Agar-agar is a jelly-like substance extracted from red seaweed found off the coasts of Japan, California, and Sri Lanka. It is available in strips or slabs and in powder form. Agar-agar only dissolves in hot water and is colourless. It has a melting point much higher than gelatin and its jellying power is eight times greater. It is used in pie fillings and to some extent in the stiffening of jams. It is a permitted ingredient in some dairy products, including ice cream at 0.
One of its largest uses is in the production of materials such as piping jelly and marshmallow. It has the disadvantage of not working well in the presence of acidic fruits.
It is popular in uncooked icings because it works well in the cold state and holds a lot of moisture. It reduces stickiness and prevents recrystallization. Carrageenan is another marine gum extracted from red seaweed. It is used as a thickening agent in various products, from icing stabilizers to whipping cream, at an allowable rate of 0.
Gelatin is a glutinous substance made from the bones, connective tissues, and skins of animals. The calcium is removed and the remaining substance is soaked in cold water. The partially evaporated liquid is defatted and coagulated on glass plates and then poured into moulds. Roux can be made with vegetable oils, but they do have more of a tendency to separate. Clarified butter and rendered fat drippings are better mediums, as the flour will be suspended in the fat when it cools.
As soon as the flour is whisked into the hot liquid, it will stiffen into a rough paste. But at this point it will have a grainy texture and a raw, floury taste.
Simmering for 5 to 45 minutes over medium-low heat will soften the flour as it absorbs the liquid, cooking away the raw taste, and developing a toasty fragrance and flavor as it caramelizes. French for kneaded butter, this is a combination of equal parts flour and softened butter.
Simply use your fingers to rub the two together until the consistency is that of a dense paste, and small rounds can be formed. The rounds are then whisked into a sauce, chowder, or stew to finish a dish. When the butter melts, the flour is dispersed evenly without creating any lumps, adding shine to dishes and a lustrous, satiny mouthfeel. A coiled whisk is perfect for stirring together sauces and preventing lumps from forming.
Foodal recommends this model from Kuhn Rikon. Now that you know the basic differences between thickening agents, will it change the way you make your sauces and gravies?
Photo credits: Shutterstock, Cuispro, and Kuhn Rikon. Recently retired as a costume specialist in the TV and film industry, Lorna now enjoys blogging on contemporary lifestyle themes. I will be using this article next time I go grocery shopping to make sure the pancake turns out perfect.
Thank you very much! Although when I make pancakes sometimes I accidentally add too much water. Then I simply add more of the pancake mix to even things out. This is a great post to refer to if I wanted to know what type of thickener I should use for different dishes.
Thank you for this article. Does lemon juice affect most stiffeners poorly? I have a cream and gelatin dessert recipe for mousse that works with strawberries, but not lemons, and that might explain it. For starches, both arrowroot and tapioca will work with lemon juice katie.
I never really stopped to think about there being other choices. I generally just use cornstarch to thicken. I have used instant mashed potato flakes in stuff like potato soup, but I never realized there were other options. Glad you found the post helpful. Starches are long chains of sugar molecules—thousands of molecules long, in fact—that are found, in the form of tiny, dry granules, in all plants.
The starches we commonly use in the kitchen come from grains wheat and corn and roots potato, cassava, and arrowroot. Every starch granule is jam-packed with starch molecules. The liquid then thickens because of the traffic jam of tangled molecules and also because the starch molecules sop up water. But to achieve full thickening power, flour and cornstarch, which have a high percentage of a starch molecule called amylose, must come all the way to a boil and be held just below the boiling point for several minutes to cook off the raw starch flavor.
Tapioca and other root starches, which are rich in a different kind of starch called amylopectin, thicken well before the boiling point. Different starches, however, can endure different amounts of heat, agitation, and acidity before they start to break down and lose their thickening power.
And there are a few other differences worth learning about, such as clarity, cooking characteristics, and how well they freeze and thaw. The outer edges of the powdered starch will gelatinize instantly, virtually sealing off the rest of the starch and resulting in lumps.
In essence, the outer surface of the starch cooks before the starch has a chance to disperse and dissolve in the liquid. To prevent lumps, stir the starch into a small of amount of cool water, then stir this starch slurry into the hot liquid you want to thicken.
You can dredge stew meat in flour before browning it, and the flour will later thicken the stew. You can mix it with a little cool liquid to form a paste and then whisk it into a simmering pan sauce. To achieve full thickening power and eliminate raw flour taste, flour-thickened mixtures must be brought to a boil and then cooked for about 3 minutes. Potato starch is most commonly called for in European recipes. Potato starch thickens quickly without a pronounced flavor that needs to be cooked off, which makes it great as a lastminute fix for too-thin sauces.
Arrowroot powder comes from the root of a tropical plant of the same name. Look for it in gourmet or health-food stores. Arrowroot starch granules are very small and make sauces exceptionally smooth.
Like flour and cornstarch, it can withstand long cooking and higher temperatures, and like tapioca, it is remarkable for its clarity. Your article fails to mention other Thickeners that can be of a great benefit to flavor profiles and consistency.
Use it as a thickener for puddings, jelled desserts, fruit preserves, ice cream, and other sweets. Whereas gelatin can give an almost creamy texture to dishes, agar will result in a firmer texture that can be unpleasant when unexpected. When using agar, remember that it first needs to be brought to a boil with a liquid and dissolved before being incorporated into a recipe.
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