Interesting Cooking Ingredient

[Canadian_Bacon]

Since people helped me w/ my thread I figured I would help out others with a quick tip.

I found that Guar Gum and Xanthan Gum can be used in place of corn starch and flour in recipes to act as a thickener. It gives many dishes that creamy sauce feeling that is missing w/o a thickening agent. Bonus is that both are essentially pure soluble fiber so they are more or less calorie free.

They are much more absorbant then starch so you need to be careful( it is not a 1:1 replacement) but when I use it in dishes I serve to other people they can never tell the difference.

FYI, both are available at many spice or bulk stores. Most health food stores who sell grocery type stuff also carry it. The stuff is pretty expensive but a bag usually lasts me a year.

[RedWifey]

Cool! Thanks for the tip!

[RacerBill]

Hmmm... I've seen those on labels of packaged foods but never realized they're actually available. I might have to try that.

[Lost Dog]

Guar gum is actually sold as a fiber supplement, too. It's one of the ones recommended to give you that full feeling.

[Eustace]

I wonder if the guar gum would be good mixed in a protein shake, adding extra fiber plus thickness to the shake?

[Canadian_Bacon]

Originally Posted by Eustace

I wonder if the guar gum would be good mixed in a protein shake, adding extra fiber plus thickness to the shake?

IT is used it for that purpose in some powders. The thing to remeber is that you must mix it thuroughly DRY with the powder before you add water.

Do not try to add a TBSP of guar gum into a pre-mixed protein drink! As it absorbs water on contact and could turn into one big clump.