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Sauce to sweet

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debbie9025

New member
Im not sure what happened, but it seems that my sauce went sweet?? I purchase a blend of herbs & spices from my supplier that I put in my sauce, well its seems either my taste buds are off or my sauce went on the sweet side. Is there something I can add to it to take a bite out of the sweetness.
 
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My guess would be a sweet batch of tomato products…it probably will correct itself with a new batch code of toms…but if it does not… vinegar will take the sweet out. I would recommend rice vinegar and a very small amount. Others will have ideas and some better for sure. Just play with it and let us know what works out.
 
qcfmike:
My guess would be a sweet batch of tomato products…it probably will correct itself with a new batch code of toms…
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This is exactly why I always recommend a high quality fresh packed tomato product. Stanislaus has a very strict margin that they maintain during production. I have seen it first hand.
 
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Mike is on with the vinegar. Basically, add a little vinegar, a little salt nd/or a little something bitter. To balance the sweet. I personally would find red wine to be pleasant, but would compete with your regular profile. Rice wine or even distilled would be a pretty neutral tartness. This will be a stop-gap until you find the REAL solution of figuring out where that sweet spike came from.

I also suspect the tomatoes, and suggest you find a different tomato brand if they can through your sauce that far out of whack on a stray run of cases. You might be abl to work with your supplier about the problem and get them either to swap out the product for a different production run of the same product . . . or help you locate a higher quality line of tomatoes. I am a big fan of Stanislaus like Daddio . . . others also like Escalon. Sure, the case price is a little higher, but it calculates out to like 5 or 6 cents for a 16" pie. Peace of mind and good tomatoes were worth it for me since it really transformed my sauce when I switched from the house label to Stani.
 
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Stani is by far one of the best tomatos and the price difference is there and slight when broken down to the per pie cost. In return you get consistancy and that is what people want. Our family business took off because we made a boil in bag frozen soups and sauce products that took out the local employees ability to measure and add water or milk to the products. Keep it simple for all and when you are servicing some customers that have 1000 locations and they all want the exact same taste that is where it all comes into play. Same with a one-off pizza shop. I want the same great pizza everytime I order and by getting that…I will gladly pay that extra $1-2 per pizza knowing you use the highest quality ingredients. Oh…like Nick agreed with…vinegar is the route but I would stay clear of the wine vinegars…they will really change the taste when baked. I said rice vinegar because I use it all the time at home to adjust sweetness and it has almost no effect on final taste. Just remember that vinegar works slowly to adjust flavors and even more after cooked. I would seriously say add 1/4 cup or less per #10 can of tomato products and let it adjust for a full day to see where you are at. I dont think more salt is a good choice but maybe add a dash to help cover any vinegar tartness. I have found that the rice vinegar can have such a good effect on different dishes that I use it a lot these days. Play with it and you might actually find it a new regular item in all of the sauces you make. Let us know the results.
 
OK I have searched & searched. Where can I purchase gallon jugs of rice vinegar, my supplier does not carry it, & I have tried to look everywhere with no luck HELP!!!
 
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If you have a Restaurant Depot in your area you should be able to find it there. The ones that are closest to me do anyway.
 
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Check out the Asian food distribs in the area. I must ask…is it the tomatos that are the issue?
 
No restaurant depots in my area. I would have to go into an Asian restaurant and ask for their dist name & number. Im not really positive if it was the tomatoes, but will say that my sauce is absolutely good now I have not tried making a new batch with any of my new cases that I have gotten in lately, I just got use to putting in the rice vinegar every time I make the sauce. Will say though who ever came up with that idea “KUDOS”
 
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I take that back I just googled it the closest one to me is 65 miles south, maybe worth going and checking it out, never been there
 
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debbie9025:
I take that back I just googled it the closest one to me is 65 miles south, maybe worth going and checking it out, never been there
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Restaurant Depot is neat. Make it a mini-vacation.
 
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Debbie, my “neighborhood” Restaurant Depot is 134 miles away! Even at that distance I make a trip every other month or so and more than PAY for my trip just in the savings from the spices I purchase. You will find some items of little difference than what a good local supplier will charge you, but on others…wow.

Case in point. Dried basil from the least expensive of my suppliers is $13.85 this week, at RD my last purchase was $3.87! Yup…no typo. I stock up on a couple months supply of spices and stupid things like pepperocini. My local guys want $18.00 and change for the case, RD is under $11.00. I bring back a small van load and use a spare bedroom at home as our “pantry”. Works for me.

Membership is free and you can join on their website. Just take a copy of your State business license with you on your first visit and you’ll get a great tour of the store by a manager so they know you’re ready to shop!
 
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Even if it is quite a distance to Restaurant Deport (or the like) your going there a few times a year can help keep your main vendor a little sharper…They often have some room to move on prices and sometimes they need a little encouragement…Seeing RD packages on your premises makes a point…
 
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Debbie, I’d suggest that you not get in the habit of adding the vinegar to every batch, unless that’s a taste you really want. If it is the tomatoes, and that kind of inconsistency, anything you make from a different batch of tomatoes will have a different taste profile, probably the right one. You may ruin that batch by adding the vinegar without testing first.

May I suggest a change to a more consistent tomato product? Some of the house brands are extremely inconsistent, some are made by the same packer. Some of the big wholesalers have different house brand names, one may be by the same packer, one not. I was told by a person who truly does know that US Foods’ Monarch label puree is from one of the biggies. I’d guess Sysco has the same situation.
 
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eupher61:
May I suggest a change to a more consistent tomato product? Some of the house brands are extremely inconsistent, some are made by the same packer. Some of the big wholesalers have different house brand names, one may be by the same packer, one not. I was told by a person who truly does know that US Foods’ Monarch label puree is from one of the biggies. I’d guess Sysco has the same situation.
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The big distributors contract out their labels based on their product parameters and quality tolerances. As with other companies, the distributor labels may have less stringent quality assurance tolerances to acquire better contract pricing and production volumes. pH levels, Brix, color, flavor, iinstect particulate, etc. are all variable by production run and are expensive to maintain at tighter measured ranges. So, pay less for fewer test samples, wider acceptable ranges, etc. Result is a much more variable product. For example, frozen dough balls for Roseli (USFood) packaged by Rich’s . . . . decent enough product, but weight per item varies wildly . . . . 9 oz ball could be (and was) 7.5 to 10 ounces. Got one box where 40 of 48 were 7 to 7.5 ounces . . . and two huge honking wads in an attempt to meet case weight minimum range.
 
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eupher61:
Debbie, I’d suggest that you not get in the habit of adding the vinegar to every batch, unless that’s a taste you really want. If it is the tomatoes, and that kind of inconsistency, anything you make from a different batch of tomatoes will have a different taste profile, probably the right one. You may ruin that batch by adding the vinegar without testing first.
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I do actually taste every batch I do prior to adding the vinegar

Im making a trip down to RD on Saturday to check it out…Thanks All for the tid bit info on RD
 
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Well made my trip to RD. I was pleasantly suprised, glad I went, I found alot with much cheaper pricing, was a little disappointed though that after going thru the whole store 2 hrs checking & writing prices down, checked out (spent more than wanted) but came out in the long run, I did not see any meats or cheeses except frozen. Then 2 days later my mom who does accounting for alot of businesses, spoke to a guy who goes, said OH yeah its behind the frozen section you have to go thru another door HELLLO why in the hell :evil: dont they tell you that you go in and fill out the paper work DUHHHH. Anyway will diff. go back at least 1-2 times a month. THANKS GUYS FOR THIS TIDBIT INFO :lol:
 
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think about taking a jacket if you’re prone to chilling. The “other room” is a giant walk-in, 40° max. You can spend 2 hours in there, too, if you aren’t careful, or cold.
 
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