Why Ketchup Is Hard to Pour

Mine doesn't pour; it squirts out of the bottle accompanied by a chorus of unspeakable sounds which call to mind someone in the throes of having recently eaten at Taco Bell.

Does it squirt out of the 'squeeze bottle', or does it splat out of the 'squeeze bottle' with about a 30 degree tradegory from where it's pointed at your target, but it does hit the plate, table, and maybe some collateral on your sleeve.

restaurants have bottles though. I always used the tilt bottle about 30-45 degrees from table, and strike the label on the main body. (With ypthe label point up)

but, at the Kraft website, I'm been doing it wrong... some interesting facts though.

All of the above, but usually not until the internal pressure reaches 30000 psi at which time the valve suddenly opens releasing all of that wonderful ketchupy goodness at 3/4 the speed of light. I've found that where, say, adorning multiple hot dogs is concerned, it is more convenient to arrange them around the periphery of the plate (or the table, depending on the quantity) and then aim for its exact centre with the objective of coating them all simultaneously.

30,000 PSI on a plastic bottle!?

That sounds like something a former member here called DAS, who was doing overunity research?, on supercritical CO2 at 10,000 PSI using plastic garbage cans and garden hose as his containment system would work with.

Really. Search for him here. Fascinating reading.

30000 psi? Yup. Sounds kinda high but that's where the cordite comes in...

That really does fire up the imagination. Sounds like something Myth Busters would try, just because they could.

Of all the SCC new cycle generation I have heard about, none of it claims over unity. If it were nuclear, and the supposed basis was chemistry, perhaps in that sense it would be over unity (at least over the heat of any known chemical reaction). Sounds almost like Bullfullerene to me (although that is apparently a real molecule where all of the C-C bonds are fluxional, not permanent).

"Shake and shake the ketchup bottle.

First none will come and then a lot'll"

That reminds me of the time when I was about 14, and I could not get the ketchup out of the bottle during a family dinner (big family, lots of witnesses). I screwed the lid on (so I thought) and began to shake with great fervor, the glass bottle containing the tomato puree with vinegar and spices. After about three of these massive shakes, the lid flew off and ketchup started being slung about the dining room with the apparent gore of a multiple stabbing with high velocity blood splatter.

The entire household was in uproar, belly laughs all down the hallway, people falling down laughing. I was red in the face, but not from ketchup. It took weeks to get the last traces off the ceiling, walls, floor, behind the china hutch, etc.

Now we too are part of that 11%.

I can't wait till they show me the secret handshake of the 11% secret society club of ketchup connoisseurs .. they say it's pretty cool.

Once when I was in a restaurant trying to pour ketchup from a bottle, a waitress told me to thump it on the raised "57" molded into the bottle. I have no idea why that works, but it does.

Personally, I use a knife in the bottle throat to get the ketchup moving. It isn't a Newtonian fluid.

I shoulda known Ike was behind this. Damn physicists!

Ketchup is an example of a shear-thinning substance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_thinning

When you apply a force to it, its viscosity is reduced. That is why it works!

In the adhesives industry, the term used for materials with this property is thixotropy, which means basically the same thing.

Fumed silica is commonly used to thicken these inherently "runny" compounds and some ingestable products, such as tooth paste.

Unless I missed it, they got clear through the article without mentioning "thixotropic"; maybe they thought "rheology" was tough enough for one day.

They need to put in some thinsotropic instead!!

I always shake the container violently before opening....

A good restaurant puts the ketchup in a small open container....

A good restaurant serves sauce de tomate.

And the very best ones in Waterford crystal.

In Australia ketchup is called 'tomato sauce.' I'm not sure what they call tomato sauce. I'll ask my fiancée who lives near BrisVegas.

Following the logical progression I'd say it would be called tomato paste.

A really good restaurant never serves ketchup!

Sure they do. It's all in the presentation.

There was once a New Yorker cartoon of two vast medieval armies marching on each other under the respective banners of "Ketchup" and "Catsup"; the name derives from Malay language.

A lot rides on the brand of ketchup that you have in your mitts. Some are runnier than others.

I was always told to give the bottom of the bottle a few kick whacks, unless it's a squeeze bottle. THAT method has always worked for me.

Never heard of whacking the bottle label...

There's a very good reason that swinging the bottle to hit the neck label against something works better than whacking the cap against your hand.

When the bottle is sitting upright, the air space is above the ketchup. If you move it in a linear path and then stop it abruptly, the ketchup tends to move in a bulk mass forward, with bottle adhesion, the constriction of the bottle neck and venting of the air bubble to the bottom causing a speed differential throughout the moving mass; this differential creates the internal shearing effect that causes a temporary reduction in static viscosity following the cessation of movement, which gradually increases until it's time to shake the bottle again.

When you swing the bottle and hit the neck, the sideways motion causes a "splat" effect that displaces the ketchup outwards, causing a more consistent level of shear throughout the product. This causes a greater reduction of viscosity than the bulk movement effect. Of course, if the bottle was sitting on its side you'd be better off shaking it up and down instead, for the same reason!

Things I've noticed about ketchup:

1. If let to set for a while, the ketchup will separate.

2. Liquid ketchup, allowed to air dry on a floor can be easily washed off.

3. Liquid ketchup baked on a surface has to be scrapped off.

4. Ketchup has adhesive properties.

5. A bottle of ketchup allowed to sit on a table in the sun will ferment.

6. Although Heinz ketchup lists 57 varieties, I have never seen 57 varieties for sale in the store.

8. As a hamburger does not contain ham and does not come from Hamburg and ketchup is the #1 sauce put on them, what is the correlation between cooked tomato paste and the word ketchup ?

9. Why is ketchup put into a narrow opening bottle while mayonnaise is put into a wide mouth jar ?

10. Why does Heinz ketchup list the last ingredient as " natural flavoring " ?

'10. Why does Heinz ketchup list the last ingredient as " natural flavoring " ?'

Product ingredients are typically listed in order of amount used but without actually saying what those amounts are (and thereby giving away the farm). That 'natural flavoring' is listed last simply means there is less of it than of any other (intentional) ingredient used.

So what are 'natural flavors,' really, besides the term's being a handy and popular euphemism for what in some cases they'd rather not say?

Does "all natural" ingredients include beaks and feet?

Or hooves, noses and udders in hotdogs?

The beaks and hooves could be considered as calcium supplements....

And ketchup is a vegetable, too.

I dunno, I thought these days "all natural" means the Mystery Meat extruder is operated without gloves.

There's a Russian video on youtube about the "Ketchup Effect" I can't post the link without being flagged, but it's easy enough to find. If your a guy, it will make you cringe and laugh at the same time!

Ouch!! No thanks

Happy new year!

The problem isn't the ketchup, it is the bottle.

Imagine folks' surprise the first time they give this one a whack!

When does it go into production? I want to invest heavily in cleaning-supplies companies.

with a vacuum break there is no issue, so the answer is that it isn't hard to pour, but that the container is designed incorrectly.

It is communist conspiracy. Ketchup is an insidious condiment. See my other comments about the ketchup bottle incident. It should be an episode on Outer Limits.

So I forget, is the correct term thixotropic, or dilatant? I say that depends on whom is doing the shaking of said ketchup. Some ketchup simply does not want to let go, no matter what level of g is applied to it. On the other hand, that myth can easily be debunked by attaching rockets or even pulse jets to a bottle of ketchup with the lid off, and firing it into space to see if any of the offending suspension of solids in liquid will be ejected.

The likelihood of ketchup leaving the nozzle of a bottle is proportional to the distance to the nearest white shirt or blouse raised to the 4th power. It is an insidious product with a mind of its own, determined to humiliate whomever offends the ketchup God by calling this evil product catsup.

Lovely answer, sir, you get a full British salute on that one! I will Trump on your bad answer next time I find one!

Pour ? I just suck it from the bottle .

Do you use a straw?

Nah, I just gnash and slurp. Much like I do to chums.

Bottle? What bottle?

Oh yeah, just stick in my mouth and let rip ! Does that thing have a side slug of mustard ?

Yes it does, matter of fact it has 64 different condiments available.