Potassium sorbate-free Marshmallows

[artiesel]

Does anyone know of a natural alternative to using potassium sorbate as a marshmallow preservative???

 

Would citric acid or sorbitol suffice???

[Kerry Beal]

I've never used K sorbate in a marshmallow. I've never actually seen a recipe that uses it in a marshmallow.  And I've never seen a moldy marshmallow. 

 

Citric acid will help boost fruit flavor in a marshmallow - don't know if sorbitol is going to provide any benefit. 

 

Do you have the recipe that calls for the K sorbate?

 

 

[artiesel]

 

Potassium sorbate is used as a preservative.  I'm trying to find a way to get a good shelf life on large batches of fresh egg white marshmallows.

 

I think this one will do the trick...  http://www.danisco.com/pdf/biovia-brochure.pdf

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

I guess what I'm questioning is whether marshmallows - egg white based or gelatin based actually require a preservative such as K sorbate which does it's best work against molds? Are you having shelf life issues with your fresh egg white marshmallows?

 

 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, artiesel said:

Potassium sorbate is used as a preservative.  I'm trying to find a way to get a good shelf life on large batches of fresh egg white marshmallows.

 

I think this one will do the trick...  http://www.danisco.com/pdf/biovia-brochure.pdf

 

 

Could I ask why you must use fresh eggs?  IMHO perfectly acceptable marshmallows can be made with dried egg whites or gelatin (no eggs at all).

[Kerry Beal]

But even with fresh eggs as the foaming agent - the boiling syrup should take care of salmonella and there won't be a lot of available water. Here is the ingredient list in Tunnock's Snowballs - a marshmallow made with egg albumin - I'm not seeing any preservatives.

 

Ingredients Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Desiccated Coconut (16%), Water, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Skimmed Milk Powder, Egg Albumen Crystals, Whey Powder, Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder, Soya Lecithin (E322), Salt and Vanillin. Allergies Information Contains Egg Albumen, Milk Powder, Whey Powder & Soya Lecithins Nutrition nutrient per 100g per snowball Energy kCal 446 kCal 134 kCal Energy kJ 1,866 kJ 560 kJ Protein 4.2 g 1.3 g Carbohydrate 56.7 g 17.0 g of which sugars 42.0 g 12.6 g Fat 20.8 g 6.2 g of which saturates 17.5 g 5.3 g Fibre 3.6 g 1.1 g Sodium 0.1 g Trace Salt Equivalent 0.4 g 0.1 g A Snowball is similar to the Tea Cake, with the addition of grated coconut to the exterior of a soft chocolate shell but with no biscuit base.

[artiesel]

My plan is to use fresh whites mixed with egg white powder for vanilla marshmallows & egg white powder rehydrated in fruit puree.  I realize that the hot syrup will act as a kill step for bacteria and result in a low Aw value.  

 

The idea of using the potassium sorbate, or a clean label alternative, is to extend shelf life by preventing the growth of any molds that might be present.  I work for a company that needs to put out  a premium product that has a minimum shelf life of three months.  

 

When I made marshmallows in the past I forgot about them in the pantry and they turned moldy on me.  

[Lisa Shock]

You might want to look at improving your packaging.

[Kerry Beal]

So back to the original question now that we know mold was your  issue - must mean your Aw wasn't as low as needed. Molds can grow at lower Aw's than bacteria. 

 

I suspect the addition of sorbitol alone won't be sufficient in this case. I wonder if a combination of sorbitol, invert and glucose might work?

 

Do you have the ability to do Aw testing as you perfect your recipe?

 

 

[Jim D.]

56 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

I suspect the addition of sorbitol alone won't be sufficient in this case. I wonder if a combination of sorbitol, invert and glucose might work?

 

That sounds promising. Greweling could provide a guide as he uses invert in his marshmallow recipe. And I have found that sorbitol significantly lowers Aw in pâte de fruit.

[artiesel]

2 hours ago, Lisa Shock said:

You might want to look at improving your packaging.

LOL!!!  Well, yes, since I was still in pastry school the packaging was just a cellophane bag with a twist tie.  A far cry from a professional packaging job.