Mannitol

Mannitol is the coating used to create Adria's legendary memetic peanut. The el Bulli catalog (2009) says 500g of Mannitol is used, heated in a pan until it melts, and then the frozen peanut cream (molded in the shape of a peanut) is dipped in the melted Mannitol to create the peanut "skin".

I've never heard of Mannitol before, only source I have found is Texturas, which sells this in 700g units for lots of $$$$. Texturas tends to be rather expensive though... does anyone have any experience with Mannitol or know of any non-Texturas branded alternatives?

Find more posts tagged with

All About Ingredients

Comments

tshewman

It is a sugar alcohol. and I believe easily available. If I recall, same "formula" as sorbitol, but 3d shape is different presumably making the properties slightly different.

ttpoker

Considering it appears that I need around 500g per instance of making a similar presentation as the memetic peanut, what sugar alcohol do you suggest I source for this experiment? I've never worked with sugar alcohols before, should be an interesting experiment. Thanks Todd!

tshewman

I'm not sure. I would opt for the mannitol and try to source alternatives from there. It's not going to be as sweet as sugar, but not certain how it will react diffferent than other sugar alcohols (which typically are not cheap either). Amazon has mannitol for about the same price for 25% more http://www.amazon.com/NuSci-Pure-Mannitol-Powder-grams/dp/B004B7YBJY/ref=pd_sim_misc_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1978CMNYJVC8S700SSSP. So if the recipe is scaled for a trial (??) you might be able to save the 700gs if successful.

ttpoker

Hmm... if I can reuse the Mannitol after melting it down, that would make a great buy. Crossing fingers....

merridith

Get it at a health food/vitamin store! But my recollection is that it must be used carefully as it may cause diarrhea.

Lennard__34626

Do you happen to have the recipe for the frozen peanut cream?

ttpoker

Yes, but I am traveling this week - remind me next week when I am home and I will post it for you.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Any luck with the mannitol purchase yet? The Sepia book uses mannitol in a number of recipes that I wish to try (I picked the book up in Australia and it well worth buying).

ttpoker

No luck yet, I put this idea on the back burner - but someday I intend to revisit.