Vacuum Concentrating

chriswrightcycles

Does anyone here have experience with a system like this?

http://modernistcuisine.com/2011/11/vacuum-concentrating-part-2/

What have you made with it? I'm fishing for ideas...

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Chris_Young_80640

So I wrote that section of Modernist Cuisine. It's often used for concentrating juices that would have a significant flavor change (in an unpleasant way) if you were to reduce them at a higher temperature. Citrus juices are particularly good examples of what can be done, but it works well with any fruit juice. Meat stocks also work, and the flavor is much fresher than a conventional stock reduction. Let me know if I can give you some other pointers.

ttpoker

Chris: Can you please create a ChefStep's project to build a vacuum-concentrating system? The links for many of the needed equipment pieces at modernistcusine.com are no longer active, it would be great to see a video of building the rig along with a few example recipes that use the vacuum-concentrating system. I always felt this was one of the chapters on Modernist Cuisine that left me a little baffled in the end, I wasn't sure where to turn.. if you choose to do this I predict it may create a small revolution with cooks around the world advocating for using this new reduction technique instead of the traditional methods. Besides... a roto-vap is a little out of reach for virtually all of us, but a vacuum-concentrating system can be obtained with a little help.

thnx! You are a rock star Chris!

Chris_Young_80640

Okay, I'll see what I can do. The basics are either a recirculating vacuum pump (moderately expensive) or a side-armed aspirating faucet nozzle (cheap). You then need vacuum tubing to connect the vacuum pump or faucet to the side-armed Erlynmeyer flask (recommend a 5 liter flask). Finally, you need a stirring hot plate (eBay is a good place to buy these used), and a magnetic stir bar. The hot plate provides heat energy to drive the reduction, while also spinning the stir bar inside the flask to prevent violent boiling. The reduced pressure inside the flask keeps the boiling point at a low temperature to keep the liquid from getting too hot while it reduces.

adey73

Would this recirculating pump work or is it just a pump with a big cold trap on it?

http://www.camlab.co.uk/aspiration-system-for-2511c-p31967.aspx

Sandro_455622

Hi Chris, thanks for sharing all your knowledge. I’ve built a vacuum concentrating system and started to experiment with fruit juices. Unfortunately, all my tests failed and the liquids got really hot (up to 100 degrees Celsius) and after 1h of running, it only reduced by 0.5cl. So I am not sure what’s wrong.

My system comprises a water circulating pump with a max vacuum of -0.1 MPa (I am using an air valve to reduce the pressure to -0.06 MPa as the flask I am using is only capable of <= -0.06 MPa) and a digital magnetic stirring hot plate for up to 5L flasks. The temperature of the hot plate is set to 205 degrees Celsius – based on your article in the modernist cuisine.

Any thoughts/recommendations?