First time using Xanthan Gum

robert.c.brown15

Hi All,

Tried using Xanthan for the first time. Not quite sure it went as well I hoped, but at the same time, I had zero expectations. I made scallops with an asparagus puree and figured I would use the "asparagus" water that slowly dripped from the puree before I put it through a lab sieve. Here was my process:

Measured the asparagus water - 97.2 grams
Put that in the blender
Took 97.2 and multiplied it by .02 to get 1.94.

I thought I was trying to get .02 percent of 97.2 grams but I suck at math so I'm not sure sure. And where I got .02 percent, I'm not quite sure. Thought I read that somewhere.

Anyway, I then put the Xanthan gum into the blender with the liquid. Then I turned the blender on its lowest setting and let it blend until I figured it was done/didn't seem to blend anymore and stuck together.

Then I warmed it in a saucepan and put some small dollops on the plate. Tasted fine, texture was obviously the interesting thing.

I would say it resembled a loose, spreadable, gel.

It also had "chunks" in it if that makes sense? Thicker parts or maybe just a collection of air bubbles?

Anyway, what do you think? What should my math have been? Did I mess up a decimal? When you are using it with basically water, what percentage is a safe one? What kind of texture would I aim for? Once again, was just experimenting and had no real idea of what I wanted.

Maybe a "pulled" sauce consistency? Thanks for the thoughts and help!

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Matthew_Snyder_68770

You actually used 2%; 0.2% is expressed as 0.002 numerically. So I think that means you used 10x more material than you needed, and it wasn't hydrated (mixed) thoroughly, which would explain the chunks. Correct measure for 0.2% of 97.2g is 0.194g.

First time I used xanthan, I eyeballed it.... and used probably closer to 100x what I should have. I basically made chewing gum..... which isn't a problem if you're intending to make chewing gum. But I wanted to make a sauce out of creme fraiche and blood orange juice.

robert.c.brown15

Ha, I figured I messed that up.

Could I add 0.2% of Xanthan, check the texture, and then decide if I want it thicker and add more Xanthan? How would that equation work?

Is it better to have the liquid (or whatever) blending first and add the xanthan as it is blending? Or does that not matter?

Is there a chart or anything that equates what texture you get with what percentage of weight?

Pepijn_31744

I found the following here: http://goo.gl/T0JDss , can anybody confirm these percentages? From what I've seen in recipes they sound about right, but I've never worked with xanthan myself.

"In general, you will use a 0.2% weight ratio for light thickening, 0.7% for a thicker sauce, and up to 1.5% for a very thick sauce."

To make a xanthan gum foam a ratio between 0.2% and 0.8% is typically used. The more xanthan gum you use the larger the bubbles that can occur and the denser the foam will be.

For bubbles, resembling soap bubbles, a typical ratio is 0.1% to 0.4% xanthan gum and 0.2% to 2.0% Versawhip or egg white powder.

[When] binding an emulsion a ratio of around 0.1% can be used. If you want to also thicken the emulsion you can add up to around 0.8% of xanthan gum."

Pepijn_31744

Modernistcuisine.com suggests you use even less : "0.1% by weight can yield a thick liquid, and 0.5% by weight can make a thick paste"

Johan_Edstrom_5586

You really need to weigh it out, learn how to use the tare button on your blender and the weight of the blender container.

robert.c.brown15

Yeah I definitely weighed it out and I have the weight of my blender container noted in my phone and memorized. Am I able to somehow adjust the thickness "on the fly"? If .2% doesn't seem to be thick enough, do I take the original weight and figure out what .1% was to get the result of a .3% thickness?

Johan_Edstrom_5586

You can on large batches do that.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

What are you actually doing? You can cook out some of the effect, re introduce liquid and re-do the project.

Patrick_65747

Quite often i use Xanthan gum as a thickener and and emulsifier in a creative professional kitchken setting. Most commonly I use Xanthan the same as I would using Wondra when thickening a broth or soup. Slowly shaking the Wondra whilst whisking base. With Xanthan I sitll wisk the base while adding Xanthan in small amounts with a demitasse spoon. I find it becomes most benificial when making vegetable purees such as b nut, squash, sweet potato, celeriac, beet, even in mash, etc.. It really takes purees/ emulsions from the separated vegetal form to a nice smooth color and texture .Also keep in mind Xanthan gum becomes thicker when emuslified at higher speeds, so be sure to fully incorperate it at every addition. When you add too much Xanthan gum you will end up with a snotty glob of gross _____+ Xanthan, so be very carefull.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

I don't know for certain, but I would imagine the final texture is not purely a function of percentage by weight. If I were adding xanthan to, say, a sunchoke puree or a fennel puree my guess is I would need a lesser amount, by weight, to achieve the proper consistency. Indeed, in that application it might be useful solely as a stabilizer and not as a thickener.

It's easier to start with much less than you think you'll need and add more until you get the right consistency. But if you start off with "You know, I think I'm going to try 1% with this batch," it's very difficult to recover. You can add water (or stock) to dilute the mixture, but it might also dilute the flavor. Think of it like making pasta; easier to add more dry ingredients to an overly wet dough than it is to incorporate more liquid into a Kalahari-like flour/egg mixture.

robert.c.brown15

So the higher I put my blender the thicker the puree can get? That is interesting. When do I know it is fully emsulified into the liquid? Eye ball it?

So if I figured out .2% by weight, I can divide that in half to get .1% and double it for .4%. Then if I start at .1%, I can do the addition or subtraction to reach .2% or .4% to adjust the thickness. At the very least, I know the weights of Xanthan gum I should be between and get adjust as need be.

Thanks for all of the great insights!

Brendan_Lee_56950

That's a bit misleading. It won't get progressively thicker as you continue to puree. I think what what was meant was that if you were shearing in by hand using a whisk it may not be completely dispersed and not as thick as it could potentially be, but with a blender and high shear force it will be fully dispersed and you will see it thicken to it's full potential.

Henry_Mason_1614495

Xanthan Gum - Onset Worldwide: Xanthan gum is a hydrocolloid and commonly used as a thickener, emulsifier and stabilizer in food and beverage applications. We offer two mesh sizes, 80 and 200 mesh. Starting out as an importer of chia seeds, Onset Worldwide quickly became one of the East Coast’s largest importers and suppliers to manufacturers, bakeries, retail brands, and more. Our propriety processing lines were developed by Onset Worldwide to clean, mill, pack, and private-label seeds, grains, and flours into bulk and food service packaging.