Thickeners and jelly

[toodlepipsky]

Hello all!

Recently, I've been reading a lot about various thickening agents which can be used instead of gelatin and other adhesive non-vegan products. Basically, I read about
1. Chia seeds
2. Psyllium
3. Irish mossMy question is, from your experience, which would be more suitable for what kind of food (ice creams, cake fillings, breads etc

Comments

[verdianna]

chia soak it up overnught in equal to double amount of water and it makes a great emulsifying base for a salad dressing. shake in oil vinegar and spices. If you have a blender that can really grind down the soaked seeds then it makes a great pudding I use cocoa powder coconut milk a sweetener and vanilla in mine.

Agar makes a good jello substitute but you do have to be careful it can have a seaweed taste if you use too much. the traditional agar dish that my Oma makes from indoessia end up with a clear brown sugar layer and a cocnut bottom layer.

The most versatile option ive used are xanthan and guar gum they are blender starches unlike tapioca or corn startch that have to be cooked. Guar can have a bit of a taste if you use too much.

look at using flax seed as an egg replacement too

[toodlepipsky]

Well, I don't have anything to grind the flax seed quite so finely to get the jelly-ness out of them, would a normal food processor do?

As for chia, you need to soak it overnight? I got it originally for my rats as a fun way to give them omega 3 (hey neglect the flax seed oil sometimes until its values are gone) do I need to soak them overnight every time?

[bizwac]

I've used psyllium in bread, but only for the health benefits, not for binding, so I can't comment on how good it is.

A friend has also made bread using chia. Though I can't remember how successful it was. And chia is also used to make a gelatinous pudding.

I wouldn't put psyllium in anything like ice creams, cake fillings etc. Only bread/bready things.

Not very helpful, sorry.

[silvertipwings]

This is in my experience, which was about 5 or so years ago, so take this with a big grain of salt.

Chia seeds with water does jello-like things and puddings. With dressings you can just wisk the oil/water/vinegar just before serving or adding to the dish instead. With puddings not so much, but usually in those situations you want to use tofu instead anyways.

Psyllium is mostly for fiber... you could add it to breads and cereals as needed. I don't know that it sets up a baked good though?

Check out arrow root for gravies, broths, stocks, and cookies.

[toodlepipsky]

I'm afraid I can' really get my hands on arrowroot here, I've seen it in many dishes and looked it up a lot with little luck.
Thanks for the tip!

[bizwac]

If you can get wheat starch it works like arrowroot. I use it more often than arrowroot as it is far cheaper (here, at least).

[reactoss]

I use chia in veggie fritters (WARNING:the post has a picture of a poached egg on it, I know some people are squeamish), vegan muffins (as an egg replacement) and cupcakes. Haven't tried the other two but I've heard wonderful things about using irish moss to make lemon meringue pie but apparently it can be quite fiddely to use. I've also used ground flax seed in muffins (if you don't have a spice grinder or something similar, I'd go with chia, flax can take ages to finely grind with a mortar and pestle!)

[toodlepipsky]

I was intending to use the stuff for meringue-like textures in cake filling. How is it fiddley to use?

[reactoss]

I just realised I had read about it on a raw vegan blog so it was talking about using unprocessed dried seaweed, not the heated, powdered stuff. It's mainly just about washing it really, really well and soaking it for a day or so. Check out the link anyway if you want an idea of how to use it if you want.

[so_hold_on]

I've never used psyllium husks

[toodlepipsky]

Oh, super-cool, thanks!! I'll go check it out now.