Do restaurants add water or milk to salad dressing to make it go further?

[raccoon]

I've been to some restaurants where I had salad with ranch dressing, and the dressing is lots less thick than
it is straight out of the bottle.

(I posted this in the Lounge but I guess it was too serious.)

[onehandle]

1. Asking questions about what goes on in the kitchens of restaurants is a dangerous game.

I try not to think about it, lest I never eat out again.

[SwampG8r]

11. in kitchens since 1974

and i have heard all the horror stories
i have however never seen any of them with my own eyes

[dipsydoodle]

2. too serious for the lounge ?

:rofl:

[slackmaster]

3. They probably just haven't stirred it

And ranch dressing with additional milk is still technically ranch dressing anyway.

[DonP]

4. Usually no - but wet greens makes it seem that way sometimes..

They use the large gallon jugs of dressing and diluting them is too time consuming and not worth the pennies it might save.

But a lot of time the lettuce, spinach etc. may be really wet and not spun to dry it the way you would at home, so all that water left on the leaves winds up on the bottom of the plate or bowl watering down the dressings.

[FSogol]

5. No. They would just buy cheaper (and more watery) brands. n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

6. That's probably how it comes off the Sysco truck.

[DainBramaged]

14. Sysco

http://kc.sysco.com/products/product_guides/food_bev.pdf

[meegbear]

7. Too serious for The Lounge and not serious enough for GD ...

Try the Cooking & Baking Group

[slackmaster]

15. I'd take it out of DU entirely and post a scathing review of the place on Yelp

[hugo_from_TN]

8. Do yourself a favor and go to restaurants that make their own dressing.

Why would you go out to eat for bottled salad dressing? Blech.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

9. Here's The Weird Thing

I've found that most restaurant salad dressings ARE a lot runnier than the kind you buy from the store, but I've ALSO found that most restaurant salad dressings are about 100 times better-tasting than anything you can find in a store. I've never been able to figure out why that is. Some restaurants have excellent blue cheese dressing with big chunks of blue cheese in it, but good luck finding anything remotely similar at the store. Even the brands that advertise themselves as "extra chunky" or whatever, you're lucky if you find any chunks at all.

[TwilightGardener]

17. Lighthouse (Litehouse?) brand is super-chunky with blue cheese. It's in the

refrigerated produce section, near the Marie's. It's our favorite salad dressing now.

[Pab Sungenis]

18. Many restaurants make their own dressing.

At least the better ones do.

[SwampG8r]

10. pro cook since 1974

i have never seen this done
i have seen one finished dressing used as an ingredient in another dressing or sauce but not watered down
and most dressings are a form of vinegarette so water would disrupt the ratios and cause breakage

[Renew Deal]

12. The dressing is already mixed in when it's in the salad

And the salad may be pre-made, so that could explain it. It's had time to site with, or without dressing.

[Modern_Matthew]

13. Not sure, but it's also thin when making it at home. Ranch, anyway. nt

[The Midway Rebel]

16. My wife's restauraunt makes Ranch dressing with a powdered mix and milk.

It is a bit runny for the first hour or so before but, it firms up after a nice chill in the fridge.

[FarCenter]

19. Maybe the restaurant dressings don't have as much xanthum gum, modified starch and other thickeners?

[Lisa D]

20. I worked at a restaurant

years ago that added tomato juice to the thousand island dressing.

[laundry_queen]

21. I think it just depends on the brand

also how it's made. When I worked in a restaurant we just got kraft dressing in huge containers. It was exactly the same as the store bought stuff. I agree that it's possible the greens aren't spun dry well enough - we used to keep the greens we were to use that day in a large tub of water and sometimes if you didn't dry them enough, it could make the dressing watery in the case of a dressing that is added instead of on the side.

Also, some restaurants mix their own dressings from powder mixes. I'm guessing they could water it down a bit if they wanted to.

My dad, cheapest person alive, used to water down dressing (and ketchup, yuck!) when I was growing up, and I know what watered down dressing tastes like. I haven't run into it at a restaurant yet!

Oh, another thing, if it's a bit more runny than usual, they may not be keeping it as cold as it would be in your fridge. The warmer the dressing, the runnier it is.