FAIRFIELD, N.J., Feb. 15 - A small amount of rice starch emulsifies oils and broth while imparting no off taste to natural soups. The improved blending meets consumer expectations and enhances the soup’s appearance. “Other benefits of using rice starch involve its preventing syneresis—separation of liquid from solids—and it permits the use of a clean label. Today’s consumers are trying to select more healthful foods so it’s important to meet their demands.
Some soup chefs also list small amounts of rice starch in their recipe to impart creaminess for optimum mouth feel. It may result from the fact that rice starch granule size and butter fat globule size are nearly equal. Average rice starch granule sizes range from 2 to 8 microns. The average diameter of the fat globules in milk ranges from 3 to 6 microns. Most fat globules in milk from Jersey and Guernsey cows range from 2 to 10 microns and those from Holsteins and Ayrshires extend from 1 to 7 microns, according to G.H. Wilster who wrote Practical Buttermaking.
For natural soups that must undergo freezing, it’s worth knowing that rice starch ranks among the best emulsifiers, texturizers and homogenizers for withstanding multiple freeze-thaw cycles without losing stability. “Depending on the soup thickness or thinness desired, we recommend a wide range of rice starches and rice flours which offer varying performance attributes for shear resistance, freeze thaw stability, retort stability and acid stability,” says Gil Bakal, managing director of A&B Ingredients.
Founded in 1990, A&B Ingredients is a leading supplier of rice based food starches for the food industry. Based on a tradition of research and development, A&B’s focus is to discover unique ingredients that enable its customers to create value added products. The company is committed to working, as a partner, to develop prototypes of new and improved food products. A&B maintains full applications labs, pilot plant facilities with consumer testing capabilities, and provides technical sales and marketing, importing, distribution and applications development/technical services.
For more information about A&B Ingredients rice starches and services, contact A&B Ingredients, tel. 973-227-1390, 24 Spielman Road, Fairfield, NJ 07004 or by visiting http://www.abingredients.com.
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