Reverse spherification question

Is there a limit to how large a sphere I can make? Obviously the larger it is, the thicker the skin needs to be, which means I need to leave it in the alginate bath for longer, but if I wanted to make, say, a bowl of pho with a giant sphere of broth, would it be possible or is there really no way to make a large sphere that won't break far too easily? And if it is possible, will the membrane be so thick as to be unpleasant?

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tshewman

In theory it should be possible. The challenge would come after the alginate bath. How do we move the large sphere. One though would be to use a colander to move the sphere into the alginate bath (from frozen) to the water bath. Serving it might present a challenge without leaving the colander in there.

Amos_Schorr_168815

But if it's a larger sphere, and it's entirely frozen when it goes into the bath, by the time it's ready to move, it shouldn't have defrosted enough to break, right? So I'm thinking that I could just move it to the serving dish right after rinsing it and leave it there until it's ready to serve.

tshewman

It has to thaw in an alginate bath, then moved to a rinsing bath, then served. So if you wanted to serve a bowl of pho, you would freeze the pho calcium sphere, thaw it in an alginate bath (which is where the membrane woukd form) then move it to a rinsing bath, then serve. You might be able 5o make the rinsing bath complimentary in flavors, but the essential steps are the same.

Amos_Schorr_168815

the whole thing has to thaw first? i did not know that. maybe instead of making a big pho sphere i'll make smaller jalapeno/cilantro spheres. would their membranes break if they were put in hot pho?