'Souper' flavor: chicken and beef bases have clean labels - R&D Applications

Prepared Foods, May, 1994 by Fran LaBell

Many soups, sauces and gravies start with chicken broth or beef stock. Industrial users are not about to spend the time and labor simmering chicken parts or beef bones to obtain their stock. Instead, they can turn to broth or stock bases for labor savings and economy.

Eatem Foods offers bases tailored to today's interest in "clean" labels. The company's regular and low-sodium bases contain no MSG, potassium chloride or flavors. The chicken broth base contains only chicken broth, chicken fat, and proprietary flavor enhancers.

The bases can be made with or without added fat, autolyzed yeast, or hydrolyzed plant protein. The chicken broths are clear for attractive-looking soups. The bases can be customized to fit whatever parameters a food company requires.

The chicken broth base is convenient and easy to use in the assembly of the finished product, according to Tom Hoes, director of R&D, Wampler-Longacre. It is an ingredient in Wampler-Longacre Chef's Quality Szechwan Chicken with Peanuts, a refrigerated entree for foodservice or delis that comes in a 5-pound package.

"We use it to boost the chicken flavor in the sauce," Hoes says. "It has a relatively clean ingredient list as well, which is important in this type of product."

To use the bases, workers put them in a kettle, add hot water and mix. One pound of base is reconstituted with 5 gallons of water. Refrigerated shelf life is six months for the low-sodium version and one year for the regular version.

The refrigerated bases have the consistency of spreadable paste. They are ready to reconstitute right out of the refrigerator. Applications include soups, dips, salad dressings, sauces, marinades and entrees.