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Thickening Agents

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  epicureans 
#1 ·
Greetings Chefs-

In our kitchen we primarily revert to using a roux as a the main thickening agent in most of our soups/sauces.  Will occasionally use corn starch for certain recipes, but I recently came across a soup recipe that called for tapioca starch so I got some of that.  While I know there are several other thickening agents out there such as arrowroot, I was wondering if you all could give me a list of thickeners with its pros/cons compared to costing or an idea of which recipes you prefer one over another, or even which ones may react differently upon reheating or such. 

Cheers
 
#2 · (Edited)
Agar agar comes to mind. Chef Peter Marting did a two part series on thickeners that may be of some help to you:
[article="6805"]Making Sense Of Food Thickeners Part I [/article][article="6807"]How To Make Roux Making Sense Of Food Thickeners Part Ii [/article]
Two books I would recommend are:
[product="6283"]On Food And Cooking The Science And Lore Of The Kitchen [/product]
and
[product="6364"]Sauces Classical And Contemporary Sauce Making [/product]
 
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