What it does
Two kinds of modification, doing two different jobs. Cross linking ties the chains together inside the granule so it resists swelling and rupture, which gives tolerance to heat, acid and shear. Stabilisation, usually acetylation or hydroxypropylation, hangs groups off the chains so they cannot reassociate, which prevents retrogradation and therefore prevents weeping in a chilled or frozen product. Most commercial starches carry both treatments, in a ratio chosen for the process they have to survive.
Where it works
Retorted products, acidic sauces, anything pumped or homogenised, and anything chilled or frozen. In short, almost every industrial process native starch cannot take.
Where it does not
It carries a less clean label than native starch, and in some markets a different declaration. A heavily cross linked starch can also fail to develop viscosity at all if the process is gentler than the one it was designed for, which looks like a dosing error and is not.
What it interacts with
The process, more than the formulation. Specifying a modified starch without specifying the thermal and shear history it has to survive is the most common mistake made with it.
