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Using Silica Gel


chocklateer

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they were labelled for use in drawers/closets/packaging(cameras, purses). Can I use them in an airtight container for the purpose of keeping meringues/pulled sugar/sugar decor non sticky and crisp?

D.

in a word yes

they put little packet of silica gel in some crisps/potato chips.

put as it says on the packet DO NOT EAT.

An alternative is to wrap some rock salt in a paper towel and seal it with tape and put it at the bottom of your container.

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

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they were labelled for use in drawers/closets/packaging(cameras, purses). Can I use them in an airtight container for the purpose of keeping meringues/pulled sugar/sugar decor non sticky and crisp?

D.

This is something I wondered about with chocolate and my research indicated yes and no - not all silica gel packages are made with food grade materials and you need to calibrate the size of the bag and the adsorbency of the gell to the amount of humidity present and the space. It's possible (if you're not sure of the specs) for the gel to overydry the items in question and ruin them.

More interesting is a silica gel product designed to protect against condensation. This keeps moisture out of the air while not drying out the food product.

Here's a link to one such product.

:Clay

Clay Gordon

president, pureorigin

editor/publisher www.chocophile.com

founder, New World Chocolate Society

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In some of the Gardening forums I follow, for storing seeds from year to year they put some powdered milk in a tissue in the bottom of a canning jar before putting the seed packets in. Powdered milk is definitely okay to consume, of course so are salt and sugar.

I haven't any clue which would be the most hygrospic though.

Troy

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I buy tubs of individually wrapped "Moto Moto Yama Seasoned Roasted Seaweed" and they come with these HUGE packets of a desiccant made with "quick lime." Although the packet still instructs not to eat I wonder if it is safer around food.

Edited by fiftydollars (log)
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  • 4 years later...

I was wondering if anyone used silica or something else to absorb moisture when storing chocolate or other products that require a dry environment. I recall reading somewhere that silica gel doesn't work at low temperatures but cannot find any onfo on this. Does anyone know about this?

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Sugar is highly hygroscopic, so as a sugar artist, I use silica gel to store decorative items made from gumpaste, fondant, pastillage, marzipan, pulled/blown sugar, or chocolate modeling paste. I pour the silica gel into the bottom of a plastic tote box, then lay parchment paper over it. I place a grid on top of all that, then lay the flowers/figures on top of the grid.

I live in a 4-seasons area, and I have never had a problem with storage. I do take the time to recondition my silica gel after each use.

Theresa

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

- Abraham Lincoln

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okay. Sounds really good. Do you do this at room temp or in the refrigerator? Freezer?

It is making me mad that I cannot find where I got this info from. Maybe a company that I wanted to order from? I sometimes freeze my bonbons or my display/storage fridge is one witha glass door, whose thermostat was installed to suit chocolate but then it gets humidity in there. I though about something inside the fridge to absorb moisture... I want 50% humidity. I think a company told me that it is not efficient at low temps...

thanks

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We use silica gel at room temperature, as we can not risk the condensation when figures are brought back to room temperature. We strive to keep the room at aroun 65-70 degrees F, because we use Swiss Meringue Buttercreme for our frostings.

The abstract I have was written with examples from museum use, within an exhibition case. I am going to assume that temperature is similar, and airflow is minimal to prevent disintegration of the display.

Theresa :smile:

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

- Abraham Lincoln

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Is this product description of any help?

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Silica gel works to below freezing temperatures. Many of the hunters around here put it in covers they use on their trail cameras and outdoor gear that will be left out in the below freezing temperatures seen in late fall and winter in Ohio. The silica absorbs the moisture seen in frost/fog/mist/snow

"It only hurts if it bites you" - Steve Irwin

"Whats another word for Thesaurus?" - Me

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wow the uses of silica gel are astounding!! Thank you everyone for all the links and info!! I still have to read the abstracts again as I just had a quick curious glance-I apologize-have been so busy. I also wrote to a place and this was his reply:

"The Silica Gel packets will still absorb moisture until you get to the freezing point. So they will still work in the refrigerator, but wouldn't be very effective in the freezer. For packaging with food items go with the Silica Gel packaged in Tyvek,which is the industry standard and meets FDA Specifications for dry foodpackaging. EricSilicaGelPackets.com"

Perhaps when out hunting it is okay as it is not frozen for more than a few hours? I wonder how that works. :huh:

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Anyway, Eric of SilicaGelPackets.com has been really helpful. I explained to him how I pack my chocolates in plastic boxes half the size of a A4 sheet or a size just a bit smaller than a whole sheet, in order to see what amount of silica is required. Here is the answer:

"Just measure the length, width, and height of your box. Then you can match the CU IN up to our chart. I would probably say a 1 or 3 gram Tyvek packet is about what you would arrive at."

I guess I will order some at least for the refrigerator.

Edited by Lior (log)
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This is a non-professional question but...

Every Christmas my mom makes huge batches of different kinds of cookies and stores them all in a large Tupperware container on layers of wax paper. She likes to make up "goody" plates for friends and neighbors using the cookies but they tend to go stale within a week. I think a big part of the problem is that she stores some cookies that have icing and jellies on them along with the other cookies and I think these cookies are providing the moisture that is making them all go stale. The obvious answer is to store them separately but she's a creature of habit and that's not going to happen. :hmmm:

If she put some of these silica gel packets inside the conatiner, would it help to keep the cookies crisp for a longer period of time? And how many packets would it take?

TIA...

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I don't think silica gel will help. Mixing moist cookies with crisp ones in storage tends to average out the moisture of all to one unappealing result. :blink:

Thank you for the reply.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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  • 2 months later...

I wanted to report back on the complete success we had using the food-safe silica gel packs with our Christmas cookies. It worked almost too well.

The sugar cookies, which were topped with a buttercream frosting and various gel-like decorating pens, ended up being the crispiest sugar cookies we'd ever made. We have a family friend who has always enjoyed our leftover Christmas cookies and he was dispapointed to find that the cookies weren't soft and stale, if you can believe that.

Even the Jamborees (a butter cookie topped with apricot jam and sprinkled with chopped walnuts) started to crisp up around the edges and they were a soft cookie to begin with.

Next year we may use less packets. I ordered 4 small packets this year and like I said, it worked almost too well. So we may try just 2 packets next year to see if we can't find a more suitable balance.

Thank you all for the suggestion!

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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Next year we may use less packets. I ordered 4 small packets this year and like I said, it worked almost too well. So we may try just 2 packets next year to see if we can't find a more suitable balance.

Would you mind explaining the above sentences a bit? How could 4 small packets be used with multi-dozens of cookies? And how could two packets be enough? Two packets used how and where? Thanks. :smile:

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Next year we may use less packets. I ordered 4 small packets this year and like I said, it worked almost too well. So we may try just 2 packets next year to see if we can't find a more suitable balance.

Would you mind explaining the above sentences a bit? How could 4 small packets be used with multi-dozens of cookies? And how could two packets be enough? Two packets used how and where? Thanks. :smile:

The gel packets were each about the size of a deck of cards (perhaps a shade smaller). I think the sugar cokies were far too crisp this year thanks to the gel packs. So I assume using less of the gel packs will lessen their crispness. I could be wrong but it's worth an experiment next year.

The storage container my mom used held about 10 dozen (flat) cookies.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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