Binders

[Mottmott]

How do you keep your food together? When you chop it up? Add all sorts of bits together? What do you use to keep together your meat, fish, vegetable cakes, loaves, terrines, pates, stuffings, dumplings, etc? I need to move past eggs and cheese which both add cholesterol.

Let us count the ways. For example, today on TV I saw Chairman Mao's chef (boy, that must have been an old one!) make fried pork balls by simply adding cornstarch to lightly marinated hand chopped pork and slapping/kneading it about to make it bind together. On another show I saw a mousseline made by emulsifying chicken with ice cubes and cream. Can we count using water (or egg) to "bind" two pieces of dough together? Or when we smear mustard on meat before adding a coating of nuts, crumbs, etc.

[kelautz]

Hmm, your story about the pork balls reminds me of a trick for potato pancakes. When squeezing out potato shreds, I always squeeze the liquid into a bowl, let it settle a bit, then decant off the top pink liquid and add the potato starch that collects in the bottom back into my pancake mixture, along with the other usual stuff in potato pancakes.

Potato starch, then, for starters.

[Gifted Gourmet]

My favorite binders are (in no particular order)

homemade bread crumbs

cornstarch

rice

instant potato flakes

oatmeal

[highchef]

panko

[Gifted Gourmet]

panko

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If one uses panko crumbs as a binder, doesn't that mean that they are mixed in with other ingredients and therefore rendered not particularly crispy, which is their primary appeal? I always think of using them as a coating rather than a binder ...

[highchef]

panko

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If one uses panko crumbs as a binder, doesn't that mean that they are mixed in with other ingredients and therefore rendered not particularly crispy, which is their primary appeal? I always think of using them as a coating rather than a binder ...

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I add them as a binder because I find I can use less of them, than say, bread crumbs. I use them primarily for shrimp cakes that I then recoat in same and bake. this is the recipe I use for that, I guess it keeps things consistant in taste. I've adapted the recipe for my crab cakes (without the sweet potato) and I think it keeps them together with out adding a bready taste (is bready a word?). Anyway, it's a bit more expensive, but when you're dealing with highend items like shrimp and crabmeat it's worth it. jmho.

btw, there is a recipe on the back of one brand (the market has switched brands, and the other brand name alludes me) that suggests it as a binder for hamburgers. I have used it in burgers but I flavor mine so much that it's probably a moot point. I may be delusional in my thinking but I think that they are milder, lighter and do the job without taking away from the primary flavors and mouth feel.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I appreciate your elucidating explanation on my 'issue' ... and I am in full agreement when you explain .. particularly agree on using panko with shrimp and crab items, nothing less will do than the best! .. most appreciated, highchef!

[highchef]

I appreciate your elucidating explanation on my 'issue' ... and I am in full agreement when you explain .. particularly agree on using panko with shrimp and crab items, nothing less will do than the best! .. most appreciated, highchef!

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you're welcome. Do try that recipe, and don't sub for the spice mix (as one reviewer suggests).

[tryska]

panko

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me too.

[Mottmott]

Hmm, never thought of panko, I'll have to try it.

I'll add a few more to move the list along: mayo, mustard, gelatin, chicken fat (as in chicken livers), and on the sweet side, caramel.

[Carrot Top]

Don't want to sound dull and all. . .but bechamel (made thicker than would be usual for a sauce) is good for knitting together a variety of things. As are all its relatives. . .add cheese, or a hint of tomato paste and herbs, etc etc. . .to the basic recipe as the desired final taste would demand . . .

Edited August 16, 2005 by Carrot Top (log)

[Genny]

If you are cutting the cholesterol and fat, just egg whites will do the job nicely...depending on the application.

[Mottmott]

Don't want to sound dull and all. . .but bechamel (made thicker than would be usual for a sauce)  is good for knitting together a variety of things. As are all its relatives. . .add cheese, or a hint of tomato paste and herbs, etc etc. . .to the basic recipe as the desired final taste would demand . . .

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Yes and more versatile than some of the others. But don't call it dull! rather, call it neutral. It mixes unobtrusively with its neighbors whether sweet or savory, taking on whatever tone they set.

[kelautz]

Panko is useful for binding because when it gets wet, it turns into an old fashioned panade. I like panko for almost all breadcrumb applications because of the uniform size of its granules, and because it doesn't contain any pesky bits of crust. The proverbial "oriental markets" will have large bags of panko for a good price.

Does anyone know how they manufacture panko? That would be an interesting search!

Oatmeal is not my favorite binder because I think it gives a slimy texture to whatever its included in. For instance, meatloaf w/ oatmeal is slimy, but with panko, not so. Am otherwise fond of oatmeal for breakfast, and in cookies and cakes.

Binders and extenders cross over into each other's territory sometimes. Binders are often for making a little bit of something seem like a lot of something.

[maggiethecat]

Cracker crumbs. It's always full to whack a sleeve of saltines with a rolling pin.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Does anyone know how they manufacture panko?

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Yes! It is actually made by spraying a flour and water slurry against a large hot rotating drum, so it goes directly to the crumb stage without ever going through the bread stage, if that makes sense. Please note that the panko crumbs are often

rice-based as well.