Thermally Processed Beef
Thermally processed beef flavouring belongs to the regulatory class of thermal process flavourings, meaning a flavouring obtained by heating a defined mixture of food ingredients under controlled conditions so that the aroma is created during the heating step itself.
In the beef version the mixture is built around beef extract or beef protein hydrolysate, beef tallow, a reducing sugar and free cysteine, with yeast extract and hydrolysed vegetable protein filling out the amino acid pool. Heating drives Strecker degradation and sugar amine condensation, and the sulphur containing intermediates cyclise into the furanthiols, thiophenes and thiazoles that taste of boiled and roasted beef. Pyrazines formed alongside them supply the crust and grilled notes, and the tallow fraction contributes the lactones and aldehydes that make the profile species specific.
Commercial forms are a fat based paste, an aqueous liquid and a spray dried powder on maltodextrin, modified starch or salt. The paste is the densest form and disperses into an oil phase, while the powder dissolves in hot water and is the form used in dry blends. The aroma fraction is volatile and partly oxidation sensitive, so the material is stored sealed and cool and is dosed at the latest practical point in a process.
We source bulk Thermally Processed Beef 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
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Brown to dark brown paste or free flowing powder according to grade |
| Odour and taste | Characteristic cooked beef aroma, savoury, no burnt or rancid note |
| Identification | Conforms to the reference aroma profile by gas chromatography and sensory panel |
| Loss on drying, powder grade | Not more than 5.0% |
| Total nitrogen | Not less than 2.0 g/100 g |
| Fat | 10.0 to 35.0% for the paste grade |
| Sodium chloride | 8.0 to 25.0% |
| pH of a 1 in 20 dilution | 5.0 to 6.5 |
| Lead | Not more than 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 0.5 mg/kg |
| Total plate count | Not more than 10,000 cfu/g |
| Yeast and mould | Not more than 100 cfu/g |
| Escherichia coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Beef process flavourings are quoted first by profile. A boiled or stewed type is produced at lower reaction severity and tastes of long cooked meat and broth, a roasted type is run hotter and carries more pyrazine derived crust character, and a grilled or barbecue type is finished with smoke flavour and spice extract after the reaction. Intensity is declared as a recommended dosage in the finished food, commonly a few tenths of a percent for pastes and higher for diluted powders, rather than as an assay.
The second split is the carrier system. Fat based pastes on refined tallow or vegetable oil, water based liquids, plated powders on salt, and spray dried powders at ten to thirty percent flavour load on maltodextrin or octenyl succinic anhydride modified starch each serve a different application. Encapsulated powders with a higher wall load are specified where shelf life is long or where the flavour has to survive extrusion. Halal and kosher certified versions built on certified tallow, and vegetarian versions that reconstruct the profile from plant hydrolysates and vegetable fat, are traded alongside the conventional material.
Applications
- Emulsified and reformed meat products such as sausage, burger and luncheon meat, where lean content is reduced and flavour has to be rebuilt
- Injection brines and tumbling marinades for beef cuts, dosed with phosphate and salt in the same solution
- Bouillon cubes, granulated stock and dry soup mixes as the beef aroma behind the salt and enhancer base
- Instant noodle powder sachets and the accompanying oil packet
- Canned and retort soups, stews and sauces, where the reaction volatiles hold up through sterilisation
- Savoury pies, dumpling and ravioli fillings and frozen ready meals
- Extruded snacks, coated crisps and meat flavoured crackers applied as a dry topping or in a seasoning slurry
- Plant based mince and patty analogues, providing the roasted meat note that the base protein lacks
- Gravy, demi glace and jus bases for central kitchen and foodservice production
China Manufacturers of Thermally Processed Beef
Top Thermally Processed Beef 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
In the United States this material is regulated as a flavouring rather than as a food additive, and it depends on the generally recognised as safe status of its components, most of which appear on the flavour industry GRAS lists maintained by the Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association. Labelling follows the definitions in 21 CFR 101.22, so a version built only from food materials and natural flavouring substances is declared as natural flavour and one containing synthetic aroma chemicals as artificial flavour, while hydrolysed protein is named by its specific source. Because beef extract and tallow are meat derived, the animal origin fraction is also subject to the meat inspection regime administered by the Food Safety and Inspection Service and to import eligibility listing.
In the European Union Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 defines the category, specifies the starting materials that may be heated to make a thermal process flavouring, sets an upper reaction temperature with a matching time limit, caps the pH, and fixes maximum levels for certain substances that can form during heating. Material produced from listed starting materials within those conditions requires no individual authorisation, while anything made outside them must be evaluated and entered on the Union list. Beef derived precursors additionally require an approved establishment under the animal origin hygiene rules. Codex treats the class in its guidelines for the use of flavourings.
Manufacturing Process
The precursor charge is weighed into a jacketed pressure vessel, combining beef extract or an enzymatic beef hydrolysate with hydrolysed vegetable protein, yeast extract, a pentose sugar such as xylose or ribose, cysteine hydrochloride, thiamine, salt and part of the tallow. Water is added to give a slurry that can be agitated and heated evenly, and the pH is adjusted into the mildly acidic to neutral range, since the ratio of meaty sulphur notes to roasted pyrazine notes moves with acidity.
The closed vessel is heated to the target reaction temperature, generally between 100 and 140 degrees Celsius, and held for a defined period, with time and temperature chosen together to reach the profile while staying inside the conditions permitted for thermal process flavourings. The batch is cooled rapidly through the jacket to stop the reaction before scorched notes develop. Remaining tallow, spice oleoresins, smoke flavour and any isolated aroma chemicals are then blended in, and the mass is homogenised and standardised against a reference sample by sensory panel and gas chromatography. Paste and liquid grades are filled hot and cooled, while powder grades are emulsified with a carrier, spray dried, sieved and packed, commonly under a nitrogen blanket.
