Beef Paste
Beef paste is the high-solids paste format of beef seasoning, produced by concentrating a beef extract or hydrolysate and reacting it with reducing sugars, amino acids and beef fat to develop cooked and roasted flavour. It occupies the middle ground between a plain beef extract, which is a natural concentrate, and a spray-dried beef flavour powder.
Its advantage over a powder is that nothing is removed after the reaction. The volatile aldehydes, pyrazines and sulphur heterocycles generated during heating stay dissolved in the fat phase and in the concentrated aqueous phase rather than being carried off in a spray tower, so a paste of a given formula reads deeper and more roasted than the dried version of the same batch.
Physically it is a stiff, dark brown, spoonable paste at fifty to seventy percent solids, preserved by its salt content and low water activity. It softens on warming and disperses in hot water under agitation, but needs shear or pre-dilution to go into cold systems cleanly. Some surface separation of the fat phase during storage is normal and is redispersed by stirring before use.
We source bulk Beef Paste from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturers are in Beijing and Shandong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Stiff dark brown paste, slight surface fat separation acceptable |
| Odour and Flavour | Characteristic roast or boiled beef, matching retained reference |
| Total Solids | 50.0 to 70.0 percent |
| Sodium Chloride | 10.0 to 30.0 percent depending on grade |
| Total Nitrogen | Not less than 2.0 percent |
| Fat | 5.0 to 25.0 percent depending on grade |
| Water Activity | Not more than 0.85 for ambient stable grades |
| Species Identity by PCR | Conforms to the declared species status of the grade |
| 3-MCPD | Within the applicable regulatory limit for the destination market |
| Lead | Not more than 1 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and Mould | Not more than 100 cfu/g |
| E. coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades are defined by profile and by raw material. Roast beef, boiled beef, braised beef, grilled and beef broth profiles are formulated separately and are not interchangeable. Pastes built on hydrolysed beef protein and beef tallow carry genuine bovine material, require traceability to the abattoir and are certified halal or kosher on the slaughter of the source cattle. Pastes built on hydrolysed vegetable protein and yeast extract with a beef profile contain no animal material, and are sold for vegetarian, plant-based and religiously restricted markets.
Solids and salt are specified together, since between them they set the water activity that determines whether a grade holds at ambient temperature or must be shipped chilled or frozen. Strength is quoted as the dosage in parts per thousand needed to match a retained reference. Clean label grades replace acid-hydrolysed protein with enzymatically digested or fermented substrates so that the ingredient declaration says beef extract and yeast extract rather than flavouring.
Applications
- Instant noodle soup bases, supplying the body under a lighter topping flavour
- Gravy, demi-glace and brown sauce bases for foodservice
- Soup and broth bases in retail and catering formats
- Bouillon and stock cube manufacture, blended with salt and dried to a block
- Retorted and frozen ready meals, where the reacted body survives the thermal process
- Braising liquids and hotpot bases
- Sausage, burger and reformed meat products
- Injection brines and marinades for further-processed beef
- Plant-based burgers and mince, using the vegetarian grades for beef character
- Wet pet food, as a palatant in the gravy phase
China Manufacturers of Beef Paste
Top Beef Paste manufacturers in China.
- Beijing Bobang Food Ingredient Co., Ltd.4 ingredients in the directory
- Shandong HuaweiTe Biotechnology Co., Ltd.3 ingredients in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Beef paste containing bovine raw material is a food ingredient rather than an additive and carries no E number. In the United States it falls under USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service jurisdiction rather than the FDA, requiring an inspected establishment operating a HACCP plan and label approval, with hydrolysed protein declared by its source. The FEMA GRAS programme covers flavouring substances added after the reaction, and natural against artificial flavour labelling follows 21 CFR 101.22.
In the European Union the reacted portion falls within the thermal process flavourings category of Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008, which sets the permitted starting materials and the temperature and time conditions of manufacture and limits certain substances that can form during heating. Grades containing bovine material are products of animal origin under the food hygiene package, requiring an approved establishment and health certification on import. Specified risk material controls under the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy regulation govern which bovine tissues may be used and require traceability to the abattoir. Where acid-hydrolysed vegetable protein is present, 3-MCPD and its esters are controlled by alkaline treatment and monitored on release.
Manufacturing Process
Production starts from a beef extract or an enzymatically hydrolysed beef protein, made by extracting lean trimmings and bone in water, separating tallow and spent solids by centrifuge, and digesting the aqueous phase with proteases to raise free amino nitrogen. That liquor is concentrated under vacuum and charged to a jacketed reactor together with reducing sugars, cysteine hydrochloride, thiamine, salt and rendered beef fat.
The reactor is held at a mildly acid pH and heated under agitation, generally between 95 and 120 degrees Celsius for thirty minutes to two hours, during which Maillard condensation and lipid degradation build the roast character and the colour darkens. The batch is cooled rapidly to stop the reaction at the intended profile, then standardised for salt, viscosity and top notes. Because there is no drying step, the paste passes directly to a hot fill or to a pasteurise and cool cycle, and is packed into pails, drums or aseptic bags. Release testing covers solids, salt, water activity, and a sensory comparison against a retained reference.
