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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

How to Use Xanthan Gum


Fellow Diner, Linda, asked me to do a post on using xanthan gum. Great idea. There are a few tricks of the trade so to speak, as this substance is quite a bit different when used as a low carb thickener. Forget everything you knew about thickening with flour or cornstarch. Xanthan gum is a whole new game. There are several different ways I use it. Not claiming to be an expert here, so if you have any more pointers, feel free to leave a comment.

First, lots of gluten free bakers use xanthan gum in recipes using alternative flours. Since we are low carbing, I don't use many recipes using those ingredients. I do use a dash of xanthan gum when I make Cleochatra's Oopsie rolls. Xanthan gum is said to help stiffen the fragile batter and help to keep it from breaking down before it is baked. By the way, the tiny measuring spoon in the photo is a dash--an eighth of a teaspoon. I just toss in the xanthan gum with the egg yolk mixture and beat it well with my hand mixer. You can find the recipe here.

Speaking of beating well, that is one secret to successfully using xanthan gum. It really needs some help getting mixed into liquids. It clumps like crazy upon impact with moisture. Way faster than my little wrist can stir. I like to use an immersion blender when possible. I always add a dash of xanthan to help thicken my protein shakes. It creates that marvelous mouth feel of a thick, creamy shake. The blender takes care of the clumping problem there, no problem. Using a bullet blender or regular blender will do the trick too for any sauce or soup. BUT...

What about stir fry sauces and gravies that are hot, and not practical to put in the blender? I like to thicken sauces right in the pan without blending my food to mush. There is a trick. Some say to sprinkle the xanthan gum on lightly with a salt shaker. I still found little clumps when I tried that. But I did find a great little kitchen tool that is foolproof. It is my tea strainer/infuser. Mine is an individual "spoon" style that uses a fine mesh to keep tea leaves out of the hot water. I seldom use it for that, though because it tends to float in the cup. Instead, I simply add the desired amount of xanthan gum into the infuser and snap the lid tightly closed. Then, just shake the xanthan powder over the liquid to be thickened. All you have to do is stir gently with one hand while shaking or "sifting" the infuser. The xanthan gum falls in such a fine powder that it doesn't clump at all. It also makes it very easy to adjust the amount you need, since you can add more or less as it thickens in the pan. If any is left over in the infuser, I can just dump it back in the jar.

I looked online to see if they still made my tea strainer, but I couldn't find anything just like it. My advice would be to check out the finest strainers or sieves you can find. Most tea balls seem to have holes that are just too large. This strainer I found online might work, even though it wouldn't close on top like mine. Then again, maybe you could find a shaker of some sort with abnormally small holes. I promise I have a pepper shaker that hardly lets anything escape!



I will look forward to reading what any other Diners have found works for them.

13 comments:

  1. This will be handy.
    Here it is: half way down the page.
    http://www.fantes.com/tea-infusers.html

    http://www.fantes.com/images/12838-1tea_infusers.jpg

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  2. Here it is on Amazon
    http://www.amazon.com/HIC-Toby-Tea-Infuser-Permabrew/dp/B000YE3BJE?SubscriptionId=AKIAIUF6SUWQQOZSC7ZQ&tag=funkymatch-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000YE3BJE

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  3. Wow! Linda you found my exact one! I had purchased it in a local coffee shop years ago and had no idea of a brand name to look for. Great detective work. It really does make it simple.

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  4. That's interesting! I do have a post about thickeners as well. :-)

    By the way, Lisa, what I normally do these days, is put a little water in my blender along with the xanthan gum, blend and add to the sauce or soup to be thickened. I also have a Thickening Agent, which uses a tiny bit of cornstarch and that works real well - better than the bought stuff from Expert Foods - ThickenThin/Not Starch (put it this way - one needs less of mine to get the job done, but I still use the blender method these days).

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  5. Thanks so much. Researching xanthum gum and am so pleased I found your blog early - so I don't have any issues with the stuff. I also have a fabulous tea strainer similar to yours which will be perfect! Thanks for posting about it.

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  6. Would mixing the xanthan gum with softened butter work in the same way it does with flour? Each granule gets coated with butter and keeps them from sticking together.

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  7. Never even thought of that one. You can try it and let me know. I am out of butter at the moment!

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  8. Hi, do you know if you can use xanthan gum for thickening apple pie filling and use it for canning in place of corn starch?
    mary

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  9. I think it could work, but from my experience, the mouthfeel would be a little slimy. I don't eat apples--too carby for us. You could try just a little at a time and see how it feels for you.

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  10. Thanks for this, I just lumpified my otherwise brilliant new slow cooker korean bbq beef recipe I just found. I tried doing it like corn starch and ran into lump city! Still tastes good, but I will use a very fine sifter next time!

    -Chase

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  11. The fool proof way to use xanthan gum for gravy is this. Mix the xanthan gum into a little oil first. Add to pan dripping and mix in. Absolutely no lumps!

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  12. Can it be used to thicken pan sauce like cornstarch in the form of a cold water slurry added to the hot dish?

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  13. To expand the anonymous comment at January 29, 2017 at 10:01 AM:..

    The oil gag is wonderfully useful for Asian cooking, since there are so many "decorative," finishing oils, e.g., sesame oil (toasted or not), peppercorn and pepper oils, etc. Just like the xanthan, very little of any finishing oil is required to add a final silky blast of flavor, and te xanthan offers the thickening you'd more traditionally achieve with a little water and corn starch. That should set your imagination spinning for how to employ other oils mixed with xanthan to finish other cuisines, e.g., ghee for Indian, olive oil for Italian, herb-infused oils for all sorts of different cuisines, and melted butter for, well...uhm - is there anything melted butter can't improve?

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