Premixed Seasoning Blends And Ingredient Separation

[processhead]

This question is directed to anyone who blends or handles bulk seasoning mixtures and how they address the issue of individual ingredients settling out due to vibration, gravity, and general handling.

I was thinking of this while splitting a seasoning pack for a 25 lb meat block into two equal amounts. I always empty the pack into a large jar and remix the contents so any heavy ingredients that might have settled out of the mix will be well combined before splitting .

How does a seasoning company like Excaliber that mixes hundreds of lbs of bulk seasoning ensure the blend stays homogenous prior to repackaging into the consumer sized envelopes for 25 lb batches?

[twilliams]

processhead i have never thought that deep into it but i have when splitting into 12.5 lb batches. Dumping bag out, mixing then measure is a good idea. Usually i just massage the bag around turning 360°, upside down, left and right and every which way to mix it back up. Would be interesting to know what the bigger processors and seasoning companies do to maintain a balance ingredient mixture

[processhead]

Seems like the ingredients like salt might be the most noticeable, since they are heavy/prone to settle out, and also a strong flavor.

[twilliams]

processhead as well as those little round seeds you see in summer sausage seasoning. Not sure what those are called

[processhead]

twilliams said in Premixed Seasoning Blends And Ingredient Separation:

processhead as well as those little round seeds you see in summer sausage seasoning. Not sure what those are called

The little yellow ones are mustard seeds.

[Jonathon]

processhead I will ask Austin this question on our live stream today but in general i think they solve this by having the ingredients rotated and agitated as they are portioning it. Its a good question though.

[processhead]

Jonathon Thanks, I appreciate it!

[JoeB]

processhead Just shake a jar of mixed nuts, (stop laughing) when you shake it, the big ones always surface to the top. Same with premix… Salt vs nutmeg… Bigger migrate to the top

[Jonathon]

processhead We never got to this during the live stream, austin was needed to do other things to make sure we keep running as a company, while I on the other hand am completely replaceable for a few hours, he is NOT. I will talk to him offline and then update this post or do another one if it is a longer answer.

[Jonathon]

So, we got some information from our application specialist who knows Excaliburs processes well. His response was “Large batches are well mixed for distribution and then immediately packaged so no settling occurs.” Now, we are going to have an Excaibur guy on the podcast soonish so we will make sure to bring this up!