Modernist Cooking Made Easy

Modernist Cooking Made Easy by Jason Logsdon

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Authors: Jason Logsdon
Tags: Cooking, Methods, Gourmet
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become a liquid again. For example, gelatin tends to melt at a hot picnic while agar can be heated up to 80ºC / 175ºF before it begins to melt.
    Not all gels have a melting temperature, such as thermo-irreversible gels, and will never melt.
    Syneresis
    Syneresis is the leaking out, or weeping, of liquids from a gel. Sometimes this is the desired result such as when using a gel to clarify a liquid. However, most of the time syneresis is unwanted. Different gels have different levels of syneresis and many times you can prevent it by combining one or more ingredients. Locust bean gum is typically good at preventing syneresis with other gelling agents.
    Clarity
    The clarity of a gel is simply how clear it is. Gels can range from transparent to opaque. This is affected by the gelling ingredients and also the opacity of the liquid that makes up the gel.
    Flavor Release
    How well a gel will release the flavors of the liquid it is made of is referred to as its flavor release. Some gelling agents like gelatin have good flavor release while others tend to lock up the flavors more.
    Freeze-Thaw Stability
    If a gel can be frozen and then thawed without losing its structure it is considered freeze-thaw stable. This is a very important consideration if the gel is a part of foods made to be frozen and thawed.
    Hysteresis
    This is a very interesting property of gels. It basically means that the setting and melting temperatures are not the same. The higher the hysteresis, the larger the distance between the temperatures. For instance, water sets and melts at 0ºC / 32ºF, so if it’s below 0ºC / 32ºF it will freeze, and if it’s above 0ºC / 32ºF then it will melt.
    Agar, on the other hand, has a setting temperature around 40ºC / 104ºF and a melting temperature of 85ºC / 185ºF. This means if agar is a solid, then it will remain a solid until heated above 80ºC / 176ºF. Then as it cools, it will remain a liquid until it goes below 40ºC / 104ºF. The result is between 40ºC / 104ºF and 80ºC / 176ºF an agar gel can be either a solid or a liquid.
    Particle Suspending
    As discussed early, a gel is typically a solid structure that traps liquid. However, this structure can also trap other solid particles in it, suspending them. This is very useful for holding herbs in a vinaigrette or tomato chunks in a puree.
    Thermoreversibility
    If a gel can get set and then melt, like Jell-O melting on a warm day, then it is considered thermoreversible. If the gel cannot be unset, like a soufflé, then it is considered thermo-irreversible. Most thermoreversible gels can be set and unset many times without a loss in gelling strength.
    Shear Thinning or Thixotropy [6]
    Both of these terms refer to the ability to act like a set gel when at rest and to flow when agitated, as through whisking, stirring, or blending. This can be a very nice effect, especially for sauces you want to coat food with or for purees that need extra body. This is a common property in fluid or sheared gels.
    T HE G ELLING P ROCESS
    Even though there are lots of different kinds of gels, most of the time a similar process is used to create them. For instructions for a specific ingredient you can see the chapter for it from the section on Ingredients.
    Dispersion
    Typically, the first step is to disperse the gelling agent in the liquid you want to gel. Dispersion is simply the act of evenly distributing the ingredient throughout the liquid. This will ensure a gel of even strength.
    A good example of dispersion gone wrong is when you try to add flour to a hot liquid. Instead of a smooth gravy you get lumps where the flour gelled together. Proper dispersion of the flour, usually using a water slurry or fat-based roux, eliminates the lumps.
    Depending on the ingredient you may have to use a hot, cold, acidic, or other liquid for proper dispersion. For some ingredients a whisk or spoon will work fine, others will need the stronger shearing forces of an immersion or standing

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