The Manufacture of Tomato Products / Including whole tomato pulp or puree, tomato catsup, chili sauce, tomato soup, trimming pulp

by W. G. Hier

Copper-Jacketed Kettles

Copper-jacketed kettles used for condensing tomato products range all the way from 50 gallons capacity to 500 gallons, the larger size making a batch of finished pulp of about 250 gallons as a rule. A larger batch than this can be cooked in a 500–gallon kettle, but it is not advisable to keep pumping fresh tomato juice into the kettle too long, as it gives too long a cook to the first that goes in. Forty-five minutes should be the absolute limit for a batch of pulp, no matter what kind of a kettle it is cooked in, and it is much better to confine the cooking time to 30 minutes or less. The shorter the cook, the better the color and flavor of the finished product, other things being equal.

Tinning Kettles

Copper kettles are frequently lined with block tin to prevent the acid of the tomato from dissolving some of the copper. The desirability of this is argued both from a standpoint of health and flavor, as dissolved copper, even in small quantity, has a very bitter taste. It should be remembered, however, that the acid of the tomato, which is generally thought to be citric acid, is a weak organic acid, and the amount of copper dissolved in a batch cooked not over an hour is exceedingly small; certainly so small as to have no ill effect upon health. As to the question of flavor, it would indeed take a very delicate palate to detect among a half dozen samples which ones were cooked in an unlined copper kettle, and which in a kettle lined with block tin or silver. The latter is said to be used by some packers.

It is a good idea, however, to play safe, and line all kettles with block tin, as we know that there is a small amount of copper taken up in solution in the pulp. This is more important in the case of catsup and chili sauce than where the kettles are used for pulp alone, as vinegar and salt act on the copper much more severely than tomato acid does. As to the thickness of the block tin lining, an inspection of the kettles used by various packers shows this to run all the way from a good half-inch thick to a coating so thin that in one season’s use it is almost all scraped off by friction in cleaning the kettle. The kettles should be plated heavy enough to last several seasons without re-tinning, however a coating a half-inch thick is unnecessary and wasteful of steam. The same remarks apply to the tinning of copper coils.

Advantages of Various Types of Kettles

Although copper-jacketed kettles have the advantage of being very easily cleaned, and also the advantage of wasting very little of the product when the finished batch is being discharged, the large tanks of either cypress or glass-lined steel are coming into use more and more because of their greater capacity. It is true that they are very slightly more wasteful than the jacketed kettles, but this really amounts to very little if the tanks are built with a concave bottom. They take up no more room than the jacketed kettles, and will hold a much larger volume, as they can be built so much higher. If one were to buy a series of copper-jacketed kettles to cook batches as large as are commonly cooked in tanks equipped with copper coils, the expense would be very heavy, there would be much exposure to metal, and the results obtained would be no better, or possibly not as good. In the tank equipped with a coil, batches of 300 or 400 gallons are often cooked, and the juice can generally be condensed to a specific gravity of 1.035 in 25 to 30 minutes.

Glass-Lined Tank

During the last few years quite a few packers, when adding to their cooking capacity, have put in glass-lined steel tanks. The glass-lined tank is equipped with coil and steam trap in the same manner as the cypress tank, and it has certain advantages which make it very nice to work with, even though the first cost is considerably more than that of a cypress tank of equal capacity. The only objection I have heard to the glass-lined tank is that it radiates more heat than a wooden tank, and on very hot days, unless it is insulated, makes the cook room more uncomfortable than the same capacity in cypress tanks would. However, when the tank is covered with cork insulation, or asbestos, or even wood staves, it radiates no more heat than a cypress tank.

The glass-lined tank is perfectly sanitary, and is very easily cleaned. It is really the most sanitary thing we have to cook in. The surface is smooth and entirely free from any irregularities such as there are bound to be between the staves of the cypress tank. It is always ready for use, and does not have to be swelled and then scrubbed for a half day after standing idle for a while before it is fit to use again. There are no places for molds to creep in and multiply. Furthermore, being of metal and all in one piece, a battery of glass-lined tanks will not shake like cypress tanks will when you are running heavy and have several tanks going full blast at the same time. This may seem rather unimportant, but it is quite a relief to the cook and his helpers, as they can go about their work without having their nerves rattled. Just how long a glass-lined tank will last under average conditions in a pulp or catsup plant is not known, as they have not been in use a great many years for this purpose; however, one would guess that they would be serviceable almost indefinitely.