Fruit & Vegetable Purées and PastesTomato
Tomato Paste
Concentrated tomato paste for deep tomato flavour in sauces, soups, braises and savoury recipe bases.
Paste
Ingredient Insight·3 min read
Hot break and cold break: choosing tomato paste
Understand the processing distinction, then compare the proposed paste in the sauce or food you want to make.
Hot break and cold break are useful terms when they lead to a clearer sauce brief. The buying decision should connect the process description with the flavour, colour and flow you need in the finished food.
What the terms describe
Hot break and cold break refer to processing choices around the early heating of crushed tomatoes. The heating conditions influence enzymes that act on the tomato’s structure, which helps explain differences in the resulting paste’s consistency. They describe a processing approach, not the complete specification of a product.
Connect consistency with the recipe
In the cited experiment, the paste made with the higher-temperature thermal break had greater viscosity than the lower-temperature thermal sample. That comparison describes the study conditions, not every commercial paste. The useful question is how the proposed paste behaves in your recipe. A spoonable sauce, a pourable soup and a coating for a savoury product can have very different targets.
Keep concentration and processing separate
The soluble-solids level and the break process answer different questions. A concentration figure alone does not tell you how a paste will flow or how it will taste after dilution. Request both the analytical information and the process description needed for the project, then compare samples under the same preparation conditions.
Build a controlled sauce trial
Use the intended recipe and treatment. Record the amount of paste, added water, other ingredients and preparation sequence. Compare flavour, colour and flow at the intended use temperature. Observe the finished recipe during its planned storage evaluation as well as immediately after preparation.
Define what the sauce should do
Describe a practical use rather than relying on “thick” or “thin”. A sauce may need to remain on a spoon, spread across a base or pour cleanly from its intended container. Choose one reference food and a repeatable observation method for the first comparison. Record the serving temperature and how long the sample has stood. Those details make the result easier to discuss than a visual impression collected under different conditions for each sample.
Treat a process name as one part of the specification
Ask for the break description alongside the agreed concentration and the information needed to assess the proposed paste. If consistency is important to purchasing, state how it will be measured and under which sample-preparation conditions. Do not turn an industry tendency into an automatic ranking of quality. The useful choice is the paste that meets the complete recipe brief, with its actual process and analytical information available for the review.
A structured comparison for sauce development
- Keep an unchanged reference recipe and identify every paste sample.
- Record the amount of paste and added water rather than comparing unknown dilutions.
- Use the same mixing and treatment sequence for the first comparison.
- Evaluate colour, flavour and flow at a documented temperature and holding time.
- Repeat the preferred version in the intended food and serving format.
- Agree the acceptance record and outstanding analytical questions before a supply decision.
Make the enquiry specific
Describe the finished food, desired consistency, process, destination and expected volume. If your team requires a particular break process, include that requirement explicitly. This article explains industry terminology; the processing method and specification of an Ekinden tomato paste proposal must be established for the product being discussed.
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