Keeping Foods Hot and Flavors Fresh
In this sponsored content interview, hear from a company that's formulated a whey-based product to keep hot-held foods moist while locking in taste.
Steam tables are used throughout the foodservice industry to keep food warm and ready to serve, whether it’s in a grocery store hot bar, a catered event, or back of house at a restaurant. Yet, while steam tables ensure that foods maintain a desired temperature for an extended period, food quality eventually diminishes.
Most health regulations allow hot food to be held in a steam table for up to a few hours, but some foods retain quality better than others. “Soups, for example, are high-moisture systems, and the majority is made up of water,” says Maggie Schnell, technical sales manager at Grande Custom Ingredients Group. “Foods like that have a larger margin of error because you don’t have other components impacting the texture as much. But other dishes, especially starchier foods, are affected more quickly.”
When starchy foods are combined with cheesy sauces, they tend to draw moisture faster from the sauce when held at hot temperatures. Below, Schnell discusses research her company recently performed to develop ingredients that help sauces retain moisture and quality longer on a steam table when combined with starchy foods.
How does extended time on a steam table affect foods?
Steam tables use a high temperature hold—and typically for an extended period of time. Foods can be sensitive to temperatures in general, but when you're holding them at those high temperatures for an extended period, you can see deterioration in the product quality. That deterioration can result in flavor changes and texture changes, but it all starts with moisture loss. The moisture in the food starts evaporating due to that higher temperature. All foods that are being held at a high temperature will see that evaporation, but different foods are impacted differently. Foods with lower moisture like cheesy potatoes, cheesy rice, or macaroni and cheese are affected more quickly than high-moisture foods.
Why is macaroni and cheese particularly difficult to maintain on a steam table for an extended time?
Mac and cheese noodles are made mostly of starch, and that starch interacts with the moisture in the dish, compounding the deterioration of quality over time. Not only are you losing moisture because of evaporation, but the starchy noodles are also leaching moisture from the sauce leading to quality impacts for both the sauce and noodles. The best mac and cheese starts with al dente noodles and a creamy sauce. But as the dish is held at a high temperature and moisture migration occurs, the noodles get mushy, and the sauce becomes tacky and almost sticky. You lose that nice, creamy texture because you’re losing moisture.
What are food manufacturers currently doing to solve this issue?
Some food manufacturers formulate a thin, runny sauce to keep foods like macaroni and cheese from drying out while on a steam table. They know the change from start to finish is dramatic, so they start with a runnier sauce. And then, [the food] slowly goes through this progression where it becomes viscous and unpleasant to eat. But that’s basically starting with a less desirable product to take into account the deterioration that’s going to happen.
How does Grande’s whey product help macaroni and cheese retain moisture and consistency throughout extended heating?
We manufacture Grande Gusto®, an all-natural, functional whey product, with a proprietary processing system that helps stabilize the moisture in food. Adding Gusto to the cheese sauce slows the migration of moisture from the sauce. When used with starchy foods, it also helps build a buffer between the sauce and the noodles, allowing the sauce to hold moisture longer.
In collaboration with a food manufacturer, we recently conducted a controlled study to compare the performance of cheese sauces with and without the use of Gusto on a steam table. The formulation using Gusto outlasted the control in both sensory testing and analytical measurements. According to Bostwick Consistometer tests, the Gusto sauce maintained its creamy consistency longer than the control, which became thicker and tackier the longer it was exposed to heat.
The study demonstrated that using an all-natural, functional whey product in a macaroni and cheese sauce increases product resiliency and allows for greater consistency throughout prolonged heating.
Learn more about Grande Gusto.