Shear Blender Delivers Smoother Salsa with
Seamless Scale-Up

The Challenge:
A leading U.S. hot sauce manufacturer sought to expand their product line with a cantina-style salsa. Cantina-style salsa differs from other varieties in that it has a smoother, more blended texture with smaller, evenly suspended vegetable pieces. For this process, they needed to reduce the size of their chopped onion, tomato, and bell pepper pieces to the 3–5 mm range, keeping them evenly suspended in the tomato-based sauce while preserving the product’s fresh, natural appearance and flavor.

Having only produced this salsa in a test kitchen using a conventional kitchen blender, the customer was unsure how to scale up to full production and turned to Fristam for help. They were already using Fristam centrifugal, positive displacement, and twin-screw pumps in their hot sauce production, and Fristam had earned their trust and loyalty.

The Solution:
Fristam recommended an FS Series shear blender for its ability to deliver precise, consistent particle size reduction while preserving the salsa’s natural texture and appearance. The FS uses a rotor and stator system to uniformly break down vegetable pieces such as tomatoes, onions, and peppers without over-shearing. This allows solids to remain visible and suspended, maintaining the desired fresh-made look and mouthfeel.

With Fristam’s Regional Manager and local distributor onsite for the trial, the team installed an FS 3522 shear blender equipped with a 13-11 rotor and stator set. The salsa, coming directly from the cooker, was fed to the shear blender by a positive displacement pump. Powered by a 3500 rpm motor, the FS shear blender unit was tested at 10 Hz, 20 Hz, and 30 Hz.

The team found at 30 Hz, the FS shear blender achieved the ideal balance of shear and flow, producing a uniform reduction in vegetable particle size while preserving the salsa’s natural look and integrity. The entire trial was completed in under 60 minutes.

Not only was the FS able to produce the right product consistency, it is also fully CIP cleanable, allowing the processor to clean the unit in place without disassembly. This saves time, reduces manual labor, and minimizes the risk of contamination between batches.

The Benefits of the FS Shear Blender:

• Produces uniform, small solids for consistent texture
• Maintains product’s fresh appearance and desired mouthfeel
• Enables fast, efficient processing
• Designed for full CIP cleaning without disassembly
• Minimizes cleaning time and labor between batches
• Provides a simple, cost-effective solution

The Result:
The manufacturer achieved a smooth, consistent cantina-style salsa that met their target specifications and matched the appearance of leading store-shelf brands. The FS 3522 shear blender provided a straightforward, low-cost solution that ensured product quality, process efficiency, and easy, compliant hygienic operation.

Let’s Talk About Your Process:
Whether you’re scaling up a new product or improving an existing one, Fristam can help you achieve the perfect balance of quality, consistency, and efficiency. Our FS Series shear blenders, pumps, and mixers are engineered for hygienic performance and proven in applications like sauces, condiments, beverages, pharmaceuticals and beyond.

Contact Fristam or your local authorized Fristam distributor to learn how our hygienic processing solutions can elevate your production.