Agar Agar

[Hiroyuki]

Hi, everyone.

I hope you can help me with this.

I ordered some agar from one of my suppliers and they sent me the sheet kind, which I've never used before.

My experience is with the Tiger brand I think it's called.

It comes in cello bags, powdered.

Instead of going thru the hassle of sending this stuff back, do you think I can just process it into a powder, w/o  any harm to the product?

thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated.

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Since no one has responded...

I have never seen a sheet of agar in my country. I guess you can get more response in the Cooking or Pastry & Baking Forum.

[torakris]

Hi, everyone.

I hope you can help me with this.

I ordered some agar from one of my suppliers and they sent me the sheet kind, which I've never used before.

My experience is with the Tiger brand I think it's called.

It comes in cello bags, powdered.

Instead of going thru the hassle of sending this stuff back, do you think I can just process it into a powder, w/o  any harm to the product?

thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated.

←

Since no one has responded...

I have never seen a sheet of agar in my country. I guess you can get more response in the Cooking or Pastry & Baking Forum.

←

here is the agar agar thread in the pastry forum

[sizzleteeth]

I hope you can help me with this.

Instead of going thru the hassle of sending this stuff back, do you think I can just process it into a powder, w/o  any harm to the product?

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Tan - hope this helps you out - it's a forum about Agar pertaining mostly to scientific uses - but there is a-lot of interesting info.

http://archives.thenook.org/3015.html

Here are some quotes from this thread:

http://archives.thenook.org/7727.html

Posted by: czen Nov 12 02, 12:07 PM GMT

I'm getting ready to try messing with agar. I bought some agar/agar at an asian market and I'm not sure I got the right stuff. I was expecting a powder or something like that. The stuff I got is sheets of strands about like linguine. I've ground it up in a blender which was about like trying to grind styrofoam. Is this the right stuff or should I use gelatin instead?

Have a good one,

czen

Posted by: czen Nov 13 02, 06:20 PM GMT

The agar is going well so far. The potato dextrose agar gelled up like it is supposed to instead of remaining a slimy potato broth. I placed it in the glove box and inoculated with a tiny drop from a dirty syringe that I want to see if I can resurrect.

I used wide mouth half pint jars which are a pain since I don't have clear lids. Are presterilized disposable plastic petri dishes suitable? Will they withstand pressure cooking or must I pour in a glove box? I guess they'd be fine for peroxidated agar.

Thanks again,

czen

{edit}

BTW - just so it's not confusing - an "Agar" is also a loose term used for any culture (as in Petri dish) using Agar Agar as a medium for cultivating micro-organisms.

http://www.tfd.com/agar

Edited April 14, 2005 by sizzleteeth (log)

[Tepee]

Hi, everyone.

I hope you can help me with this.

I ordered some agar from one of my suppliers and they sent me the sheet kind, which I've never used before.

My experience is with the Tiger brand I think it's called.

It comes in cello bags, powdered.

Instead of going thru the hassle of sending this stuff back, do you think I can just process it into a powder, w/o  any harm to the product?

thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated.

←

May I ask what you're going to make from the agar-agar? Agar-agar is sold in either strips or powder in Msia. I suppose the strips (long strands) are quite similar to your sheet. You'll have to cut them into small strips (say 2, 3 inches long) and soak them for 10 minutes before using. Generally, you can get a firm jelly from 50g of agar-agar strips to 1 litre water. HTH!

Edit: Kew tells me she makes a nice firm jelly from 25g-30g agar-agar with 1L-1.2L liquid. Um, I like mine hard, I guess.

Edited April 15, 2005 by Tepee (log)