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scott123 scott123 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Boatwright
On Mon 30 Jan 2006 06:56:46p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it scott123?


W. Baker Wrote:
Would any of the sugr alcohols
make such "danied" fruits or fruit peels plssible? The discussion
had started over candied ginger, something I do miss:-(


Maltitol can be subbed 1 for 1 with sugar in your Mother's dishes. It
will also work for crystallized ginger. It can be laxating, though.
Erythritol isn't laxating and will crystallize but it has a strong
cooling effect so the ginger will have a mintyness to it. Polydextrose
will get thick and syrupy, just a like a sugar syrup will, but it won't
crystallize.


You seem to know a lot about these sweeteners, Scott. Do you know of a good
reference on how to use them in recipes? Also sources?
A single reference, no. Although commercial outfits have been using polyd for years in sugar free products, it's only been available to the home cook for about a year and a half. Erythritol has a slightly longer home use history, but it's still relatively short when compared to other sugar alcohols such as xylitol or sorbitol that have been available for decades. Because these are new products for the home cook, there isn't a great deal of information about them. At least nothing centralized. I get most of my information from discussion forums, online trade magazines, manufacturers and quite a bit of trial and error/personal observation. Tidbits of information are scattered all over the web. Not only is information scattered here and yond, because most of it is geared toward commercial applications it can get pretty scientific.

When I first read your question, I thought about the possibility of compiling as many links as I could that relate to these ingredients. The more that I thought about it, the more gargantuan the task became. I really can't spend that kind of time on it, but if you want, say 15-20 introductory links, I could compile a list for you.

As far as sources go, that's a piece of cake. I don't bake with maltitol due to it's potentially laxating effects and sketchy GI, but I get my erythritol and polydextrose from Honeyville Grains.