Go to the Recipe: Brown Butter Powder
How different is N-Zorbit from Tapioca Maltodextrin? Can I substitute the latter in this recipe?
N-Zorbit is what most chefs call tapioca maltodextrin. But in reality, it is a proprietary product made from tapioca maltodextrin by Nation Starch. N-Zorbit will keep oil as a free-flowing powder, but plain tapioca maltodextrin will not.
Curious how long this is stable for. Given the ingredients, is it fairly hygroscopic?
It's not very hygroscopic at all. The limit to stability will really be a function of two things:(1) How long until the added oil goes rancid? Some oils are more stable than others.(2) How well packaged is it? Keeping air (and, yes, moisture) away will help preserve the freshness of the oil and any slow absorption of moisture in the air. We tend to vacuum pack powders we prepare in advance. Often we can keep them stored this way for weeks or months.
So where/how does one get N-Zorbit?
We buy ours from Modernist Pantry:http://www.modernistpantry.com...
I was making the banana cream pie recipe and
- originally posted by Savory Spice Shop OKC
I made the entire banana cream pie recipe recently and surprisingly this recipe was the one I had the most trouble with. I'm not sure if I didn't brown the butter correctly or what went wrong but I ended up using WAY more than 100g of Tapioca Maltodextrin (TM). Is there a difference between N-Zorbit and just straight TM? If you started with 225g of butter how many grams did you have after browning it? I've made powders with oils before and never had this issue so just wondering what might have gone wrong. Loved the recipe! Since I had so much left over I'm experimenting with putting brown butter powder in lots of new things!
- originally posted by Able Blakley
Hey Able, after browning the butter my yield was just slightly less, due to evaporation of water in the butter. Not all tapioca maltodextrin serves the same purpose, N-Zorbit is the proprietary product from National Starch that works for this application and it's is specially modified tapioca maltodextrin. Making powders with dairy fat is slightly different then working with vegetable fats. When placed in the fridge, the dairy fat will set a lot more then the veg fat. I keep this in mind when making powders. If i'm finding that it's taking much more N-Zorbit then normal to get a free-flowing powder, or perhaps it's starting to have clump more than I'm hoping for, try placing the powder in the fridge of freezer for 10 minutes or so and pulse again. The heat developed from the friction may be getting in the way of your desired result. Remember more N-zorbit equals a more free-flowing powder but when more is used than necessary, the flavor is diminished. Looking forward to hearing about your results.
Would this work without the sugar for use in savory dishes?
What brand of spice grinder do you use?
Modernist Pantry is not available where I live. Can someone please tell me what i can use as a substitute for making such powders?
Where are you located? There is no substitute.
You can find Maltodextrin on Amazon in pretty much any country. No need to go through Modernist Pantry.
You could shell out for a dedicated spice grinder but what I've used in restaurants from burger bar to michelin star is an electric coffee grinder. Keep it clean, blend in larger portions, get ready to shake it around a bit to get as much contact as you can. Wipe it out constantly, and be ready to change the blades every so often if you use it a ton.
Just saw this recipe. As an experiment with N-Zorbit, I made brown butter “sand” and served it as a savory accompaniment to lobster tails instead of drawn butter. It was amazing.
Can this be combined with the Brown Butter solids recipe ( https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/brown-butter-solids) to increase the browned bits?
If you aren't in a hurry and have a temperature controlled burner (Control Freak or Impulse Labs, for example) cook the butter at 265F and you don't have to worry about stirring it or burning it.
