The step-cooking sequence involves adding ingredients one at a time, and follows recipe temperature and time requirements. Hearty ingredients are cooked first, delicate vegetables are cooked last, and then everything is simmered to develop layered flavors and create ideal textures for each ingredient. The recipe is then immediately quick-chilled. The products are cased and shipped at or below 40ºF.
For a chicken noodle soup, for example, Frick says Kettle Cuisine starts by making the stock, and then sautéing diced onions until translucent in a small amount of clarified fat saved from making the stock from fresh chicken bones. In the kettle, diced carrots and celery are then sweated in a small amount of chicken fat. Stock is added, and raw, diced chicken breast and thigh meat is added and cooked until done. The sautéed onions are then added. Finally, the pasta noodles and seasoning go in before the soup is pumped into the plastic pouches and cooled rapidly.
The smaller batch cooking of these soups allows for techniques like sautéing vegetables and, because these soups are in the refrigerated category, they do not need to be heated to as high a temperature as a canned soup during processing. Ingredients used in refrigerated soups must, of course, be refrigeration-stable. Individually quick-frozen (IQF) poultry and meats, dry and concentrated stocks, as well as vegetable purées, blends, and flavors are often used by some companies to save on manufacturing costs.
“When developing soups on an industrial scale, it can be a challenge to develop the authentic flavors of small-batch cooking techniques,” says Hemming. “We work with customers to develop the flavors of cooking techniques to emulate that of a small batch; for example, a roasted note for tomato soup or braised note for a meat stew. It’s important when developing flavors to consider all of the ingredients and seasonings so that they can work in synergy for a well-rounded flavor profile.”
Ingredients, step by step
Like any soup, refrigerated soups are made in steps. Depending on the volume and price point, the ingredients in each step can range from the very freshest, from-scratch ingredients at the high end, to using more manufactured ingredients. And many soups start with stock. “Consistency, time and cost make it difficult to develop soup stocks in-house. Luckily, flavors and savory bases provide the consistency and authentic flavors for proprietary stocks,” says Hemming. “We work with customers to develop custom stocks to meet their needs, whether it is a rich, roasted chicken noodle soup or a braised beef, to a bright Chinese soup. These solutions save customers time and money while providing them with reliable results.”