# Scientific Additives!



## heavymetal chef (Jul 31, 2006)

So I have a decent amount of these additives and I need to know how to use them further so I asked a few questions and if you have recipes please contribute:

1. What other than make powders can I do with tapioca maltodextrin and can I emulsify things with it (i.e. salad dressings)?

2. I know that you have to use .5-1% bean gum (never got a specific on what type it is but I think it is guar) and heat to thicken up a liquid but what else can I do and how do I properly use it?

3. Mythylcellulose...I'm lost just hearing that word but I heard it has odd properties (melts when cold and thickens when hot). So what can I do with it and is it possible to make hot ice cream?

4. I know you can use agar to stand up egg shells on a plate and I know that it is a really strong (seaweed) gelatine but what ratio should I use it in and what can I use it in (other than acids)?

5. What can anyone tell me about sodium alginate and calcium chloride?

6. I know sodium alginate makes "fake" caviar and you have to do something with a calcium choloride to make it...how do I make fake caviar?

7. Xanthan gum...what is it used in and how does it react?

8. Can trimoline be used gram by gram like sugar and does it emulsify and what other properties does it have?

9. Other than foams what can I do with lecithin powder?

10. What is ascorbic acid?

11. What is ammonium carbonate?

12. How do I use sodium hydroxide?

13. How do I use CMC (Carboxymethyl Cellulose)?

14. What is propylene glycol and how is it used?

15. How do I use barley Malt Powder in my bread?

Thank you all


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

All i know is Xanthan gum. I use it to make gluten free bakery products, It's supposed to replace whats missing in a whole variety of gluten free flours to make them more like regular flour
I'm sure ascorbic acid is vitamin C


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## thetincook (Jun 14, 2002)

_5. What can anyone tell me about sodium alginate and calcium chloride?

6. I know sodium alginate makes "fake" caviar and you have to do something with a calcium choloride to make it...how do I make fake caviar?
_
Sodium alginate only forms a gel when it contacts CaCl. To make caviar with it, you need to dissolve the alginate in the caviar liquid. Then you drip the liquid into a solution of calcium chloride. Drain and serve. If you make this item often, you may want to invest in some lab glass ware so you can have it drip while you do other stuff. It's a pretty cheap setup. I don't have the porportions of chemicals off hand.

_10. What is ascorbic acid?
_
Its a dough conditioner used in very small amounts. Yeast really love the stuff. Its also used to prevent browning in fruits and scurvy in pirates.

_11. What is ammonium carbonate?
_
Its an old fashioned levaner. It's very quick acting and is activated only by heat. aka bakers ammonium carbonate or hartshorn. It's usually used in crackers and cookies and other things with large surface area.

_12. How do I use sodium hydroxide?
_
aka Lye. Pretzels are dipped into a solution of NaOH to give them the characteristic flavor and color.


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## chefpeon (Jun 14, 2006)

Info on this website might be able to help with your questions......
Will Powder ***


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## andyg (Aug 27, 2007)

Ascorbic acid is vitamin C, also used as a preservative


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## phishstyx (May 21, 2003)

_3. Mythylcellulose... is it possible to make hot ice cream?_

Yes. It's been done for quite a while now. It's not too difficult. The hard part for most of this stuff is figuring it out. Once someone's done that for us it's just a matter of following the instructions and a little practice. The hot ice cream thing is a neat trick but you have to use your imagination a bit. It looks like ice cream, it is fairly solid when poached and warm and it does soften as it cools but there's not a whole lot in the mouth that says ice cream. I think the cold is part of the whole ice cream experience. Still, it's a fun thing to do if you have the time and methylcel and gives you a starting point for your own ideas.

_5. What can anyone tell me about sodium alginate and calcium chloride?_

The caviars are easier to make look nice than the raviolis but the raviolis have more flavor and wow factor. If you leave either in the CaCl bath too long or make them too far ahead you'll have rubbery, chewy little buggers with no liquid in the center (the reaction slowly continues once it starts). Be sure to rinse them in plain water after the CaCl bath before serving. You can toss them in the plain water and leave them there until ready to use. Have some ph strips or a meter and some sodium citrate around because if the ph of whatever liquid you're spherifying isn't in the right range it won't work.

_6. I know sodium alginate makes "fake" caviar and you have to do something with a calcium choloride to make it...how do I make fake caviar?_

Start Here. It's a free pdf file that khymos.org put together that's loaded with recipes using various hydrocolloids and covers many of the things you asked about. Just remember the most important part of this stuff... have fun.


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## hippie chick (Feb 27, 2005)

lecithin is an emulsifier, so I would guess that it would be useful anywhere you wanted an emulsion.

Ammonium Carbonate is also known as bakers ammonia, it was a leavener before baking soda and baking powder became popular. I have heard that some old school bakers still use it, supposedly it blowes out the inside of choux like a dream 

The only use I have heard of for CMC is to make gumpaste out of rolled fondant (IIRC the ratio is 1 t to 1 lb. fondant - definately double check that, I just do it by eye)


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## stir it up (Oct 15, 2007)

14. Propylene Glycol is ANTIFREEZE and its proper use is in your car's radiator to keep your coolant from freezing in winter.

I personally avoid foods that contain it, and would NEVER deliberately add it to food. You may truly be "Heavy Metal" Chef if you use it. I would throw it out, although in my area to throw it out, you have to go to the toxic waste collection depot to throw out antifreeze, seriously. Although it is officially safe in foods in small quantities... :beer:

It is used commercially in things like yogurt, sour cream for texture. It is a solvent that absorbs extra water. You will see it in food colorings, on occasion in things like vanilla extract (which is also available without it). In my opinion anything of quality should not need it, any effects it would potentially offer should be achievable by other less dubious means. 

5. calcium chloride can also be used to make unsweetened soy milk into tofu. It is how most tofu is commercially made, to have a cooked soy milk extraction, then adding CaCL to bring out the tofu.

11. ammonium carbonate has been answered, but a nice use for it is Springerle -- beautiful. That's the only thing I use it for. It gives off a nasty ammonia smell, so don't bake with it if your customers are near the baking. The other main difference between it and modern baking powder (in addition to the difference of the noxious smell) is that it leavens when exposed to HEAT, where baking powders begin to leaven when exposed to moisture. It supposedly gives a more even rise to the Springerle leaving the design intact.

15. I love using malt powder in Bagels. It gives that "Montreal Bagel" authentic taste. Add some sesame seeds on top and you're in heaven! I'm not up on all the authoritative info on how to use it, but I just add it to the flour, works for me. If you want to get more complicated, there's diastatic and non-diastatic malt, it is sometimes already in wheat flours to standardize the alpha-amylase content of wheat flour, bla bla bla, some malts will have an effect on the yeast and the rise, others (the non-diastatic) are said to be non-enzyme in effect so are primarily for flavor and color only. I just know it tastes good! If you want to know more, I would say Peter Reinhart's breadbaking books will have some use and explanation. There are also malt syrups too that are used.


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