Modernist Cooking Made Easy

Modernist Cooking
Made Easy:

Getting Started

An Introduction to the Techniques,
Ingredients and Recipes of
Molecular Gastronomy

By Jason Logsdon

Copyright © 2012 by Primolicious LLC

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For more information please contact Primolicious LLC at 12 Pimlico Road, Wolcott CT 06716.

ISBN-13: 978-1481063319
ISBN-10: 1481063316

For my wonderful wife,
who continues to support everything I do,
no matter how crazy.

Table of Contents

Introduction to Modernist Cooking

Acknowledgments

How To Use This Book

What is Modernist Cooking?

Are These Chemicals Safe?

Science or Cooking?

Do I Need Lab Equipment?

Why Do People Feel This Way?

What Makes a Modernist Dish?

Modernist Cooking Basics

Common Terms

Exactness in Measuring

Proper Weighing

Common Flavored Liquids

Modernist Equipment

Starting Equipment

Required Equipment

Helpful Items

Big Ticket Equipment

Everyday Modernist Cooking

Thickening

Entertaining

Sauces and Vinaigrettes

Modernist Cooking Techniques

Emulsifying

Stabilizers

Emulsion Properties

Emulsifying Tools

Vinaigrettes

Foams

Spectrums of Foams

Types of Foams

Stabilizing Foams

Foaming Equipment

Light Foams

Fluid Gel Foams

Whipped Foams

Gelling

How Gelling Works

Gel Spectrums

Other Properties of Gels

The Gelling Process

Other Gel Considerations

Gelling Ingredients

Shaping Gels

Fluid Gels

Low Temperature Cooking

History of Sous Vide

How it Works

Basic Sous Vide Technique

Choose Your Finishing Method

Sous Vide Safety

Spherification

How Spherification Works

Gelling Agents, Ions, and Sequestrants

Direct vs Reverse Spherification

Spherification Variables

Reverse Spherification Process

Direct Spherification

Caviar

Thickening

Why Thicken?

Thickening Process

Common Thickeners

Other Techniques

Centrifugal Separation

Compression

Dehydration

Freeze Drying

Freezing

Rotary Evaporation

Modernist Cooking Ingredients

Agar

Dispersion and Hydration

Agar Gels

Agar Fluid Gels

Agar Foams

Carrageenan

Dispersion and Hydration

Iota Carrageenan

Iota Carrageenan Thickening

Iota Carrageenan Gels

Iota Carrageenan Fluid Gels

Kappa Carrageenan Gels

Iota and Kappa Gels

Gelatin

How to Use Gelatin

Converting Between Gelatin Types

Gelatin Gels

Gelatin Foams

Gelatin Sponges

Lecithin

Lecithin Dispersion

Lecithin Foams and Airs[21]

Lecithin Emulsions

Maltodextrin

Maltodextrin Fat Powders

Methylcellulose

Dispersion and Hydration

Methylcellulose Foams

Methylcellulose Gels

Sodium Alginate

Reverse Spherification

Direct Spherification

Xanthan Gum

Uses of Xanthan Gum

Dispersion and Hydration

Thickening With Xanthan Gum

Xanthan Gum Foams

Xanthan Gum Emulsions

Other Ingredients

Calcium Chloride

Calcium Lactate

Calcium Salts

Gellan

Glucose

Guar Gum

Gum Arabic

Isomalt

Konjac

Locust Bean Gum

Mono and Diglycerides

Pectin

Pure-Cote B790

Sodium Citrate

Sodium Hexametaphosphate

Trimoline

Ultra-Sperse

Ultra-Tex