branches > oil, margarines & sauces > sauces > mustard

download article

Mustard

Mustard is a popular sauce that is made from seeds of the mustard plant. A tasty sauce is made from these seeds by mixing them with ingredients like water, wine, vinegar and some herbs. The ingredients may differ somewhat per factory and per kind of mustard. Some also add dill or honey to the mustard. About 1000 mustard seeds are necessary for a standard jar of mustard of 225 gram.

Production of mustard

Harvesting

In the months March and April the mustard plants are sown, in September the mustard seed can be harvested. It is important that the harvesting happens before the plant is fully ripe. When the plant is fully ripe it releases its seeds more easy and they cannot be harvested anymore.

Cleaning

When the mustard seeds arrive in the factory they are rinsed with cold water in order to remove sand and other extraneous matters. The seeds are dried and stored in silos until they are used.

Soaking

The seeds are soaked in order to more easily remove the shells of the seeds. The seeds are soaked in vinegar and wine, which give the seeds extra flavor. The soaking process may range from a few hours to several days.

Crushing

After the soaking process the seeds are brought into a large mill. They are ground into a flour. Dependent on the desired mustard, fine or crude, the flour is separated into different sizes. It is possible to grind the flour again to obtain a finer ground seed.

Sieving

The flour is led through a sieve, which sieves the shells. In the more crude kinds of mustard the shells are sometimes desired. This sieving process is then unnecessary.

Additions

To make a spreadable paste of the mustard flour, water, vinegar and white wine is added. Some extra ingredients are added, like salt, pepper, herbs and flavoring agents, to give the mustard more flavor.

Heating

To increase the storage life of the mustard it is heated. In order to avoid quality reduction the mustard is heated till under the point of boiling and is kept on this temperature for a set time. After the heating process the mustard is cooled to room temperature.

Ripening and bottling

Some kinds of mustard have to be ripened. Ripening happens in large containers for several months. Most kinds of mustard, however, are directly bottled and packed. To increase the closed storage life the mustard is packed vacuum. Some kinds of mustard have a reasonably firm consistency. In order to easier fill these kinds of mustard it is heated so that it is fluid. However, it is easier to directly fill the mustard after heating it and only then cooling it off to room temperature.

---

Reply to this article

All fields are required. Your personal information will not be displayed on our website. Hyfoma does not supply machines, but only refers to the companies that do. Most of the suppliers listed supply machines for the food industry, and do not produce food themselves.

Name:		Email:
Function:		Company: