Pâté sterilization
Everything you need to know about sterilizing pâté.
Pâté is a product that originated in France, where it is called pâté, meaning paste. It is a spreadable paste made from minced meat or liver and fat, usually from pork or poultry, with added vegetables, herbs, spices, and wine.
Along with curiosities like this, in this article, we’ll introduce the types of pâtés available on the market, the benefits of consuming pâté, and essential considerations for pasteurizing or sterilizing this food.
Pâté: A great source of energy
While traditional pâté is meat-based, today you can also find vegetable, seafood, and fish pâtés on the market.
Focusing on the meat-based option, pâté provides not only energy and micronutrients but also enriches our diet with:
Similar to those found in meat, about 16%.
Contains zinc, iron (6 grams per 100 grams), calcium, and magnesium.
Includes vitamin B2, vitamin A, and vitamin B12.
For vegetable, fish, or seafood pâtés, it’s important to note that the health benefits vary depending on the main ingredient.
The same applies to the type of meat used to make the pâté. In vegetarian spreads, fats are typically added through nuts, avocado, and/or seeds, which are rich in healthy polyunsaturated fats.
If you want to learn more about the characteristics of pork or poultry pâté, we recommend checking out the meat sterilization article. If you prefer vegetable pâté, you can find more details in the vegetable sterilization article. And if you’re a fan of crab and shrimp or tuna and salmon, we also have seafood and fish sterilization articles available for you.
Pâté consumption
While consuming meat-based pâté is beneficial for health due to its high levels of micronutrients and energy, it’s best not to overindulge, as it contains high levels of fat and cholesterol.
For the vegetarian version, the downsides are minimal. However, this type of pâté should not be considered a substitute for fresh vegetables.
When it comes to seafood and fish pâtés, none of them can fully replace the original food. Experts recommend eating shellfish 1 to 2 times per week and fish 3 to 4 times per week, with a mix of white and oily fish.
According to the “Pâté Market” research report conducted in 2023, focused on the global and U.S. pâté markets, the global pâté market is expected to grow significantly from 2023 to 2030, with increased consumption of chicken, fish, and duck pâtés.
By 2025, the global pâté market is projected to be valued at 1.2 billion USD, according to the “Pâtés Market Size, Share & Trends Report, 2025” from Grand View Research. This growth is attributed to shifting dietary preferences, the adoption of Western cuisines, and an increase in processed food consumption among consumers.
Types of pâtés
In supermarket shelves or gourmet stores, you can find various types of pâté:
Among the most popular are pork liver, duck, or Iberian ham pâté. There are also chicken, wild boar, venison, and even blood sausage pâtés.
Increasingly in demand, these include olive, mushroom, carrot, tomato, eggplant, pepper, chestnut, and red lentil pâtés.
Many brands produce fish-based pâtés, primarily salmon and tuna.
The variety is expanding, with options like crab, squid, octopus, lobster, and mussel pâtés, as well as more elaborate recipes like garlic shrimp and Galician-style octopus.
The main difference lies in their composition. Foie gras is a product made entirely from liver, without mixing with other meats, usually from goose, duck, or gander.
In contrast, pâté is a spread typically made with liver—most commonly from pork, chicken, goose, or duck—mixed with other meats, milk, flour, seasonings, and spices.
Pâté preserves
As you can see, pâté can now be made from almost any ingredient. What defines it is its spreadable texture with a smooth, creamy consistency. Whether meat-based, vegetable, or fish and seafood, pâté is typically seasoned with herbs, spices, and, if desired, wine or cognac.
What’s interesting about pâté is not only its delicious flavor but also that it provides a way to use ingredients that might otherwise go to waste, such as offal for meat pâtés or less visually appealing vegetables for plant-based spreads.
Important
Remember that to market your canned pâté, it must be pasteurized or sterilized to comply with current health and hygiene regulations, ensuring it can be consumed safely.
How to make canned pâté
As always, before starting to make any preserves, make sure you have the necessary containers in perfect condition—no cracks or deformations. Do the same for the lids, if used.
The second step is to thoroughly clean the ingredients, removing the skin, whether it’s poultry, vegetables, or seafood, and discard any defective parts, seeds, or bones.
Once cleaned, lightly boil the main ingredient. For vegetable pâtés, the vegetables can also be used raw or roasted.
After boiling, blend with a bit of broth—whether meat, vegetable, or fish—and other ingredients, such as milk or flour, especially for meat pâtés. For vegetable pâtés, add a fatty ingredient like nuts, seeds, or avocado, along with a bit of olive oil. If you don’t add one of these fatty ingredients, you should include more oil.
Finally, add the remaining seasonings, spices, and liquor, if desired. Pour the mixture into jars, seal tightly, and proceed with pasteurizing or sterilizing the product.
Paté sterilization
Pâtés are typically sterilized. Their ingredients give them the right physicochemical properties for this process, allowing them to be stored at room temperature for an extended period. Pâtés with a higher liquid content are particularly well-suited for sterilization.
Sterilization uses high temperatures to eliminate most microorganisms and extend the shelf life of the preserve without refrigeration.
In contrast, pasteurization is gentler on the product, requiring lower temperatures and only partially eliminating microorganisms. This requires the product to be refrigerated and gives it a shorter shelf life.
When choosing between thermal treatments, consider the type of food, factors like its pH, and the desired outcome.
Remember that to market your canned pâté, you must comply with food safety, quality, and hygiene regulations for canned foods and prepared dishes. This means it is mandatory to apply thermal treatment using professional equipment and to record the treatment results for each batch, as our TERRA Food-Tech® autoclaves do.
pH of pâté
The pH of a food determines the temperature and duration needed for thermal treatments like pasteurization or sterilization. Lower pH means higher acidity, which inhibits microorganism growth, and vice versa.
Most pâtés have a pH around 5.8–6.3. With a nearly neutral pH, these foods are more prone to microbial growth, so proper sterilization or pasteurization is essential.
F₀-P₀ values for pâté sterilization
For sterilizing pâtés, temperatures of 110–115ºC with an F₀ value of 7–8 may be used. It’s crucial not to exceed these temperatures, as doing so could destabilize the emulsion and affect product quality.
These F₀ and P₀ values are approximate, depending on the type of product, its ingredients, and preparation. To determine the right values, each product should be individually assessed by accurately measuring its pH and conducting subsequent checks to evaluate the entire process, allowing for optimal F₀-P₀ selection.
Common issues in pâté sterilization
The main challenge in sterilizing pâté is avoiding excessive temperature, as too much heat could destabilize the emulsion, causing phase separation. Additionally, overcooking for prolonged periods may darken the product.
This requirement conflicts with the nearly neutral pH of pâté, which promotes microbial growth and necessitates certain temperatures for consumer safety.
The most common bacteria that can develop in pâté preserves include Salmonella, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes, while Penicillium is the main mold.
Many meat pâtés are nitrite-treated for hygiene and to prevent Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes botulism—a severe illness leading to respiratory and muscular paralysis.
The amount of nitrites varies by product type. Proper thermal treatment can significantly reduce the need for nitrites. European regulations set maximum allowable nitrite levels, which are under continuous review.
Nitrites give meat pâtés a pinker color rather than a brown one. However, nitrites should not be added to vegetable or fish pâtés.
In order to avoid these obstacles, TERRA Food-Tech® strongly recommends carefully studying the F₀-P₀ values for each product, as errors in temperature or time could result in production loss or pose a public health risk.
After sterilization, it’s important to perform a rapid, controlled cooling to prevent overcooking the product.
Recommended containers for pâté sterilization
The most common containers for marketing gourmet pâtés are glass jars. Supermarkets also offer pâtés in cans or autoclave-safe plastic containers, although these tend to convey a lower-quality image.
If you’re using glass jars with screw-on lids, remember to leave some headspace between the pâté and the lid when filling to ensure a proper seal and allow room for the product to expand during thermal treatment.
Choosing the right container depends on the type of preserve you want to produce, the cost you’re willing to bear, and the image you wish to project for your product. To help you decide, check our list of pros and cons for each container type.
Regardless of the container you choose, TERRA Food-Tech® ensures that our autoclave is compatible with any type of packaging.
Sterilizing pâté with TERRA Food-Tech® autoclaves
TERRA Food-Tech® autoclaves offer the ability to cook products before subjecting them to thermal treatments like pasteurization or sterilization. With precise counterpressure control, they prevent container deformation. To avoid undesirable overcooking, these autoclaves feature a rapid cooling system that activates after thermal treatment is completed.
If you are looking for reliability, safety, and efficiency in producing gourmet preserves, a food autoclave is the ideal choice.
With TERRA Food-Tech® autoclaves, you can not only sterilize but also cook and pasteurize—three functions in one device.
Using our food autoclaves ensures compliance with safety, quality, and hygiene regulations for canned foods and prepared dishes. They are essential for those who wish to market these products.
TERRA Food-Tech® autoclaves were created to meet the needs of micro-entrepreneurs, chefs, cooks, farmers, livestock producers, and social enterprises who have made gourmet preserves their life’s work.
Pâté canning success stories
Pâté is a preserve worth considering, and you’ve likely realized why during this reading. Many of our clients already know this and offer various types of pâtés, including meat, vegetable, seafood, and fish options.
Take a look at our success stories section to discover firsthand the experience of creating gourmet pâté preserves.
More information about food sterilization
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