healthy condensing / stiffening stuff for food

pilvi3
pilvi3 Posts: 200
in Food and Nutrition
Hello!
Please, can someone tell me the stuff we can add to food to stiffen it, less or more, but such that contains very less or 0 kcal?

(arabic gummy has cca 360 kcal / 100 g , if not more...)

many thanks!!!

Replies

  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
    In what universe are you going to consume 100g of arabic gum?

    I don't know exactly how much arabic gum is required to thicken things because I use corn starch but I think it's comparable. Corn starch has 381 calories in 100 grams. I use about 10 grams to thicken a batch of chicken broth and milk for a creamier soup. or to thicken simmered apples so that it will have a nice jellied sauce with it.. OK, so that's 38 calories which is still a lot, BUT these calories are for the whole recipe. I'd eat 1/4 of the recipe only... so that's only 9.5 calories per serving from the corn starch. To me that's not really a lot of calories considering how much more I enjoy the food when it's thickened a bit.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Err Please explain? What do you mean by stiff food? What sort of foods?
  • pilvi3
    pilvi3 Posts: 200
    Sth similar like pectines one puts to marmelade...pectins also have kcals...sth that makes food LESS LIGUID, and contains as few calories as possible...

    pectines, jelly...sth that has such the effect, but as little kcal as possible...AND that that it is not unhealthy...;)
  • pilvi3
    pilvi3 Posts: 200
    No ideas?
    Science unsuccessful?;)
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Not sure what you are thickening but I use ground chia for sauces and pudding.
  • pilvi3
    pilvi3 Posts: 200
    Hello!
    First of all I am trying to fidn sth for homemade bonbons and sweets.
    So; I am searchign sth like jelly, but with less Calories...hm..if that exissts in the nature...
  • pilvi3
    pilvi3 Posts: 200
    Dietary fiber 151 % ???????????????????????

    http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/nut-and-seed-products/3061/2
  • Mikkimeow
    Mikkimeow Posts: 1,282 Member
    I cook on the regular and have found some success with making simple sugars with 1:1 sugar:stevia ratio. It is fairly low in calories that way.

    *edited to add I am not even sure what you are wanting, so this is my interpretation.
  • Snip8241
    Snip8241 Posts: 767 Member
    If I need to condense something, say a sauce, simply reduce it. This means simmering until the liquid evaporates and the sauce, soup whatever thickens. If you can simmer or boil you can reduce.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Things like jelly? You mean gelatin? You're not going to find much that has fewer calories in the amount you'd be needing to thicken homemade candies than gelatin. Pectin would be my only other suggestion - no idea how many calories are in pectin. I'll leave that for you to search.
  • pilvi3
    pilvi3 Posts: 200
    Just evaporating is not quite what I want to achieve, want the stuff to "STICK " more together...just like with sugar / honey / arabic gum which I acutally want to avoid...(because of calories)
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    You're looking for stabilizers, in which case eggs, flour, gelatin, and cream of tartar are pretty commonly known ones. There is also tapioca and agar, but whether you use a gum or a starch will depend on what you are making. Google baking stabilizers for ideas.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Unflavored gelatin is only about 25 calories an envelope.
  • pilvi3
    pilvi3 Posts: 200
    Plese, how much does the envelope weight?
    We do tno have all the data on envelops, that makes it harder...
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Psyllium husks perhaps? It forms a gel when water is added. The majority of the calories come from fibre so the net carbs are very low.

    Vitafiber is another product that might be what you're looking for. Again it's mostly fibre and it's used as the sweetener in Quest bars. http://www.bioneutra.ca/product_vitafiber.htm I'm not sure how good it is at thickening though - it depends what you're planning to make.
  • pilvi3
    pilvi3 Posts: 200
    If calories come from fibers, do we ount them as calories or not?

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