How to Heat and Taste our Samples
Are you testing a sample of a product we made in your kitchen? Here are some tips to make your tasting a success.
QUICK TIPS:
Store samples in your freezer.
Thaw bags of product when you are ready to use the item.
Heat hot items to 165°F, or to the temperature specified by your local health department, before serving.
Items may be simmered gently directly in the bag in a deep pot of water.
Step 1: The Samples Arrived!
We’re excited for you to taste them! Whether we’re working on a co-pack project together or you’re sampling one of our stocked items, here are tips to ensure the tasting is a success for you. Once the samples make it to your door, please let us know they arrived to you in good condition. Upon arrival, check the bags of food inside of the box to make sure they are still at a safe temperature and all of the bags are intact.
Step 2: Properly Store the Samples
Do you plan to test the samples on your equipment and taste with your team in the next few days? Store the samples in a fridge.
Will it be a week or more? We recommend storing the samples in your freezer and thawing in your fridge the day before you plan to run your tests.
Step 3: Gather Your Key Players
Who will be working with the product at the restaurant level? Make sure that manager or cook is in attendance at the tasting, along with all of the other major stakeholders and decision makers. Set a date to sit down and taste the product.
Tip: At this first taste test, we don’t recommend inviting customers. Once your team feels comfortable moving forward, then bring in a super fan to provide honest customer feedback.
Step 4: Plan to Have a Control and Defined Process
Equipment test and control comparison. If you’re tasting our sample against a control, we recommend coordinating to have some of the control in the room to taste alongside the sample. Will you be trialing our sample with a steam table or Combi? We like to sample a sauce on its own at the its proper serving temperature, but we also like putting it to the test in the application it will be used in the real-world kitchen. Plan to present your tasters with defined questions to gather specific feedback. We ask our tasters for input on the following attributes:
Texture
Thickness
Salt or Spice Level (if applicable)
Overall Flavor
Color/Appearance
Aroma
Kitchen Storage and Usability
Input on Ingredient or Nutrition Statement
Step 5: How to Heat and Serve
Your team is assembled, a control is present and you have your equipment on standby to test. Now let’s taste!
For hot products, we recommend heating our samples right in the bag in an immersion circulator or a water bath on the stove until they reach 165°F. Before opening the bag, gently shake it to combine the sample if any separation has occured. If the sample you are tasting comes in a tipper tie bag, you do not need to remove the metal clip to open the bag. Simply cut the bag open from the bottom and pour out the sample into a vessel to taste, like a hotel pan.
For cold items, simply thaw, transfer to a hotel pan for easy viewing, stir and taste.
If you have specific questions on how to best sample an item, don’t hesitate to reach out! Our R&D team has many years of experience thawing and heating our items to perfection.
Once you have had an initial taste at the proper serving temperature for your menu and establishment, put the sample to the test on your equipment or with your dish.
Step 6: Share Your Feedback with Us
We want to know how it went! We’re invested in your success. Be sure to send us pictures, videos, tasting notes and all of the details on how the sample worked out for you. That will help us work together to produce the best product for your establishment.