# cookie preservative



## qpid316

Hey everyone, i am actually looking for a cookie preservative that is all natural and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about it. thank you in advance for all of your help


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## momoreg

Cookies can last quite a long time without preservatives if they're properly wrapped. Are you having some difficulty with them going stale?


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## aprilb

It's called the freezer...:lol: 

Seriously, I agree with the above...

How long do you need them to last and under what conditions? 

I don't know of any "natural" preservatives to speak of. All of the chemicals that are specifically designed to increase shelf life of a product aren't 'natural' in the sense that I think you are looking for.

Frozen dough lasts a long time. Frozen cookies last a long time without any degradation of flavor or quality.

April


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## panini

Are you looking for something to inhibit molding? or just bad taste?


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## foodpump

Use natural preservatives: Honey, raisins, etc.


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## janetim

I am also looking for a natural preservative. I would also like to know how long a cookie will stay fresh without a preservative.


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## panini

I think the best way to figure that is to bring up a small formula of each and just let them sit in different areas.


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## culinarymd

qpid316,
I found the following on a science and technology website about a good baked preservative: 
Antimicrobials are found throughout the grocery store. Propionates hold sway in the bakery aisle. Propionic acid occurs naturally in strawberries, apples, violet leaves, grains, and cheese. The acid is effective against bread molds and the spores of the bacterium _Bacillus mesentericus_, which cause an inedible condition in baked goods called rope.
Here is the link: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/8045/8045sci2.html


Also, check out Gillco Ingredients: http://www.gillco.com/pages/antim.html
They have all sorts of natural ingredients that inhibit spoilage. Here's a little blurb on the site: Sorbates' effectiveness increases with greater acidity. Above pH 4.0, sorbates are more effective than sodium benzoate or sodium/calcium propionate. At pH 2.5 - 3.0, sorbates are still somewhat more effective than sodium benzoate as a yeast and mold inhibitor, and more than twice as potent as propionates.

Also, check out this food technology website: http://buyersguide.ift.org/cms/?pid=...ry%20additives
It has a list of worldwide companies that manufacture ingredients. It is a good resource for finding out the grass roots of food. I hope this helps you out. Have a nice day!


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## cookieguy

Cookies typically don't need a chemical preservative. Are you talking about preserving freshness as to texture - crisp or soft. Or are you talking about mold growth.

Crisp cookies and even the vast majority of soft cookies have too low a water activity to support mold growth.

If you are talking about crisp or soft - that is packaging. Crisp cookies absorb moisture from the air and go soft or "stale." Soft cookies will give moisture up to the air and go hard. If texture is the issue than both types of cookies should be sealed airtight immediately after cooling. Crisp cookies can stay crisp almost indefinately if packed correctly with the proper container. Soft cookies will stay soft for a while but eventually will harden anyway as the starches retrograde.


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## phartneck

theres actualy something new on the market thats good for preserving all foods including cookies. Its a CO2 pad, that you put in the fridge with your food and it puts CO2 into the air and keeps all food in the fridge preserved for much much longer then regularly


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## foodpump

Re-read my first post. If you want preservatives, NATURAL ones, subsitute some of the sugar, say 20%, with honey. Add in maybe 10% of the flour weight with raisins. 
These are very, very old tricks, used for centuries to keep baked goods moist and mold free. Not quite sure how they work, but they do work. Honey and raisins can be purchased almost anywhere, and most people can pronounce them too, as opposed to sodium benzoate....


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## mary wash

im looking to have safeway or some other companycarry my cookies in their store but i'm worried about the freshness. don't want the product to become stale while sitting on the shelf waiting for someone to purchase them. just trying to start a business and need to get all the paper work started. right now i'm doing a little research on preservatives to see if i really need a preservative or, do i just need airtight packaging.


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## mary wash

i have the same concern.


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## mary wash

wanna be pastry chef, thanks for the info.. why do you say you "WANT to be a pastry chef why not do what you  love to do? jump in with both feet and just do it..I'm going to take my own advice because i too want to be a pastry chef.. lets get busy!


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## flipflopgirl

Don't want to be the cookie Grinch, just askin' here.

Are you working from a licensed kitchen or maybe there is in place some sort of Cottage Food Law where you do your baking?

Have you taken any sort of classes, one being a Serv-Safe type or maybe a pastry class at your community college?

Yes, I am being nosey.

It is the type of nosey that will keep your customers healthy and everything you own still in your possession.

The question you are asking would be covered in either of those courses of which I speak ( maybe not specific to your secret recipe chocolate cookie, but in general terms)

You may have to extrapolate so as to be able to apply it to your specific situation.

Big corporations (heck, even the ma & pa cafes) are hesitant to extend contracts to small businesses unless you can show that you have a license and insurance and while I admit ingnorance of every state Cottage Law that is in place, most if not all require the customer to pick up the cookies (or whatever) from where it was made.

No deliveries.

They will want to see some sort of documentation that you will provide a product that is safe, has an detailed ingredient lable..can't have anyone pushing up daisies due to an anaphylactic reaction from that tiny bit of peanut that got missed when cleaning the KA, so that lable would need to include the info that your product is made in an environment that may include peanut/other nuts,( just an example), you may have never ever touched a peanut without steam cleaning the entire kitchen.

I am not sayin' you are not prepared, just maybe you should step back and write your business plan, one that is so detailed that it will cover things so insignificant as what ingredients will keep your cookie from going stale on the shelf.

Just sayin'.

mimi


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## sleeplessjojo

Dear Mary,

I was wondering where you were with your project and whether you found a good way to preserve cookies. I am hoping to do the same thing (sell to coffee shops) and I will soon be experimenting with different ingredients. I wish you best of luck with your project.

Jojo


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## scottabeer

Jesus. You ask a question hoping for advice and INSTEAD of offering the answer, People want you to freeze them or hey, did you know cookies can last a long time? STOP! they asked for a name of a food preservative. C'mon. I used to see this when I was working on computers. Have you rebooted? was the virus on a disk somewhere and maybe your child played a game and typed in a code and then downloaded an update or...

sorry to be ranting but STOP with the answering questions with something like "freeze it" I remember a stupid Pizza commercial for Home made Pizza. "you can make it however you want" Really? that's kind of how you make Pizza. What? You only serve bb's and machine oil pizza? I was wanting an asbestos topping with horseradish and a later of used business cards.


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## brianshaw

Check the dates - they stopped several years ago. It appears that only you are ranting now. Maybe your clock failed to survive Y2K, but now it is 2016. Classic!


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## glutenfree

I am looking for a way to prevent mold from forming in commercial cookies when they are shipped or stored in hot weather. Will a recipe that contains 10% water not likely mold if the water is significantly reduced or does it all need to be removed? I find that water is the only thing that breaks down the organic sugar. Or is the fat and brown rice flour (whole grain) contributing to the mold as well? I added a little apple cider vinegar the recipe in hopes that it would prevent mold (works as a leavener as well).


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## panini

@glutenfree ,

I thought you might find this interesting if you already haven't read it.

http://www.asbe.org/assets/1/7/All Natural Mold Inhibitors Jerry Erdmann.pdf

I respect this man greatly. He only addresses issues he has complete knowledge and understanding of.


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