Mustard

Mustard

A person holding a yellow mustard bottle applying mustard to a hot dog

Prepared mustard is a condiment paste produced from seeds of the mustard plant blended with water, vinegar and other ingredients. It is available in many forms, including yellow, spicy brown, Dijon and whole-grain mustard.

Viscosity of prepared mustard ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 cPs, necessitating the use of positive displacement pumps to transfer the mixture from initial blending through further processing. Prepared mustard’s vinegar component reduces pH to 3.5 to 4.5, and mustard may be heated to enhance flavor. requiring compatible pump metallurgies and elastomers. The process requires maintaining strict food safety standards, hence the need for hygienic pumps which can be easily and quickly cleaned in place or strip cleaned. In addition, the first stage of processing required pumping from the blending tank to mills where the seeds are crushed, and pumps must be able to handle a slurry of up to 20% whole mustard seeds.

    Viking in the Process

    Mustard seeds are harvested, cleaned, and transferred to blending tanks where all other ingredients are added. Viking hygienic pumps are then used to transfer this slurry to milling machines to crush the seeds and release their essential oils, then transfer the paste-like prepared mustard to heating and high shear mixers for emulsification, then to maturation tanks, de-aeration and finally to packaging machines.

      Applications

      • Mustard seed slurry transfer
      • Prepared mustard transfer

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