precooked tomatoes are pumped into pulping machines, or cyclones, which separate seeds, skins, and stems from the pulp. The pulp and juice are filtered through screens and processed further into ketchup, though some may be stored in a paste for use later in the year.
How Tomato Ketchup Is Made, Tomato Harvesting And Processing Process With Modern Technology
FAQ
Are the tomatoes in ketchup cooked or raw?