Xanthan

[Werdna]

I'm also playing with it in wheat-free bread (4 parts oat flour, 1 part potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch) and the ratio I'm seeing suggested is 3/4 teaspoon per cup of flour. Hope that's not too much, but I used 1 teaspoon before for 3 cups and that did not seem like enough to mimic wheat gluten very well.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Six days, still good.

I'm thinking that, if I decide to keep xanthan around the kitchen as a staple thickener/stabilizer, the 0.1% solution is ideal for the amounts of food I'm usually preparing. It dissolves quickly, and basically two teaspoons of the solution is 10ml, which is 0.01g, and the amount that I'm likely to use for up to a quart of liquid is typically less than 0.08g, just to hold something together without changing the mouthfeel. If I need more than that, I can weigh out the dry powder.

[paulraphael]

I might play with this too. It saves some measuring and makes dissolving the stuff easier.

Have you tried a 1% solution? to get your 0.08g, it would take 8ml of solution ... easy to measure with a baby doser, and not so much water added to the recipe.

[David A. Goldfarb]

A 1% solution would be useful too, if I were often needing larger quantities, but I'm finding that I'm more likely to use .01-.03g more than .05-.08g, and then if I do need more than .05g, I can weigh it out, mix with a smaller amount of liquid, and then combine with the rest of the liquid.

I've been measuring the liquid with a graduated shot glass that's marked in ml, teaspoons, tablespoons, and fractions of an ounce, but we have a bunch of baby droppers too.

[Sethro]

For sauces, Ultra Sperse 3 is so, so, SO much better. Xantham has a terrible, mucous-like mouthfeel to me. I only use Xantham in cases where I need to increase viscosity like a foam base.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I was planning to make some ice cream today, so I tried a variation on the orange custard ice cream with 1.6% xanthan from the _Hydrocolloids_ compilation. Curious texture--holds its shape right out of the ice cream maker, slightly phlegmy. Now I know how they make ice cream that doesn't melt. I don't think I'd do it with that much xanthan again, if at all. Since it's a custard anyway, I don't think it needs the xanthan.

[Tri2Cook]

For sauces, Ultra Sperse 3 is so, so, SO much better. Xantham has a terrible, mucous-like mouthfeel to me. I only use Xantham in cases where I need to increase viscosity like a foam base.

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+1 on that. Xanthan is useful in many applications for it's synergy with other hydrocolloids but I don't love it as a sauce thickener even at carefully regulated levels. For the banana smoothie, kappa carrageenan at .02% - .03% should do the trick without having to worry about sliminess.

[paulraphael]

What other hydrocolloids do you guys like for sauces? Is there anything that mimics the mouthfeel of gelatin, but that doens't congeal when it cools?

How well does methycellulose work (in conjunction with natural gelatin)? I've heard of people using this because it thickens at higher temps, thins at lower ones ... so it balances the natural tendency of the gelatin.

And--if you had to pick a colloid that gives similar qualities to an egg custard, what would it be?

[David A. Goldfarb]

I haven't tried methylcellulose, but I wonder about cooking with a product that is also known for its laxative properties. Of course we cook with other fibrous things that have that effect, but one dose of Citrucel contains 2g methylcellulose as the active ingredient, which seems to be the same order of magnitude as food quantities.

[Tri2Cook]

How well does methycellulose work (in conjunction with natural gelatin)? I've heard of people using this because it thickens at higher temps, thins at lower ones ... so it balances the natural tendency of the gelatin.

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I've read some of the stuff on using methylcellulose as a sauce thickener but I don't really work with it much so I don't have many types around to play with. I have a few (non-sauce) applications where I use SGA-16 as a stabilizer but that's about it. I like ultra tex and ultra sperse. For some applications I like agar or gellan (fluid gels). I've been planning to dig up some information on using sodium alginate as a thickener just as a curiosity thing. I know it's done but don't know much about it beyond that. I'll get around to it at some point. Of course, none of them will make me give up a good flour-based roux for some uses and the usual starch suspects (corn, rice, arrowroot, etc.) have their place in the kitchen as well.

[Sethro]

And--if you had to pick a colloid that gives similar qualities to an egg custard, what would it be?

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If it's dairy based, then kappa carageenan + guar gum will give you a texture nearly identical to a cooked custard (with no baking needed). The % varies based on the ingredients, but here is a simple custard made of just whole milk:

1000 ml whole milk

200 g sugar

3 g kappa carrageenan

1.5 g guar gum

Shear sugar and gum mixture into milk

Cook to 160 degrees f

Strain and mould as desired immediately