dgrogandesign

Yes i live in Brighton and the calcium content is extremely high here. I shall give the water filter a go. i have been using evian mineral water with success as it has a low calcium content. is it ok to leave the alginate bath in the fridge for a while then? i have read that it should be used within 24 hours of mixing. ps. thanks for the reply's

Longish would be a month or two. I thought that by pasteurising the jar i would kill any microbes/ spores in the jar and so eliminate any possibility of them growing inside. Which is why people do that when they can things. I think i'll just try it out. I would imagine that the flame from a kitchen torch reaches well above the 72 degrees c needed to pasteurise so im not sure that would be a good indicator of whether it would work or not. thanks very much for the reply.

Hi there.Does anyone have any knowledge on storing their spheres (from spherification) for long(ish) periods of time? i have read that you can put them in a solution of the same flavour and they will maintain their state. i would like to know whether it would be possible to put these in a jar and pasteurise them by bringing them to 72c since alginate gels are supposedly non-thermoreversible so they shouldn't melt. or possibly i might make the spheres using another gelling agent like pectin or gellan gum, both of which are also unaffected by reasonably high heat sources. if anyone has any thought on this i would be very appreciative such as whether this idea would work and if so, how long i might be able to keep them and whether they would need to be refrigerated.the sugar concentration in the spheres and the solution would be relatively high which i would imagine would also aid in the preservation. ideally i would like to be able to store them unrefrigerated. thanks.

thanks. which made a better product if you dont mind me asking; the carageenan or the guar gum? thanks

Also does anyone have any experience in using agar or something similar as a jelling agent for making sweets? the more i look into using gelatin as a gelling agent the more concerned i am becoming with its provenience the ethics of the issue. bypassing animals altogether might be the best option unless the texture and flavour release etc are completely compromised.

thanks for the tips. ive been using granular pigs gelatin. could you recommend another type to use or is it just my source?

Hi all. I am trying to create some 'gummy' candy using a recipe from a book called 'Sugar confectionary and chocolate manufacture'. its calls for the use of a substantial amount of gelatin(180 bloom), 25 parts to be exact followed by 90 water, 80 sugar, 80 glucose syrup. so compared to other recipes that is a large proportion of gelatin. here's the problem....the stuff stinks. one probably wouldn't notice if using in small quantities but because so much is required the foul odour carries through to the final product. is my gelatin of poor quality? i am using gelatin derived from pigs. would it be better to use beef gelatin? or perhaps use a higher bloom gelatin with less quantity? any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks. Danny.

Hi all. I would like to experiment with the 'Reverse spherification' cooking technique. I am aware that one requires water without calcium in it so distilled water is a good one to use. This is a tricky ingredient because unless it has been treated (with chlorine or some other anti-microbial agent) there is the possibility of the water becoming contaminated in time. so this means that you have to use it quite quickly to minimise that risk. i thought of maybe treating it with chlorine myself(to eliminate this problem) but it just seemed a bit over the top. does anyone have any tips on this process? thanks, Danny.