Notes from the Kitchen - Producing the Roast

We have been busy in production that last few months….ramping up for increased volumes and refining our systems. Regular readers of the Field Roast Times will remember when Cary went off to get trained in HACCP. Cary, Malcolm and I (David) have been busy assembling our new program. We’ve been refining our production process from A-Z: receiving, storage, mixing, forming, cooking, cooling, slicing, packaging and labeling. We’ve also re-arranged our plant, expanded our warehouse space and purchased an experienced 140 quart Hobart mixer for mixing batters and flours.

Being 100% vegan, Field Roast is much safer to handle (and to eat) than animal meats. Animal meat production facilities have to have full time USDA inspectors onsite - we don't. We are inspected by the FDA and the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

Have you ever wondered how we make Field Roast? Our process is remarkably simple:

Step one: - Mix wet ingredients (red wine, fresh cut vegetables, lemon juice, filtered water)

Step two: - Mix dry ingredients (wheat protein flour, yeast extract, our own in-house blended spice mixes, etc)

Step three: Combine wet & dry to make a dough. (We use a dough mixer to do all of this.)

Step four: Form the dough (into a loaf, a link, or into a vegan casing)

Step five: then cook. We now use a steam cabinet to cook the dough, but we used to use a kettle. Back in the beginning, we used to use stock pots, then steam kettles. Times have changed!

One of the essential differences between Field Roast and our "competitors" is that our process is much less mechanical and processed. In natural food grocery stores, the section with the most processed foods is the vegetarian meat section. Many of these products are made using the same techniques that are used to make baloney and other highly processed animal meats: they first create an emulsion (like you would to make mayonnaise) in order to put as much water in as possible and then add gums to hold/stabilize the water. That's why so many vegetarian meat products ('specially the slices) resemble baloney - they are made just the same way. The meat they make is very homogeneous in appearance and texture, and it's rather “jiggly” - that's the effect of the added water and gum.

Our slogan written on every package using Chinese characters is “Flesh of the Earth” - Field Roast isn't about emulsians and gums, holding water and tasting like animal meats. It's earthy, fiberous and firm. Flesh of the Earth means vegetables, wheat flakes, lentils, the power of the grain! We buy fresh eggplant, fresh Yukon Gold potatoes, fresh celery, fresh carrots and dice them in-house to add flavor, texture and the energy of the sun and the earth to our meats!

So that is how we do it…from our kitchen to yours. There are no secrets in how we make our veggie meats. We believe that our customers deserve to know. There ARE many secrets, patents, etc in the food biz....but you won't find them here at Field Roast.