Interesting comment

[leeniek]

We started making our soups from scratch a year ago and it has saved us a ton of money plus we are most definitely serving a better product than what Campells or other premade soups might be.  

One of our cooks is the son in law of one of our very frequent regulars and last Friday I made Italian Wedding soup.  His father in law had the soup, and told the owner it was simply delicious and that comment made its way to me.  Today the cook was in and he was telling me that his father in law was going on about the soup on the weekend and how it was much better than East Side Mario's and the cook looked at him and said  "of course it is, we make all of our soups from scratch so of course you will taste the difference".  His father in law couldn't believe that it was homemade and well this is a guy who buys canned soup all the time so I doubt he could taste that the stuff at East Side's isn't made from scratch.

Comments like that make me wonder just how many restaurants do use premade soups and just heat them up. 

 

[kuan]

A lot.  There are loads of outfits which make soup according to your formula and put it in a bag for you to heat up later.

 

[leeniek]

 That's the way it goes I guess. 

We do ours fresh daily and we do freeze the leftovers for "soup surprise"  every other Monday.  

 

[chefgord]

Alot of places do. They also use premade dressings, sauces, & the very bane of my exsistance, powdered base. EEEWWWW.

We use 2 premade dressings, that will be down to one come the new season if i get my way(i will), we don't make our own mayo or mustard(with our volume that would be insane), & evrything lese is made in house.

I made chipotle pumpkin soup on Monday. That was amusing.

 

[chefedb]

There are nothing wrong with quality soup basis. Over the years however their use has changed. When Louis Minor developed the first basis, his concept was to be used as an enhancer to soups and stocks. Like a lot of things they were abused and used as the only thing to make the stock or soup. This practice is not acceptable in a quality kitchen.

 

[foodpump]

Soup powders have been around for a looooong time, in the 1700's and 1800's there was "Traveler's soup", which was meat stock reduced down to a stable solid, much like leaf gelatine.

A good kitchen will generate sound wholesome meat scraps and bones and vegetable trimmings.  It makes economical sense to use these.  Many other kitchens will get meat pre-portioned, and vegetables peeled and cut, so making a soup from scratch might not be as economical.

 

[chefgord]

Soup powders have been around for a looooong time, in the 1700's and 1800's there was "Traveler's soup", which was meat stock reduced down to a stable solid, much like leaf gelatine.

A good kitchen will generate sound wholesome meat scraps and bones and vegetable trimmings.  It makes economical sense to use these.  Many other kitchens will get meat pre-portioned, and vegetables peeled and cut, so making a soup from scratch might not be as economical.

Understood.

When i think of 'soup powder' i picture that crappy bright yellow sysco/GFS chicken base. If there are better quality products out there i have to admit to being ignorant of them.

Places where there is more precut, preprepped product coming in i just ASSumed(i hate using that word) that they would probably just go with premade soups.

 

[chefedb]

Try Custom Brand Bases out of Jersey Or Louis Minor Gold or Knorr pro deluxe. Always look for bases that have roasted chicken meat in them and salt an ingredient listed towards the end. The cheap bases are salt, dextrose, malto -dextrins and Hydro plant protein and they are pure junk. In fact if added to a half way good stock will ruin it. All the wholesalers handle good and bad ones. Remember YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR !!!!!!!!!!