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Sumatran Caviar, or Fun with Chemistry

Jan 19, 2008
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I've been dying to try some recipes being done by the leading
deconstructionist and molecular gastronomy chefs like Wylie
Dufresne. So, I ordered some goodies from WillPowder.
They arrived yesterday, and I immediately set out to try making coffee
caviar.

Step One - Prep by gathering ingredients; Sodium Alginate, Calcium Chloride, table sugar, and cup of fresh brewed Sumatran coffee. In this instance, I used hot coffee. I believe now that that is a mistake, in that I think it starts the reaction too soon.  I also used coffee at the strength one would normally drink it.  However, the taste is less than impressive that way.  I think the flavoring agent needs to be intensely concentrated into a simple syrup for it to be as vibrant a mouthfeel as I was shooting to get.
Step Two: Sift the sodium alginate and the table sugar into the coffee. (1 tsp SA, 1 Tbs sugar)
Step Three: Stick blend together until powders are completely incorporated.  I got a lot of foaming with the hot coffee, which seemed to start the gelling process a little sooner than it should have.
Step Four: Heat over high heat to about 205 degrees F, or 96 degrees C. Strain and chill.
Step Five: When the coffee alginate has cooled to at least room temp, prepare the calcium chloride bath by blending 1 tsp CC into 2 cups water.  Also prepare another bowl of fresh water with nothing added to it.
Step Six: using a dropper or food syringe, drop beads of the alginate into the CC blend, let sit for about 30 seconds, then move into the fresh water bath. (Sorry, couldn't get pics of the process while I was doing it.) This is the results of the first batch.  The alginate mix was so thick and gelled that it wouldn't easily come out of the dropper, and rather than forming spheres, it sortof created little tadpole looking shapes.  Neato, but not what I wanted. Also, the flavor was weird.
Step Seven: Improvise! I did what any chocoholic would do, I took the first batch and added chocolate and about a 1/4 cup of cold water and whisked it smooth.  The consistency was much more liquid.  I flowed easily through the dropper, and created perfect little spheres when dropped into the CC bath.  And the taste was better, but still not what I'm hoping to get.  Next time I think I'll start with coffee syrup, coffee liquor, and maybe even a little godiva liquor.

What's that on your scrubs?

Oct 24, 2007
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This week, I'm mostly working on product development. I'm trying to perfect a liquid soap that is both natural and pretty...harder than one might think. Hence the reason all commercial liquid "soaps" aren't really soaps, they're detergent based on sodium laurel sulfates. As to getting a transparent liquid...there I've had no luck at all. But still, the research continues.

I've been spending a lot of time working on a Body Caviar, which I'll probably have to rename, to keep people from trying to eat it. The original formula is an anhydrous formulation with DC® 5562 Carbinol Fluid, but I've been trying to find a natural oil that I can use instead. Primarily to match the rest of the product line, although, carbinol is a great product for bath and skin applications. It's a functional silicone fluid (Bis-Hydroxyethoxypropyl Dimethicone) that's unique due to its polar organic substituents. The silicone and organic combination does really neat things on the skin, and it makes an outstanding suspension aid for pigments, salts, and sunscreens.

The "beads" that I'm using are spherical particles of trimethylated silica (Silica Silylate) that provide a vehicle for the absorption and delivery of lipophilic materials . I'm really happy with the performance of these small (1000 μm) ones. I use a larger bead with a much stronger shell for non body applications, such as certain aromatherapy modalities, but these smaller beads are performing very well in initial tests.

And I was just reminded by a phone call that I need to work on some formulations for a friend's baby. Bless her heart, the poor little thing is just itchy all the time, so I'm working on some evening primrose oil based solutions that I hope will bring her some comfort. I'm going to finish up the carbinol experiments for the day, and get to work on excema solutions.

(You know, if I'm going to play Mad Scientist, I really need one of those machines that goes zzzzzzzpth!, and an Igor. Ooooh, and a basement with a platform that raises to the sky, so during lightning storms I can stand on it and curse the elements. Mwhahahahahaha! Erm. Sorry. I think perhaps the fumes in here are stronger than expected...)