Q and A for Short Term #2

What is the formulation? --Salad Dressing—75-80%, Sugar, Diced fresh onion, Pickle relish, Garlic powder, Season salt, A1 sauce, Horseradish, Worcestershire sauce (French’s),

What in heating process causing problem -- Deciding about heating process; Gotten advice on heating—heated at 185° —too thick; 6-12 month shelf life; want it to not be refrigerated

How is product packaged? --Plastic squeeze bottle—see-through; other possibility—glass pint jar

What changes have been made to ingredients to consider heating?--Fresh onion

What are pHs before and after treatment? --Cooked—3.2; Raw—3.1

What is the Aw? -- Not been determined

What changes are caused by heating? -- Color gets darker; Original product is light tan; Texture changes from grainy to smooth

What is form of onion? -- Using peeled fresh onion; Flavor issue using dried

How long is product cooked? -- 185° and taken off immediately

Where does company want to market? --High hopes of national sales

What is the starch you are using? --Salad Dressing starch—modified food starch; Locust been and guar in pickle relish; In seasoning salt—corn starch

Is there a brand name on pickle relish? – Not available

Any emulsifier used? -- Egg in salad dressing

Is this used in any other application besides fish dressing? -- Cold meat sandwich—a number of applications

What is fat, sugar, protein and salt content? -- Has not been determined

What is relative proportion of salad dressing in final product? -- 173 lbs to 225 lbs finished product

How much onion is added? -- out of 225, 5.75 lbs added

Did original formula differ in onion content? --no

What are the processing steps? -- take salad dressing, add sugar (second largest ingredient) then add other ingredients

Do you have ingredient limitations? --possible but not probable—customer wants a good product

What is density of product before and after processing? --don’t know

How long is product blended in mixer? -- about four minutes; changes from mixer to mixer

Are there chunks in the mixture? -- chunky from pickle relish but not otherwise 

Sweet or dill relish? -- sweet

Do you add water? - no

What kind of onion is added? -- Vidalia

Have any tests been done? -- no

How is batch heated? --copper kettle; eventually in a steam kettle as 200gallon batches

What kind of sugar is added? --beet sugar

How do you lower the pH? -- vinegar

Is final product spoon able or pourable? -- can be squeezed and made to flow

Is target pH at 3.1? -- want to stay in the general neighborhood as long as texture and taste are same

Is fresh horseradish used? --yes but in reality will need to get into processed

What is target color? --generally lighter colored products sell better

Is eliminating fresh onion an option? -- a stretch but possible

Can preservatives or whitening agents be added? --depends on customer