Savory Flavored Pop Rocks

[UnCulinary]

So I have been want­ing to serve some savory pop rocks for a lit­tle while and was won­der­ing if any­one here has had any expe­ri­ence with fla­vor­ing them. More specif­i­cally I am talk­ing about these http://www.modernistpantry.com/popping-candy.html . It says on mod­ernist pantry that they can be fla­vored with any fat based sub­stance. The fla­vors I want to do would be Bacon, Chicken ‘N’ Waffles, Foie Gras, and White Truffle. My thought is to take some N-Zorbit and make a pow­der from these sub­stances and sim­ply toss the unfla­vored pop­ping candy in my fla­vor­ing pow­der. Am I way off? Any dif­fer­ent way to do this? Has anyone experimented with this before?

[Twyst]

Im a little disappointed nobody had any answers for this, Ive been really curious about the uses for these things too!

[IndyRob]

I can't offer any definitive answer, but was intrigued enough to do some searching. Apparently, these things are, despite the 'unflavored' labeling, CO2 trapped in hard sugar (or a sugar mixture with the necessary ingredients to create CO2 when they come in contact with water).

The need to flavor with a fat based substance is apparently necessary to prevent premature 'detonation' of the rocks by introducing water.

I found an article about creating your own at ehow.com (generally, I find articles on this site dubious, but it seems reasonable)

http://www.ehow.com/how_4842725_make-homemade-pop-rocks.html

The big problem for a savory application would be finding a substitute for the sugar. Perhaps someone else will have an idea.

I'm not sure about the suitability of pop rocks for a savory food, but I imagine that habanero pop rocks would earn an automatic inclusion on Man v. Food.

ETA: Maybe a barbecue sauce....

Edited January 23, 2012 by IndyRob (log)

[Tri2Cook]

The first difficulty could arise depending on your definition of savory. The pop rocks, neutral or flavored, are made of sugars and they are sweet. I'm not sure you'd get sufficient powder to cling to them to overcome or at least balance that just by tossing them with a powder. You could do a savory "soil" type thing that incorporated the pop rocks (they can be ground with other ingredients and, as long as you don't get them down to a complete powdery dust, they'll still pop) but that wouldn't leave them identifiable as a savory popping candy if that's the goal. They would just be a little surprise in the component. You could spray them with cocoa butter (deodorized might work better for this purpose depending on the flavor you're going for) and immediately toss them with a powder. Coating them does change the overall texture though. I've sprayed them for protective purposes with the intention of using them as a component in something where moisture would be a problem and wasn't really happy with the result. Even with a very light spray it added a bit of a chewiness/guminess that made me decide against using them. Anyway, really just brainstorming more than offering advice... best of luck.

[Justin Uy]

The first difficulty could arise depending on your definition of savory. The pop rocks, neutral or flavored, are made of sugars and they are sweet. I'm not sure you'd get sufficient powder to cling to them to overcome or at least balance that just by tossing them with a powder.

Could try adding Lactisole to whatever the flavor mix will be. A very small amount will neutralize the sweet sensation in food which should reduce the amount of other flavoring that you'd need to overcome the sweetness.

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Envision-Lactisole-Gram-Packages/dp/B005G0GFS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327417319&sr=8-1

[UnCulinary]

Hm... I am really not familiar with Lactisole at all. What does it do exactly? If it neutralizes the sweetness it could be a very useful tool indeed. I am going to start experimenting with all these different approaches this week. I will report back as to what my best results are.

[KennethT]

Does anyone know if the unflavored ones are still sweet (meaning sweet without tasting like cherry, raspberry, "blue", etc.)??? If they're not made entirely from sugar they could be only slightly sweet.. like isomalt and glucose "candies"? I've done savory sugar glass before - there's just a hint of sweetness, definitely not candy-sweet. I use the El Bulli ratio of 50% fondant, 25% glucose 25% isomalt. Maybe the unflavored pop rocks are made from a similar base?

[Justin Uy]

Hm... I am really not familiar with Lactisole at all. What does it do exactly? If it neutralizes the sweetness it could be a very useful tool indeed. I am going to start experimenting with all these different approaches this week. I will report back as to what my best results are.

It's a powder product that temporarily suppresses the tastebuds ability to perceive taste. It's primarily used in products that require large amounts of sugar for chemical or texture reasons, for example making a normally textured jam or jelly without being overly sweet, or making a meringue without the overly sugary taste.

Domino markets lactisole as "Super Envision"

[Tri2Cook]

Does anyone know if the unflavored ones are still sweet (meaning sweet without tasting like cherry, raspberry, "blue", etc.)??? If they're not made entirely from sugar they could be only slightly sweet.. like isomalt and glucose "candies"? I've done savory sugar glass before - there's just a hint of sweetness, definitely not candy-sweet. I use the El Bulli ratio of 50% fondant, 25% glucose 25% isomalt. Maybe the unflavored pop rocks are made from a similar base?

I've worked through a fairly ridiculous amount of unflavored pop rocks in the past few years. I always toss a few in my mouth when working with them, mainly just because it's fun. They are sweet. Just to be sure it's not my imagination, I just grabbed a bag of neutral pop rocks I have and tossed a bunch in my mouth, ignored the popping and paid attention to the sweetness. I then drank some more of the tea that I had been drinking before starting this experiment. After that I popped some sugar right out of the container in my mouth and took my time tasting it. If the pop rocks are less sweet than the straight sugar, it's by a very fine degree that I might attribute to the fact that they're not truly neutral. I don't know if you've tried them before but they actually have a slight caramelized sugar taste I'm guessing happens as a result of the cooking process when making them. They're pretty much sugar having a wild party on your tongue.

[KennethT]

Interesting - so it seems like it's just plain sugar... I guess the purpose is for those who want to make their own flavored candy....

I took a quick look around, and it seems like most "homemade" pop rocks come from hard-crack sugar, with added baking soda and flavoring. Typically, when doing hard crack sugar, you replace a small amount of the sugar with corn syrup to prevent recrystallization... You can make it less sweet by substituting more glucose and isomalt for some of the sugar. Isomalt is much less sweet than sugar is, but structurally acts like sugar. Glucose is also less sweet than sugar. I'd probably try 25% isomalt, 30% sugar, 45% glucose by weight as a starting point - you may need to bump up the sugar and reduce the glucose a bit if it's a little chewy. Making the isomalt behave can be a little tricky... typically I'll heat the sugar and some water in the pan until it starts boiling, then add the glucose. I add the isomalt once it gets to soft ball stage (230-240F?) by sprinkling it evenly over the surface of the sugar and letting it slowly melt in to the mixture. I don't stir it because it can cause crystallization, but I wonder if it's even possible with that much glucose in the mix... keep heating (medium heat? - Don't go too fast) until you get to hard crack - 305-310F, let cool a bit, then add flavoring and baking soda stir to combine then pour out on a silpat and let cool... then pulverize.

So, you can make savory spiced pop rocks by adding whole spices (star anise, coriander, clove, etc.) while the sugar is boiling... you can either pick the big pieces out after you've poured onto the silpat or leave them in to get bits of spices in with the rocks...

[Digijam]

Hm... I am really not familiar with Lactisole at all. What does it do exactly? If it neutralizes the sweetness it could be a very useful tool indeed. I am going to start experimenting with all these different approaches this week. I will report back as to what my best results are.

Justin's right - lactisole will definitely work with your popping candy. With unflavoured pop rocks the lactisole pretty much leaves you with the pop and nothing else, so it's primed and ready for fat or powder-based savoury flavours. Though keep in mind it will also temporarily tone down the inherent sweetness in everything else on the plate.