Features
As with any hydrocolloid, Algi needs an aqueous part to hydrate (it requires more than 80% water for proper functioning).
Therefore, it is important to pay special attention to the characteristics of the product in which we will be mixing it, because it will react differently depending on the medium where it works (in fatty media it has dissolution problems, in acid media it finds problems to gelatinize, in alcoholic media it can give us problems depending on the graduation). That is why, in addition, it is always advisable to hydrate alginate (for reverse spherification, when Algi is used for the bath of the sferas) in mineral water.
It only gels in the presence of calcium. If it does not find any calcium medium, Algi will act as a thickener, but it will never gel. For gelling, it is essential, therefore, to combine it with Gluc or Calc in case you want to create a sfera from a non-dairy ingredient.
Refined powder form, neutral in smell and taste.
Applications
Essential for direct and reverse spherification.
Useful for thickening, stabilizing and airing agent.
Interesting for the preparation of pastry fillings (due to its thermoirreversibility, it resists the baking temperatures).
5 – 10 gr / Kg direct spherification
4 – 7 gr / Kg reverse spherification
10 – 15 gr / Kg stabilizer or thickener (without calcium)
Mix in a cold liquid with strong stirring and let stand until the air disappears, or remove it with the vacuum machine.
Curiosities
E-401
Sodium alginate is a natural product that comes from different types of brown algae (Fucus, Laminaria, Macrocrystis…), families found in all cold waters of the world. Therefore, their properties change from one species to another and according to the harvest period. This is mixed and standardized in industry to have different types of alginate with particular characteristics of use.
Due to this range of properties, alginate has many uses in the food industry (as a thickener and anti-crystallizing for ice in ice cream productions, as a sparkling-improving ingredient in wine in beers and even for the microencapsulation of probiotic microorganisms in beverages) and is even present in many industrial products: pharmaceutical, chemical, textile, …
Dosage
5 gr / Kg
