Modern cooking introduction

The Modern Kitchen

Equipment and Hydrocolloids

Contents• Modern cooking tools

– Thermomix– Paco jet– Smoke gun– Vacuum packer– Water bath & immersion calculator– Anti griddle – Centrifuge– Rotary evaporator– Liquid Nitrogen– Transglutaminase

• Hydrocolloids– Important characteristics of Gels– Considerations when using Hydrocolloids– Hydrocolloid properties

New Kitchen Equipment

• Thermomix

• Pacojet

– Frozen cocktails– Soups, pâtés, terrines, quenelles– Sorbets and ice creams – Vegetable, herb and spice concentrates– Mousses


• Smoke gun

– Natural cool smoke instantly

– Can smoke butter, oysters, cocktails, salads, chocolate, meringue, etc.

– Creates flavors with wood chips, teas, spices, and dried flowers.

New Kitchen Equipment• Vaccum packing

– Stops oxidization – Preserves shelf life– Good for storage

• Sous vide cooking– Controlled temperature– Uniform cooking for long periods– Cooking juices are retained– Easy to use in the kitchen – Minimal loss of moisture and weight– Preservation of flavour/aroma as water soluble substances – especially aromatics –

are not lost– Flavours are enhanced, colours– Nutrients are preserved as water-soluble minerals are not leached into cooking water,

as cooking in a vacuum bag eliminates this– Research has shown that sous vide gives the highest retention of vitamins vs.

steaming and boiling– Little additional fat is required during cooking– Consistent results every time a dish is cooked


• The Anti-Griddle

– Quickly freezes sauces and purees

– Creates solid or semi-frozen creations with stable, crunchy surfaces and cool, creamy centers

– Reaches minus 34°C in 5 to 10 mintues

– Has been used to make crème brûlée lollipops and frozen hot chocolate


• Centrifuge– A centrifuge is a device that spins at high speed to

separate products into parts based on density

– Cooking items have different densities

– Clarify juice by separating the pulp and the liquid, or to remove the fat from an emulsion and clarify


• Rotary Evaporator– Combines evaporation under vacuum and condensation – Liquids are evaporated under vacuum, lowers their boiling point– Rotation of the evaporating flask, immersed in a heated water bath,

increases the surface area of the product, greatly speeding distillation

– Enables evaporation at as low as 95°F/35°C

– Evaporation, distillation, concentration of flavors, and purification of liquids

– Concentrates non-volatile components in a mixture– Extracts the volatile aroma and flavor molecules from mixtures– Obtains essential oils that can be used to infuse or intensify flavor

Liquid Nitrogen• Liquid Nitrogen

– Instant freezing– Reduces ice crystal formation– Negative 196 degrees Celsius– Despite its coldness, it has only 15% more cooling power than the

same amount of ice at 0 Celsius, as its not as dense

• Uses:– Making ice cream in a kitchen aid– Chill liquids without diluting them – Freeze the unfreezable (e.g. alcohol, olive oil) – Chilling glasses– Blow smoke– ‘Cryo-poachinh’– Powders, crystals and frozen drops

Transglutaminase• Naturally occurring enzyme in plants, animals, and bacteria• Meat glue is an enzyme that acts on the amino acids causing

bonds to form that helps the meat stick together– Make uniform portions that cook evenly, look good, and reduce waste– Bind meat mixtures like sausages without casings– Make novel meat combinations like lamb and scallops– Produce special effects like meat noodles, meat and vegetable pasta

How to test meat glue: a) Rub a lot of meat glue into a piece of raw chicken; b) if it just smells like chicken your glue is no good; c) If it smells like wet dog you're good to go!

Hydrocolloids• Hydrocolloids are classified as either thickening or

gelling agents

• Hydrocolloids are ingredients that control water in a recipe

• Many hydrocolloids are derived from natural sources, such as seaweed, seeds, roots, tree sap, fruit peels, etc

• Some modern but still all-natural hydrocolloids produced by bacteria

Important Characteristics of Gels

• Thermo-reversible/Irreversible: Thermo-reversible gels melt when heated to a high enough temperature. Thermo-irreversible gels will not melt when heated.

• Tendency for Syneresis: Syneresis occurs when liquid weeps out of a gel over time, as happens in custards.

• Freeze-thaw stability: Gels that may be frozen and thawed repeatedly are called freeze-thaw stable


• Clarity: The addition of some hydrocolloids yield gels that are more transparent than others

• Flavor release: describes how well a gel expresses the flavorings with which it has been made. Flavor release is determined by many gel texture properties

• Shear reversibility: Shear is a force in which parallel objects move in opposite directions in a “sliding” motion


– Shear thinning: Most hydrocolloids tend to get thinner as they are sheared

– Yield point: Some hydrocolloids act like a gel when standing still and liquefy instantly under shear

– Fluid gels: Hydrocolloids can also form fluid gels. Fluid gels have the properties of both a fluid and a gel

Considerations when using Hydrocolloids

• Forming Gels: It is extremely important to understand when and why a hydrocolloid gels since this behavior typically determines which hydrocolloid is appropriate to use

• Heating and Cooling: Many hydrocolloids gel when cooled. Sometimes these gels can be melted again and sometimes they cannot

• Calcium and Potassium: Some hydrocolloids form gels in the presence of positively charged ions, mainly calcium and potassium

• Synergy, 1+1=3: Hydrocolloids do not act like most ingredients. In general, do not expect to be able to mix two hydrocolloids without changing their properties

• Hydration: For a hydrocolloid to work properly, it must be hydrated and dissolved in solution

Popular Hydrocolloids

• Flour and Corn flour• Gelatine • Soduim Alginate• Xanthan Gum • Gellan Gum• Carrageenan (Kappa / Iota)• AgarAgar • Lecithin • Methylcellulose• Maltodextrin

Culinary Examples

Spherification / Reverse

Xanthan - Gellan Gum

Carrageenan - Lecithin

Methylcellulose - Maltodextrin

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Modern cooking introduction