Sea Salt Caramel Sauce
Sea Salt Caramel Sauce is a cooked sugar sauce in which caramelised sucrose and glucose syrup are combined with dairy or vegetable fat, cream or milk solids, and a measured addition of sea salt that sharpens the burnt sugar flavour and cuts perceived sweetness.
The colour and flavour come from thermal degradation of sucrose, which above about 160 degrees Celsius produces the caramelan and caramelen pigments and the volatile furanones and diacetyl associated with toffee. Where dairy is present the Maillard reaction between lactose and milk protein contributes further colour and a cooked milk note. Sodium chloride at roughly 0.6 to 1.5 per cent suppresses bitterness from the darker caramel fractions and lifts the aroma, which is why the salt level is a defining specification rather than a garnish.
The product is a glossy amber to deep brown viscous sauce at 60 to 75 Brix, pourable when warm and firm but pipeable at ambient temperature. Water activity is low enough for ambient distribution once pasteurised and sealed. Bake stable grades incorporate a cross linked starch or pectin network so the sauce holds inside a pastry during baking, while dessert grades are formulated to flow evenly over cold ice cream without setting hard.
We source bulk Sea Salt Caramel Sauce from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Sichuan. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Bakery ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Glossy homogeneous sauce, free from sugar crystals and foreign matter |
| Colour | Amber to deep caramel brown, matching approved standard |
| Flavour and odour | Cooked caramel with clean salt note, no burnt or bitter aftertaste |
| Soluble solids | 62.0 to 74.0 Brix |
| Moisture | Not more than 32.0% |
| Fat | 6.0 to 18.0%, per specified recipe |
| Salt as sodium chloride | 0.6 to 1.5% |
| pH at 20 degrees Celsius | 4.8 to 6.2 |
| Water activity | Not more than 0.85 |
| Viscosity at 25 degrees Celsius | 12000 to 40000 mPa.s, Brookfield RVT |
| Lead | Not more than 0.5 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 0.5 mg/kg |
| Total plate count | Not more than 500 cfu/g |
| Yeast and mould | Not more than 50 cfu/g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Grades divide first on fat source. Dairy caramel sauce uses cream, butter or butter oil and declares milk, and it carries the fuller cooked dairy flavour expected in premium bakery. Vegetable fat versions replace that with palm or coconut fraction, which improves heat stability and shelf life and removes the dairy declaration where required. A third group is non fat caramel, essentially a caramelised sugar syrup with colour and flavour, used where the sauce is only a colour and flavour carrier.
Functional grades cover bake stable and cold application types, and within cold application there is a separate freeze thaw stable specification for ice cream ripples, formulated so the sauce stays soft at minus 18 degrees Celsius. Buyers also specify caramel colour depth, salt content, Brix, and viscosity at a stated temperature. Sugar reduced grades built on polyols exist but caramelise differently, so their colour is usually supplemented with caramel colour rather than developed from the sugar itself.
Applications
- Injected filling for doughnuts, filled buns, tarts and choux, using the bake stable grade so the sauce does not boil out
- Topping and ripple sauce for ice cream, soft serve and frozen desserts, formulated to remain pourable at freezer temperature
- Layer and drizzle in cakes, cheesecakes and dessert plates
- Flavour base for salted caramel milk tea, lattes and bottled coffee drinks
- Centre in filled chocolates and caramel confectionery, where water activity is set to protect the chocolate shell
- Sauce component in pancake, waffle and toast food service packs
- Swirl phase in muffins, brownies and traybakes deposited before baking
- Base for salted caramel buttercream, mousse and ganache
- Coating and binder for popcorn, nut clusters and caramel snack coatings
China Manufacturers of Sea Salt Caramel Sauce
Top Sea Salt Caramel Sauce manufacturers in China.
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
Caramel sauce is a compound food and carries no additive number of its own. Where caramel colour is added rather than developed by cooking, that colour is a regulated additive: in the European Union Regulation 1333/2008 lists the four caramel colour classes as E150a to E150d, and in the United States 21 CFR Part 73 lists caramel colour as a colour additive exempt from certification. Sauce that develops its colour purely by cooking the sugar in the recipe is not treated as a coloured food on that basis.
The other additives typically present, pectin, modified starches, mono and diglycerides and sorbates, are authorised in the European Union with assigned E numbers and are used in the United States under generally recognised as safe status or specific food additive regulations. Milk is a declarable allergen in dairy versions. Because the product is a cooked sugar system, buyers in several markets ask for control of process contaminants formed at high temperature, and manufacturers manage cook temperature and time accordingly. Codex general standards for food additives and for contaminants apply in international trade.
Manufacturing Process
Sucrose and glucose syrup are dissolved in water and cooked in a jacketed or coil cooker until the sugar begins to caramelise, which is controlled by temperature and residence time to a defined colour endpoint measured on a colorimeter. Glucose syrup is important here because it interferes with sucrose crystallisation and keeps the finished sauce smooth. In the dairy route, cream, butter or butter oil and milk solids are added into the hot caramel, which stops the reaction, and the mixture is held to allow the Maillard reaction to develop the cooked milk character.
Sea salt, emulsifier and the starch or pectin thickener are dispersed in, then the batch is standardised to target soluble solids, most often under vacuum so that concentration proceeds without further darkening. The sauce is homogenised to stabilise the fat phase and give a glossy body, pasteurised in line, and hot filled at above 85 degrees Celsius into pails, drums or bag in box before cooling in a water tunnel. Quality release covers Brix, pH, salt, colour and viscosity, with viscosity measured after full cooling because caramel sauces continue to build body for several hours.
