Too much agar agar results in a too thick, blubber-like pannacotta, while too little agar agar will irrevocably make your dessert collapse. Especially when it comes to delicate (dessert) recipes such as pannacotta, too much (or too less) agar agar will definitely make or break it. When using agar agar, the ratio is very important.
The intake of maximum of 3 grams of agar agar per day/per person is therefore recommended. Last but not least agar agar contains no fat or calories and is – obviously – gluten-free.Īttention: because of the huge amount of fibers, excessive use of agar agar might have a laxative effect. Once agar agar has entered your stomach, it will also swell up and make you feel satisfied faster. It is also good to know that agar agar is rich in proteins, minerals, and digestive fibers. For the production of agar powder, algae are simply dried and then ground … that’s it. You might expect a lot of processing when it comes to powdered food products but that is definitely not the case. You can buy agar agar here > Is agar agar safe and healthy?Ībsolutely. Oh, and buy organic of course (as if we really need to tell you )). Just to be sure there are no arguable ingredients involved. Make sure that the ingredients list only mentions “agar agar” and/or “red seaweed extract”. And of course, there is always the internet. Nowadays, you can find agar agar in nearly every food store or supermarket. More about gelatin > Where to buy agar agar? Check out “what are the cons of agar agar?” for that matter. So it’s easy to make excellent jams or marmalades using agar agar with a lot less (or none) sugar.Ĭertainly, agar agar has some drawbacks as well. In comparison to pectin (a more or less likewise vegetable gelling agent from the cell walls of plants and fruits), agar agar has yet another advantage the addition of sugar is not a requirement to activate the binding force. The only difference with gelatine is that you must add the agar during the cooking process. For most dishes in which gelatin is used, heating/cooking is nearly always necessary. Even at an average temperature of about 40 ☌ Celcius/104 degrees Fahrenheit.įurthermore, this really doesn’t matter that much. Nevertheless, a few minutes of cooking will do and it will also start to stiffen as soon as the liquid or mass begins to cool. You can find the ratios for the use of agar agar later in this articleĪnother important difference is that agar agar, unlike gelatin, must be brought to a boil to activate the gelling effect. Of course: depending on the brand (read: its quality), the binding power can vary a bit. The gelling effect of the rods and flakes is reportedly slightly less but still yet 2 x the binding power of gelatin. The binding power of concentrated agar agar powder is 4 x larger than gelatin! The biggest advantage of Agar Agar over gelatin (even besides the fact that gelatin comes from animal skin, bones and cartilage … yuck!) is that you need very little of it. as an alternative for pectin (for jams, marmalades, …)Īnother nice fact: ‘agar’ simply means ‘jelly’ in Malay language.as a pure vegetable alternative to gelatin (for desserts, terrines and pates, cheese croquettes, …).You can use agar agar in both sweet and savory dishes and for the following reasons: Personally, we prefer the powder because it’s a lot easier to use. It is available in the form of pressed rods, flakes (both rather rare) and as a concentrated powder. Agar agar is listed on ingredient lists under the E-number E406 (at least in the European Union ). Both on an industrial scale and in your own kitchen. It has a strong gelling effect, similar to gelatin and pectin.Īgar agar can be used in many ways (for instance as a binder in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry) but is certainly suitable for food preparations. No seriously: agar agar (or ‘agar’ in short) happens to be an odorless, tasteless and 100% vegetable extraction from the cell walls of certain types of red algae (seaweeds). Or the sound of the call of a Siberian forest cat …that sort of things. Yep, when I heard the word agar agar for the first time, I really thought that it was some ‘neighbor country’ of Tolkien’s Mordor or something like that. Why using agar agar instead of gelatine?.
0 kommentar(er)
