Hey all,
So I made the jump to go with a co-packer (local guy, does 32 gallon minimums, easy to work with, very solid business overall) but I was less than impressed with the samples I received. Their versions were much thicker and the flavor just wasn't there. Flavor can be tweaked accordingly, as I am going to work with them in person on the next test batch to see if there was something amiss in the recipe or process. It is the consistency that concerns me most -- we're in stores and restaurants and I can't very well show up with a completely different sauce that hardly comes out of the bottle.
Previously we've been producing with a Vitamix, which blends everything, including seeds, to a nice puree. Then we do the boiling and bottling, and all three of our sauces are thin enough that we have to use reducer caps. What we received from the co-packer was much chunkier, almost like a relish. I talked to the guy and he said they use a large immersion blender which will never blend the seeds down like a Vitamix. Ok fine, I'm ok with the seeds. But I need it to be more pourable, I was literally hitting the bottles to get the test sauce out.
I have some of my own ideas, which may work as shortcuts, but want to get some expert opinions or opinions from people who have gone through similar issues.
1. We use carrots -- I was thinking a switch to carrot juice would help. Same thing with pineapple, substituting juice for the chunk fruit. We also use onions and garlic -- perhaps substituting minced garlic instead of cloves? Not much to do about the peppers -- can't make any changes there. They are orange habs, red jalapenos and green serranos.
2. We could tweak recipes to add more fruit juice or even water, don't really want to add more vinegar. Ph has never been an issue.
3. We could have them cook it longer and just blend the crap out of it with their immersion blender.
We will be working with them to figure out a solution, but I figured I would hit the board first and see what people might offer for strategies/suggestions. I kind of hope some combination of the above will make it work.
Thoughts? Ideas? Thanks in advance!
So I made the jump to go with a co-packer (local guy, does 32 gallon minimums, easy to work with, very solid business overall) but I was less than impressed with the samples I received. Their versions were much thicker and the flavor just wasn't there. Flavor can be tweaked accordingly, as I am going to work with them in person on the next test batch to see if there was something amiss in the recipe or process. It is the consistency that concerns me most -- we're in stores and restaurants and I can't very well show up with a completely different sauce that hardly comes out of the bottle.
Previously we've been producing with a Vitamix, which blends everything, including seeds, to a nice puree. Then we do the boiling and bottling, and all three of our sauces are thin enough that we have to use reducer caps. What we received from the co-packer was much chunkier, almost like a relish. I talked to the guy and he said they use a large immersion blender which will never blend the seeds down like a Vitamix. Ok fine, I'm ok with the seeds. But I need it to be more pourable, I was literally hitting the bottles to get the test sauce out.
I have some of my own ideas, which may work as shortcuts, but want to get some expert opinions or opinions from people who have gone through similar issues.
1. We use carrots -- I was thinking a switch to carrot juice would help. Same thing with pineapple, substituting juice for the chunk fruit. We also use onions and garlic -- perhaps substituting minced garlic instead of cloves? Not much to do about the peppers -- can't make any changes there. They are orange habs, red jalapenos and green serranos.
2. We could tweak recipes to add more fruit juice or even water, don't really want to add more vinegar. Ph has never been an issue.
3. We could have them cook it longer and just blend the crap out of it with their immersion blender.
We will be working with them to figure out a solution, but I figured I would hit the board first and see what people might offer for strategies/suggestions. I kind of hope some combination of the above will make it work.
Thoughts? Ideas? Thanks in advance!
