Knowledge
Technical reference.
One alphabet, three kinds of entry: what happens in a product, what the materials do, and which one to choose when.
41 materials
18 phenomena · 12 comparisons
Acid stability
Whether a thickener or a gel holds its structure once the pH is low.
Read entry materialAlginate
A polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweed that can form a cold-set gel in the presence of calcium.
Read entry materialBamboo fibre
An insoluble cellulose fibre from bamboo, functionally close to wheat fibre and chosen mostly where a wheat declaration is unwanted.
Read entry materialBioprotective cultures
Live lactic acid bacteria added not to ferment the product but to occupy it, so that spoilage organisms cannot.
Read entry materialBreadcrumb
The outer coating of a breaded product, and the component that decides most of what the consumer notices.
Read entry comparisonBreadcrumb or pre-dust, and where adhesion actually fails
If the coating is coming off, the crumb is almost never the cause. Change the pre dust and the moisture management first; change the crumb only when the problem is appearance or bite.
Read entry materialBuffered vinegar and fermentates
Fermentation derived preservation systems that declare as vinegar or as a cultured ingredient rather than as an additive.
Read entry materialCarboxymethyl cellulose
Cellulose that has been chemically modified so that it dissolves in cold water, which plain cellulose does not.
Read entry materialCarmine
A deep red colour extracted from the cochineal insect, and the most stable natural red available.
Read entry materialCarrageenan
A family of sulphated polysaccharides extracted from red seaweed. Three types, and treating them as one material is the most common mistake made with it.
Read entry comparisonCarrageenan or gellan in a dairy dessert
If the product contains milk protein and needs body, carrageenan. If it needs particles held in suspension without feeling thick, gellan.
Read entry materialCellulose fibre
Purified cellulose, the most neutral of the fibres and the one used where structure is wanted without calories, flavour or colour.
Read entry materialCitrus fibre
A fibre from citrus peel which, unlike the other fibres here, is partly soluble and can emulsify.
Read entry phenomenonCoating adhesion
Whether the coating stays on the product, from the line to the plate.
Read entry materialCollagen
A structural protein from animal connective tissue, used for bind and bite rather than for emulsification.
Read entry comparisonCollagen or soy protein in an emulsified sausage
Soy for fat stabilisation and firmness. Collagen for succulence and bite. They are not alternatives and the best products usually contain both.
Read entry phenomenonCook loss
The weight a product loses during cooking.
Read entry phenomenonCooking loss
The solids a noodle or pasta leaves behind in the cooking water.
Read entry materialDextrose
A simple sugar, used far more often for what it does chemically than for sweetness.
Read entry phenomenonDrip loss
The liquid a product releases after it has been thawed.
Read entry materialEmulsifying salts
The salts that make processed cheese possible, doing a job that has nothing to do with emulsification in the usual sense.
Read entry phenomenonEmulsion stability
Whether oil and water stay mixed for as long as the product has to last.
Read entry materialFat replacers
Systems that put water and oil into a solid, cuttable structure so that it behaves in a product the way animal fat did.
Read entry phenomenonFreeze–thaw stability
Whether a product survives being frozen and thawed more than once.
Read entry materialGellan gum
A polysaccharide produced by bacterial fermentation, and the most efficient suspending agent in common use.
Read entry phenomenonGluten network
The protein structure that lets a dough hold gas and a crumb hold itself up.
Read entry materialGuar gum
A galactomannan milled from the seed of the guar bean, and the fastest and cheapest route to cold viscosity.
Read entry comparisonGuar or xanthan in a cold process sauce
Guar if the requirement is simply viscosity, cheaply and quickly. Xanthan if the product is acidic, salty, has to suspend anything, or has to pour and then stay put.
Read entry materialGum arabic
An exudate from the acacia tree, and the one hydrocolloid that is a genuine emulsifier rather than only a stabiliser.
Read entry phenomenonIce crystal growth
Small ice crystals becoming large ones during frozen storage.
Read entry phenomenonIsoelectric point
The pH at which a protein carries no net charge and holds the least water.
Read entry comparisonKappa, iota or lambda carrageenan
Kappa for a firm gel, iota for a soft gel that recovers after stirring, lambda for thickening with no gel at all.
Read entry materialKonjac
A glucomannan from the tuber of the konjac plant, with the highest water binding capacity of any common hydrocolloid.
Read entry phenomenonLipid oxidation
Fat reacting with oxygen, producing off flavour first and colour loss after.
Read entry materialLocust bean gum
A galactomannan milled from the seed of the carob tree. Chemically a close relative of guar, functionally quite different, and used mostly for what it does to other gums.
Read entry materialMarinade bases
Formulated systems that carry flavour, colour and functional ingredients into a cut of meat or a portioned product.
Read entry phenomenonMelt and stretch
Two separate behaviours in a heated cheese that are routinely treated as one.
Read entry materialMilk protein
A family of dairy proteins with quite different behaviour depending on which fraction is used.
Read entry materialModified starch
Starch that has been treated so that it survives something native starch does not.
Read entry comparisonNative or modified starch in a retorted product
Cross-linked starch is often chosen for retort tolerance. The appropriate starch depends on the formulation and process, and its performance must be tested.
Read entry materialNative starch
Starch as it comes from the plant, with the granule structure intact and nothing done to it chemically or physically.
Read entry materialNatural antioxidants
Plant derived materials that slow the oxidation of fat, used where a conventional synthetic antioxidant is unacceptable on the label.
Read entry comparisonNatural or conventional preservation
Natural preservation works where the limit is microbiological and the product is chilled. It is not an answer where the limit is oxidation, and it is not a rescue for a broken cold chain.
Read entry materialNitrite and curing salts
The curing agent, and like phosphate a single declaration doing four separate jobs at once.
Read entry phenomenonOil uptake
How much frying oil a coated product takes in.
Read entry materialPaprika extract
An oil soluble extract of sweet pepper, used for an orange red colour and, in some grades, for flavour as well.
Read entry comparisonPea or soy protein in a hybrid meat product
Soy performs better. Pea sells better. The choice is usually commercial rather than technical, and it should be made with that stated openly.
Read entry materialPea protein
A legume protein that has largely displaced soy in new plant based development, mostly for reasons of labelling rather than performance.
Read entry materialPea starch
A legume starch with an unusually high amylose content, which is what makes it the traditional choice for starch noodles.
Read entry materialPectin
A polysaccharide from the cell walls of fruit, principally citrus peel and apple pomace, and the material of fruit preparations.
Read entry comparisonPhosphate or a phosphate free system
Phosphate is five functions in one line on the label. A phosphate free system is a reformulation that rebuilds each of them, and it is always more than one material.
Read entry materialPhosphates
A group of mineral salts that do five separate jobs in a meat product at the same time, which is why removing them is a reformulation rather than a substitution.
Read entry materialPotato starch
A tuber starch with very large granules and a naturally charged backbone, which gives it the highest viscosity of the common starches.
Read entry materialPre-dust
The thin dry layer applied directly to the product before the batter, and the component most often blamed last when a coating fails.
Read entry phenomenonProtein solubilisation
Getting muscle protein into a form that can bind, emulsify and set.
Read entry phenomenonShear thinning
Viscosity that falls while a product is moving and returns the moment it stops.
Read entry materialSmoke flavour
Condensed and purified wood smoke, used to give smoked character without a smokehouse.
Read entry materialSoy fibre
An insoluble fibre from the soybean, used where water binding and some protein contribution are both wanted.
Read entry materialSoy protein
The most widely used plant protein in meat processing, available at several protein levels that behave differently enough to be treated as different materials.
Read entry materialSpice blends
Spice and seasoning systems, formulated so that the same profile arrives in every batch from raw materials that never do.
Read entry phenomenonStarch retrogradation
Cooked starch slowly reordering itself, and pushing out the water it was holding.
Read entry phenomenonSyneresis
Liquid separating out of a set product and sitting on its surface or in the pack.
Read entry materialTapioca starch
A root starch with a very neutral flavour and a long, cohesive texture.
Read entry materialTextured vegetable protein
A plant protein that has been extruded under heat, pressure and shear so that it holds a fibrous structure rather than dissolving.
Read entry phenomenonWater-holding capacity
The ability of a food matrix, usually a protein network, to hold water in place against heat, pressure, time or freezing.
Read entry materialWaxy maize starch
A maize variety whose starch is almost entirely amylopectin, with very little of the linear amylose that drives retrogradation.
Read entry materialWheat fibre
An insoluble fibre milled from wheat, essentially neutral in flavour, colour and odour, used for the water it holds in a structure.
Read entry comparisonWheat, bamboo or citrus fibre
Wheat for cost and neutrality, bamboo where a wheat declaration is unwanted or a fine grade must pass an injector, citrus where emulsification is also needed.
Read entry comparisonWhen a modified starch beats a hydrocolloid
Starch when you want body and opacity cheaply and the process is predictable. A hydrocolloid when you need stability under conditions a starch cannot survive, or very low use levels.
Read entry comparisonWhich hydrocolloid survives freeze thaw
Xanthan and locust bean gum together, or a stabilised modified starch. Not a native starch, and not carrageenan alone.
Read entry materialXanthan gum
A polysaccharide produced by bacterial fermentation, and the most robust of the common hydrocolloids.
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