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/ck/ - Food & Cooking

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4283182 No.4283182 [Reply] [Original]

Is anyone here familiar with molecular gastronomy techniques? I'm currently looking into alginate. You can make spheres of stock, juices, literally any kind of culinary liquid by dissolving a small amount of alginate and dripping it into a clacium chloride solution. It occurs naturally in algae and is widely produced yet very hard to come by, I've found an online store that sells 300g containers for €15. Are there alternative, cheaper sources of alginate around?

I think it would work great with desserts, for instance a reduced fruit juice (I was thinking of pear) with a generous amount of sugar and after solidification put in the freezer to harden.

Anything related, experiences, I'm eager to hear them

>> No.4283191

there are many youtube videos, advice sites etc. for this sort of thing.

The ingredients used to be quite cheap but now the 'fad has caught' prices skyrocketed -3-

>> No.4283199
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4283199

I was sad when these awesome fuckers were discontinued. I assume they used a similar technique to get the little floating spheres throughout the drink.

>> No.4283208

Ghetto version: Mix your liquid (hot) with gelatine and drop it into a glass of ice cold oil (from the freezer). Wash the hardened droplets in cold water. Obviously they will not be liquid inside.

>> No.4283215

Look up luxirare parfaits! Great info there.

>> No.4283224

>I think it would work great with desserts, for instance a reduced fruit juice (I was thinking of pear) with a generous amount of sugar and after solidification put in the freezer to harden.

OP there's an ice cream joint down the road from me that does exactly that and uses it for ice cream topping. Absolutely fucking delicious, especially the strawberry ones.

They don't freeze them though, which I actually prefer because then when they hit your tongue they explode in a little gush of intense fruit which goes nicely with a lot of ice cream flavors.

>> No.4283247

>>4283199
How would you go about drinking that without serious choking hazard?
>>4283191
I've seen a lot of instruction videos, but none of them really discuss the do's and don'ts. Or aren't there any? It seems so simple after all.
>>4283215
this is excellent, much appreciated
>>4283224
Sounds delicous, can't wait to get my hands on this stuff. I'm planning to serve these droplets with frozen custard made into slush, raspberry syrup and a little bit of dark chocolate.

>> No.4283907

bump

>> No.4283957
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4283957

DO be careful how much Calcium Chloride you use. Follow your recipe closely to make sure you are using the right amount. Calcium Chloride is toxic in high amounts, so you don't want to make anyone sick. I transfer my spheres into a plain water bath after they are formed to "rinse" any excess chloride off them.

DO strain your puree after each step. Keep a chinois handy. It should be nice and smooth with no lumps at all.

DO keep in mind that whatever you are going to spherify, the flavor of it will dull a lot after the process is over. I usually reduce my purees or juices a little bit just to concentrate my flavor. You can experiment with adding sugar/salt/other flavorings to the mix, but my experience shows that adding things makes the liquid less likely to spherify.

Also, look at my pic. You can shop around on chefrubber or your local kitchen specialty store and see if they have one of these. Consistent, perfectly sized spherified beads every time.

>> No.4283973

>>4283957
Excellent info, thank you. I was already planning to reduce, as I was just expecting what you said about the flavor reduction. For now this is going to be a one-time-only occurence since I'm doing this as a part of a research paper, but if I like what I get, maybe I'll look into the matter deeper.

It must be very interesting seeing a constant stream of solidifying droplets. Awesome.

>> No.4283985

>>4283957
Also I forgot to add, will 2g of alginate on 200g of juice do in a solution of 1g cacl2 per 100g water?

>> No.4283994

I *hate* the plating of many molecular gastronomy guys. OP's plate is a great example of this "style".

>> No.4284002

>>4283985

Your alginate mixture should work out. The recipe I use comes from Ferran and he calls for 2g for 250g of strained juice/puree. Alginate is a thickener, so after mixing and straining, if your puree is too thick to shoot through a syringe, add more liquid to it.

1g of calcic for 100g of water may be too much. Try it with 150g first and see if it works out. Generally if your liquid doesnt spherify, its because of the puree, not because of insufficient calcic in the water bath.

>> No.4284010
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4284010

>>4283247
the spheres in the drink were really soft. I remember these very well. I was really bummed when they were gone

>> No.4284011

>>4283994

A lot of people consider molecular gastronomy a gimmick that will die out eventually. I have worked with many chefs that abhor anything to do with it.

I feel that there should be some appreciation for the technique and science behind it all. I wouldnt want to eat a meal consisting solely of foams and beads, but a clever use of of technique here and there where it fits and is appropriate is appreciated.

>> No.4284028
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4284028

>>4283994
What do you hate about it? I could imagine it being slightly offsetting for compulsive people. I think it looks pretty natural, as if it was scooped from a field nearby, which is exactly what I think the chef was trying to convey with this dish.
>>4284002
Noted. I assume varying the amount of alginate influences the rigidness, but will a too high concentration of cacl2 influence the taste or structure?
>>4284010
Do they still sell it without the spheres? I would make my own and add them, infused with wodka or something.
>>4284011
I think so, yes. Molecular cooking should be used to teach about enzymes, proteines and so on in schools. It's fun, interesting and you can eat the products. I don't agree with you on it being just a gimmick. Discovering the processes behind everyday cooking techniques, hell, even that of an egg being fried, is what molecular chefs are working on. They might find the perfect temperature to fry an egg, or something alike. It could make the food industry a lot more efficient.

>> No.4284036

>>4284028
I don't find it natural at all. It isn't that I like symmetrical plating (I don't), it's just the molecular gastronomy approach in many cases seems to be a mindful scattering of everything.

It just isn't visually appealing to me. It doesn't use the negative space well and isn't successful.

>> No.4284039
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4284039

>>4284028
not to my knowledge unfortunately. :/ it is missed by many. If I remember right I couldnt really get an exact or defined taste from the spheres. their texture was just.. interesting

>> No.4284050
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4284050

>>4284036
Yeah, I can see that, the scattering. How would you rather serve the dish in the OP? I think there's some cream or mousse (maybe even bavarois) in there. It could work as a sorbet, I suppose. Any idea what kind of flowers that might be?
>>4284039
Ah, that sucks. I feel your pain. Pic related