Xanthan is great, but the line between a nicely thickened sauce and chicken flavoured snot is dangerously thin, and a mistake a lot of home cooks make because they're working with tiny amounts of xanthan on kitchen scales not designed for that level of precision. Edit: I forgot to add how much I’m enjoying this series! Looking forward to judgement day in the next one!
Yes, precision is definitely very important when working with such a substances (and in general in the kitchen IMO, you yourself have converted me to messures everything with precision from learning me how to make coffee. Now I messures everything in grams on my coffee scale ranging from baking, cooking, cocktails and coffee)
My dude, your videos have snapped me out of a chefs coma. I have been chefing for 15 years and lost my passion about 10 years in. Your genuine passion for cooking has giving me a second breath. Thank you so much, and you keep doing you
Hi Alex, I like your (semi-)scientific approach to cooking a lot. I wanted to share a useful tip I learned in culinary school. When you make a roux it is very important that you have one hot component and one cold component. In your case the roux is hot and your stock is cold before you boil it and your sauce thickens. However, you can switch those functions around. In other words the hot component is your stock and cold component the roux. The way you could do this is by making a roux, of any color, and storing it in the freezer. Than, once you are finishing a sauce you can use a cheese grater to manually grate/add any desired amount of roux to your sauce. In this way you are far less likely to burn your roux (a common mistake in the kitchen) and you can tweak your sauce to perfection since you can add little by little your thickening agent. I hope you can still use this in the next one, love your work!
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping Alex will use xanthan-gum water-roux to make bread with a ridiculously-high hydration-rate, like 500% to 1000% (5 to 10 time more water than flour), or more (with more xanthan-gum added to the water-roux).
YOU GOT NATHAN MYHRVOLD ON YOUR CHANNEL!? Ok, now THAT is a sign that you have come far Alex. I was already inspired by you - now I am simply happy for you.
My new favorite TH-cam channel and chef. A guy with technique and isn't afraid to try really new things. Not just try, try is an understatement for this channel. It really discovers and dissects a recipe. Quality quality content. Merci Alex.
The way Alex has excelled and progressed with his videos is mind blowing to me. I've been watching this channel for almost 4 years and I've seen the progression of how he executes his ideas and I have to say that, Alex bro, you have elevated YT food videos to the highest levels. I love this channel and cannot wait to see more of this series! Much much love!
Or he could have just used a immersion blender. Those tend to not have much bubbles as long as your liquid is deeper than the intake gaps. I found out about this difference when I was making Konjac tofu. With a blender, you get a solid foam, but with immersion blender, you end up with homogenised jelly, which I can then heat up to cause the starch to gelatinise.
Alex, thanks so much for this video. As someone with a diabetic husband following a low-carb lifestyle I use xanthan gum as a thickener frequently. This tip on how to incorporate it into your dish without clumping is priceless. You're awesome!
Two other thickeners that would work quite well in this application would be gum arabic and pectin since you're heating the sauce up anyway. I typically reserve xanthan for cold applications. Another way to remove the air bubbles in a blender processed xanthan is to strain through a coffee filter or use a chamber vacuum (also quite expensive).
@@Alif-b We use butter or oil, but as far as our roux goes, it's dark, like pure dark chocolate color. Edit: But the darker you cook your roux, the less thickening power it has.
I live between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and yes, for a gumbo or other dishes like that you definitely need to make a dark roux. But there are times you want a lighter roux. Like when making Alex’s French lasagna 😆 For real though, I’ve made it and it rocks. Everyone who has tried it loves it. Of course I threw in a little heat to make it more southern Louisiana style. The Béchamel white sauce you make for it is made with a white roux. Look up the video and try it. Best lasagna I’ve ever made.
Alex, the quality of your content, your delivery and the overall enjoyability has far surpassed any show I watch on TV. You really are the mark to beat, keep up the amazing work, never stop learning.
Hey, Alex... I just wanted to say I'm on the same journey you are and I made my first Velouté sauce today which I turned into sauce Suprême and they both turned out way better than i expected. Perhaps though, not as good as your jus but I thoroughly enjoyed my meal tonight. In fact, i licked the plate clean! Thank you for inspiring me to get at my cooking textbook and learning more about sauces and thickeners, it really has opened me up more to learning all the complexities in sauce making. Tonight I made my own white stock using chicken (of course, I blanched it) and a unroasted white mirepoix with parsnips, celery and onions, added some fresh herbs and white wine and it turned out most delicious. Then I made a Velouté starting with a blonde roux and some white mirepoix then added my cooled stock, brought to a boil and let it simmer for a good hour. Then i added some heavy cream to a bowl and added my Velouté to it to temper it and poured it back into the sauce pan, threw in some cold butter and seasoned it and added some lemon juice. It was so good, but I feel it could use some improvement so next time I'll be adding some mushrooms and maybe some bacon? If anyone reads this and has something to add please do. Thanks again Alex!
@@Ricksteady8 Dude, it looks like peanut butter, and I like to eat peanut butter, so I try to eat it. I'm not very smart, but I can make a good roux for gumbo
Alex, t'es le meilleur, tu ne lâches rien, tes montages sont impressionnant de précision et tu te surpasses de vidéos en vidéos, la qualité des plans est remarquable, tout comme tout ton travail ! Je savoure tes vidéos des yeux sous tous les aspects ! Merci à toi, continue ! Et invites moi à manger ! (Ou sinon viens manger du beouf en Limousin)
Man Alex you're actually my role model in many ways, your expression, your insight, your ingenuitive break down of the process and all of its components, your creative response. I love this channel, it's art in more ways than one.
As a physical chemist who tried to disslove coca powder in milk and googled why it is so hard to dissolve the cocoa lumps in larger amounts of milk I resonated with your approach 😁. And your commentary is so relatable. Also, that ultrasonic stuff is an chemical lab equpment that is used to dissolve less soluble stuff in solvents.
Hi Alex, I really wish you would have mentioned what xanthan actually is. Most people think it’s not clean label, but it pretty much is. It is made by the same microbe that blackens cauliflower, something I think is fascinating. Not sure if you are aware, but combining with Guar gum enhances the thickening ability, so in combination you use less of both. For home cooks I would recommend reconstituting it in water and adding the gel in smaller amounts until the desired consistency is reached.
@@rousp It completely depends on all of the different components in your recipe. If you are developing for commercial, I do consulting for the food industry.
@@Shinkajo This whole witty banter is just *chef's kiss* right down to the "genious" comment 😂 I had to force my spell check to ignore that misspelling just so I could post this on my phone 🤣
Another possible solution could be a Corn Starch mixture or Corn Flour as a thickening agent, they tend to lack the need for making a roux with butter and are used in thickening some other dishes. I use Masa Harina (A very soft Corn Flour) in my homemade chili to give an unctuous thickness to the sauce.
literally use it in everything! it's 100% natural too! mainly just use it to decrease saltiness of food or to add a shit ton of umami to a stock or any liquid
@@fatmanvidz I hope you are not talking about msg... cause it’s use to enhance the flavors (like for those who doesn’t know how to cook properly).. also you said it’s natural..well, I don’t know your knowledge with msg but natural doesn’t belong to it at all😂
fun fact , Xanthan gum also works great in setting up whipped cream so it won't melt or break over time in the fridge . Meaning you can do things like decorate a cake in a delicate layer of whipped cream with no eggs or butter needed . it will also keep it from breaking if you add acid like lemon juice.
hey Alex, I worked a lot with xanthan (or sort X) what works well to desolve it is just desolve the x in 10% off your total amount of broth with a stickblender. And then mix that 10% mixture in your leftover broth. This way you dont need to use fat and you can keep your sauce cristal clear. Also if you have a liquide that is as thick as water we use 1 gram a liter for sauce thickness. Love your series!! Keep up the goodwork :D
Hey Alex, if you want to remove the air from the liquid without the fat after blending it with xanthan gum just put it in a wide and tall container (it will expand) and run it through the vacpac machine several times
Amazing video Alex, Xanthan gum is created when sugar is fermented by a type of bacteria called Xanthomonas campestris. When sugar is fermented, it creates a broth or goo-like substance, which is made solid by adding an alcohol. It is then dried and turned into a powder. You have smashed it here, awesome dish... 🥘😍😋😎👌🏻
„09:49” - Alex looks like some kind of movie villan about to take over the world ;D This channel is getting more epic, year after year. I'm amazed by how you can combine interesting content, lots of knowledge and truly fantastic filmography. You don't have to choose one quality, you get all of it. Like a complex flavour of a perfect croissant with a hounderet layers, hidden inside a simple shape.
I absolutely love the shots, the edits, the music, the passion! Seriously, a tremendous amount of detail went into this, and I appreciate every bit of it. Thank you for the fantastic content as always and for the journey.
Xanthan gum whisked into hot milk makes a great cappuccino coffee. Pour over a cup of black coffee slightly stir to make the coffee milky but retain the frothy top. I only use the tip of the handle of the spoon to transfer a small amount of Xanthan gum to the milk.
When mixing a small amount of insoluble powder with a large amount of liquid, it's always going to mix better if you start by adding a small amount of the liquid to the powder to make a paste, and then gradually diluting that until it's runny before mixing it into the liquid. I wonder if you would need to use oil, or this method would work with stock or water.
Instead of oil when I mix a soluble plant fiber I use vegetable glycerin and it works much better If you're trying to avoid an oily product hope you see this Love your channel
Alex, In the first of this series you ask for our Sauce experiments. For Fish, Chicken, I generally use crème fraîche. I add for two, a table spoon of crème fraîche, vegetable stock - to avoid watering down the finished sauce I use a stock cube crumbled into the crème fraîche, about 2 table spoons of milk. Heat stirring until the sauce combines and thickens. Job done. You can add herbs etc at this stage as you like. This will keep warm on a low heat for a while but will get thicker so keep an eye on it add a little milk or butter if needed.. In a similiar way i make a mock Hollandaise sauce with crème fraîche an egg yolk and white wine vinegar and butter. This has a good texture and flavour but is way quicker to make for the less skilled. Nice cooking by the way.
That sequence at 9:29 where you made the sauce with the xanthan gum is a mastercraft in cinematography and editing! I can't stop watching that one part!
I'm a pharmacist and I use xanthan and similar thickening agents on daily basis.. Try this.. Instead of adding the thickening agent to the liquid, try adding just a tiny amount of the liquid to the the thickening agent instead (almost the same mass of the the theckinig agents.. Then using a mortar and pestle mix the two together until you get a paste.. Add the rest of the liquid in tiny portions one step at a time to your paste and keep mixing them with the paste until you get a homogeneous thick liquid. Tip 2 : bei certain thicknening agents you have to add them to a hot or warm liquid and keep stirring the mixture until you reach room temperature or you get a homogeneous liquid. Your videos are cool btw. Big fan
Alex! I've been watching since your videos were getting a few thousand views and now you're really famous! Your production quality in this video is next level buddy!
Found the channel because i wanted to see what i can do with rice paper and came to one of the most exciting food series I've ever seen. Awesome content!
Alex, one, I didn't know you could avoid the foaming problem of cantata gum with oil! Amazing! Two, how I was taught to solve that problem was to put the sauce under a vacuum (in a vac seal machine), and it pops all those pesky bubbles! Multiple solutions to the same problem
Yeah, I didn’t want to say it for fear of being considered sacrilegious by real foodies but that would be my go-to. I haven’t had any luck with arrowroot or tartar or faba or any of the thickeners popular these days.
Corn starch works for syrupy type sauces but can gel up once it cools down, xanthan gum is pretty stable and thickens alot of different things such as salad dressings which can be served cold without gelling
I strongly prefer cornstarch over flour for thickening gravies. I aim to get a lot of the thickening from reduction around the protein in the drippings, and start to introduce cornstarch slurried in water once it's at a point where further concentration would upset the seasoning balance. As long as it's constantly whisked while incorporated, it won't lump, and it only needs to hit a low simmer to cook and set. Flour needs to go close to the boiling point of water or even slightly past to get its best thickening and lose the flour taste which is why it's made into roux. It also has to be brought back down to see the extent of thickening where cornstarch can more readily work with on-the-fly "by feel". And it doen't kill the stock/broth flavor like Alex noted with his roux.
I use corn starch for thickening as well but there is a drawback compared to xantham gum. Sauces thickened with starch will start breaking down from enzymes in saliva particles on your eating utensil and by halfway through your meal the sauce on your plate will be less thickened.
@@Kenmanhl - cornstarch gets gluey as it cools, so what is left on the plate definitely does not get less thickened. If anything, it is quite the opposite.
Xanthum gum is one of those things I've not had much experience in, seeing it as an alternative to roux for the purposes of thickening a sausage connects a lot of disparate thoughts together. Thanks for this video!
“I can’t believe I found something useful on the internet” says the guy in the video on the internet that I learn useful things about cooking from 🧐 😂 😎👍
I’ve been following since the ramen obsession... I still use the blackened garlic oil ... but like the last few videos, you’re leaving out the final learning experience for viewers to learn also with just cinema. Though I do love your new video editing, it’s missing that learning exercise along with you like back in the earlier videos. Btw I used your French onion soup last year at Christmas and it was a hit. Thank you for all that you do.
I paused when he got to Xanthan Gum to make a prediction that when he first uses it he finds out just how badly it clumps if you don't use a blender or disperse it in oil first. EDIT: yup, straight to the blender.
he can make absolutely anything not only full of very useful info ( I am working with Xanthan gum to make vegan cream) so the info is great but he can also make it super entertaining. not a combo you see often. love these videos.
Damn Alex, what a nice cinematic video. I discovered your channel a few days ago and this fully showed how big your potential is, not only editing-wise but also charisma-wise. Subbed. Rock on!
@@the-law5065 yea it doesn’t matter. Nonstick has that delicate coating but metal doesn’t, and metals (i think silver?) better for sauces because sometimes you need that fond.
Say what you want about Nascar but it does have the biggest fan base. Especially after sports associations like NBA and NFL are doing everything they can to dissuade people from watching.
I think it was a joke. Chefs have a reputation for cocaine use, and there are loads of white powders commonly used to make foods: flour, cornstarch (and a variety of other starches), powdered sugar, baking soda, baking powder...
That depends. Gravy isn't really a specific term and means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. One of the major points of the traditional french culinary system is how well codified it is. That is, that names have much more specific meanings for things than a lot of american cooking. Veloute is always going to be a light stock thickened with roux traditionally. Then when different ingredients are added to it, the name changes. For instance if you add a mushroom reduction to Veloute you get a sauce Supreme. In the U.S., my grandmother's gravy and your grandmother's gravy could be entirely different things. Typically you could say that a gravy would most likely be similar to a veloute, it's impossible to know for sure.
7:57 I hope you see the irony of this, Alex. You just made roux by dispersing flour in fat first, before you used it in liquid, but you didn't even consider that Xanthan Gum could work in exactly the same way xD
Xanthan is great, but the line between a nicely thickened sauce and chicken flavoured snot is dangerously thin, and a mistake a lot of home cooks make because they're working with tiny amounts of xanthan on kitchen scales not designed for that level of precision.
Edit: I forgot to add how much I’m enjoying this series! Looking forward to judgement day in the next one!
spoken like a man who knows.
IT'S JAMES FREAKING HOFFMAN OMG
loved the mustache in your last vid
@@ihavenoVEVO Right! 70's James was epic!!
What about using agar powder?
Yes, precision is definitely very important when working with such a substances (and in general in the kitchen IMO, you yourself have converted me to messures everything with precision from learning me how to make coffee. Now I messures everything in grams on my coffee scale ranging from baking, cooking, cocktails and coffee)
I saw the thumbnail and immediately thought msg
Me too
Same, glad it was just cocaine...
no you didn't
me three.
Uncle roger would’ve be proud!
My dude, your videos have snapped me out of a chefs coma. I have been chefing for 15 years and lost my passion about 10 years in. Your genuine passion for cooking has giving me a second breath. Thank you so much, and you keep doing you
That's so beautiful to read
Hi Alex,
I like your (semi-)scientific approach to cooking a lot. I wanted to share a useful tip I learned in culinary school. When you make a roux it is very important that you have one hot component and one cold component. In your case the roux is hot and your stock is cold before you boil it and your sauce thickens. However, you can switch those functions around. In other words the hot component is your stock and cold component the roux. The way you could do this is by making a roux, of any color, and storing it in the freezer. Than, once you are finishing a sauce you can use a cheese grater to manually grate/add any desired amount of roux to your sauce. In this way you are far less likely to burn your roux (a common mistake in the kitchen) and you can tweak your sauce to perfection since you can add little by little your thickening agent.
I hope you can still use this in the next one, love your work!
ok?
@@Vad3r ok?
@@patrickbateman8094 ok!
Great tip!
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping Alex will use xanthan-gum water-roux to make bread with a ridiculously-high hydration-rate, like 500% to 1000% (5 to 10 time more water than flour), or more (with more xanthan-gum added to the water-roux).
YOU GOT NATHAN MYHRVOLD ON YOUR CHANNEL!?
Ok, now THAT is a sign that you have come far Alex. I was already inspired by you - now I am simply happy for you.
Can we just take a moment to really appreciate the artistry Alex's filming? Excellent shots.
Just a moment? The video is thirteen minutes long.
Seriously. The last few minutes were some of his best work.
just a few years ago he was still filming with a gopro on his head! its great seeing all the success this channel has gotten in the last few years
Alex, you can't put cocaine in your sauces
But it speeds up the process!
Gordon Ramsay does it sooo......
It's not strictly French, but when you're on cocaine, who cares?
Sad panda.
says who
If that pan is NASCAR, you can only stir counter-clockwise.
This sir is an underappreciated comment 🤣
and if it's F1. lewis hamilton only wins
Hey now, there are soon to be THREE Nascar races that also have right turns.
THEY ARE MAKING A LEFT TURN
@@howdareyou41 It's either he wins, or he whines. choice is yours
My new favorite TH-cam channel and chef. A guy with technique and isn't afraid to try really new things. Not just try, try is an understatement for this channel. It really discovers and dissects a recipe. Quality quality content. Merci Alex.
The way Alex has excelled and progressed with his videos is mind blowing to me. I've been watching this channel for almost 4 years and I've seen the progression of how he executes his ideas and I have to say that, Alex bro, you have elevated YT food videos to the highest levels. I love this channel and cannot wait to see more of this series! Much much love!
Alex:" I need an ultrasonic homogenizer to make my sauce"
Soapmakers: " don't worry, we gotcha buddy"
Worry
@@lisettegarcia be happy
Or he could have just used a immersion blender. Those tend to not have much bubbles as long as your liquid is deeper than the intake gaps.
I found out about this difference when I was making Konjac tofu. With a blender, you get a solid foam, but with immersion blender, you end up with homogenised jelly, which I can then heat up to cause the starch to gelatinise.
@@bowmanc.7439 i think they were talking about that exactly.. soap makers use inmersion blenders lol
_They seriously are a great tool, and he should get one though_ , that and glassware for oil extaction etc.
“Can’t believe I found something useful on the internet” - Alex
Wait...aren’t you on the internet?
He didn't comment on the usefulness of his videos, for all we know, he might think that his videos are useless.
ahahahaahha......thats hilarious
😄😄
did he stutter
thatsthejoke.jpg
I see a white powder, and as an asian.
the answer is: use MSG in EVERYTHING
@viper or you
haaaiyyyaaa
Uncel Roger would love to hear this
ajino is our motto :P
MSG is really nice in sauces but it looks like crystals , Xanthan gum is much closer to a powder
Alex, thanks so much for this video. As someone with a diabetic husband following a low-carb lifestyle I use xanthan gum as a thickener frequently. This tip on how to incorporate it into your dish without clumping is priceless. You're awesome!
Two other thickeners that would work quite well in this application would be gum arabic and pectin since you're heating the sauce up anyway. I typically reserve xanthan for cold applications. Another way to remove the air bubbles in a blender processed xanthan is to strain through a coffee filter or use a chamber vacuum (also quite expensive).
*"White Roux"*
Cajun cooks have left the chat
Cajun cooks after seeing his "white roux": 🥰
Don’t Cajun cooks make a dark roux, with oil instead of butter
@@Alif-b We use butter or oil, but as far as our roux goes, it's dark, like pure dark chocolate color.
Edit: But the darker you cook your roux, the less thickening power it has.
@@alligatormonday6365 I was gonna say, if he wants to make gravy, he is looking in all the wrong places
I live between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and yes, for a gumbo or other dishes like that you definitely need to make a dark roux.
But there are times you want a lighter roux. Like when making Alex’s French lasagna 😆
For real though, I’ve made it and it rocks.
Everyone who has tried it loves it.
Of course I threw in a little heat to make it more southern Louisiana style.
The Béchamel white sauce you make for it is made with a white roux.
Look up the video and try it.
Best lasagna I’ve ever made.
When Alex smiles at the camera my heart skips a beat.
3:02 "smells buttery" - in a beautiful french accent.
You're welcome.
you’re definitely gonna enjoy the video where he made a million layer pastry
Beautiful?
Alex, the quality of your content, your delivery and the overall enjoyability has far surpassed any show I watch on TV. You really are the mark to beat, keep up the amazing work, never stop learning.
Hey, Alex... I just wanted to say I'm on the same journey you are and I made my first Velouté sauce today which I turned into sauce Suprême and they both turned out way better than i expected. Perhaps though, not as good as your jus but I thoroughly enjoyed my meal tonight. In fact, i licked the plate clean! Thank you for inspiring me to get at my cooking textbook and learning more about sauces and thickeners, it really has opened me up more to learning all the complexities in sauce making. Tonight I made my own white stock using chicken (of course, I blanched it) and a unroasted white mirepoix with parsnips, celery and onions, added some fresh herbs and white wine and it turned out most delicious. Then I made a Velouté starting with a blonde roux and some white mirepoix then added my cooled stock, brought to a boil and let it simmer for a good hour. Then i added some heavy cream to a bowl and added my Velouté to it to temper it and poured it back into the sauce pan, threw in some cold butter and seasoned it and added some lemon juice. It was so good, but I feel it could use some improvement so next time I'll be adding some mushrooms and maybe some bacon? If anyone reads this and has something to add please do. Thanks again Alex!
"I can't taste anything since I burned my tongue on the hot roux"
That's me literally every time I make roux
Do you just like the taste or something? You can see if its not the color you want and if you burn it you will definitely be able to smell it.
@@Ricksteady8 Dude, it looks like peanut butter, and I like to eat peanut butter, so I try to eat it. I'm not very smart, but I can make a good roux for gumbo
Alex, t'es le meilleur, tu ne lâches rien, tes montages sont impressionnant de précision et tu te surpasses de vidéos en vidéos, la qualité des plans est remarquable, tout comme tout ton travail ! Je savoure tes vidéos des yeux sous tous les aspects ! Merci à toi, continue ! Et invites moi à manger ! (Ou sinon viens manger du beouf en Limousin)
*tastes first sauce: "it doesn't tast like chicken enough"
*eats chicken: "yeees, it's chickeny"
ahahahah I'm crying
Man Alex you're actually my role model in many ways, your expression, your insight, your ingenuitive break down of the process and all of its components, your creative response.
I love this channel, it's art in more ways than one.
As a physical chemist who tried to disslove coca powder in milk and googled why it is so hard to dissolve the cocoa lumps in larger amounts of milk I resonated with your approach 😁. And your commentary is so relatable. Also, that ultrasonic stuff is an chemical lab equpment that is used to dissolve less soluble stuff in solvents.
Hi Alex, I really wish you would have mentioned what xanthan actually is. Most people think it’s not clean label, but it pretty much is. It is made by the same microbe that blackens cauliflower, something I think is fascinating. Not sure if you are aware, but combining with Guar gum enhances the thickening ability, so in combination you use less of both. For home cooks I would recommend reconstituting it in water and adding the gel in smaller amounts until the desired consistency is reached.
Thanks! Just the comment I was looking for :)
What percentage would you use to reconstitute it? And would you sheer in it with a blender?
@@rousp definitely needs shear, amounts depend on what you are trying to achieve but the usual range is between 0.1%-1.5%.
@@freshorangina thank you! Do you have any experience with the shelf life of the gel?
@@rousp It completely depends on all of the different components in your recipe. If you are developing for commercial, I do consulting for the food industry.
Love this series. Any chance of posting the full chat with Nathan Myrhvold would be fascinating to see.
Xantham gum is hydrophobic and oleophilic, hence why it mixes in oil.
What about homophobic and necrophilic?
@@Shinkajo haha edgy funny, get it guys? I know how latin endings work!
@@blorblin obviously better than you there genious, because they are Greek, not Latin and are called suffixes
@@Shinkajo This whole witty banter is just *chef's kiss* right down to the "genious" comment 😂 I had to force my spell check to ignore that misspelling just so I could post this on my phone 🤣
@@MikeTrieu I'm happy to oblaige
Another possible solution could be a Corn Starch mixture or Corn Flour as a thickening agent, they tend to lack the need for making a roux with butter and are used in thickening some other dishes. I use Masa Harina (A very soft Corn Flour) in my homemade chili to give an unctuous thickness to the sauce.
I've seen lots of alex's videos, but this one is the one i have enjoyed the most, the edition, the science, the backgrownd, the cliffhanger.
10/10 👏👏👏
the non-clickbaitiest clickbait ever
I thought he was going to talk about MSG
Me too🤣
I thought it was cocaine
@@SwagHorse whats that
literally use it in everything! it's 100% natural too! mainly just use it to decrease saltiness of food or to add a shit ton of umami to a stock or any liquid
@@fatmanvidz I hope you are not talking about msg... cause it’s use to enhance the flavors (like for those who doesn’t know how to cook properly).. also you said it’s natural..well, I don’t know your knowledge with msg but natural doesn’t belong to it at all😂
fun fact , Xanthan gum also works great in setting up whipped cream so it won't melt or break over time in the fridge . Meaning you can do things like decorate a cake in a delicate layer of whipped cream with no eggs or butter needed . it will also keep it from breaking if you add acid like lemon juice.
Once bought a cream thickened with Xanthan and almost vomited after tasting it whipped. I guess this goes to precision scale argument.
@@lystfiskerlars I just give it a pinch it really doesn't take a lot.
I've used gelatin for that purpose also.
@@applegal3058 gelatin also works great though it can make things a little marshmallow-y sometimes.
In my experience it ruins the taste of cream. Cream taste is very delicate, so even a small amount of additives make a big difference.
I'm a dental student and I started to love cooking because of your channel.
Merci beaucoup !
hey Alex, I worked a lot with xanthan (or sort X) what works well to desolve it is just desolve the x in 10% off your total amount of broth with a stickblender. And then mix that 10% mixture in your leftover broth. This way you dont need to use fat and you can keep your sauce cristal clear. Also if you have a liquide that is as thick as water we use 1 gram a liter for sauce thickness.
Love your series!! Keep up the goodwork :D
i just love that book like imo "Modernist cuisine" is the only book (book collection) you need.
It´s one of the few cooking books i own. I wouldn´t say MC is the only one you need but it´s one you have to have.
@@Markus__B like those cheatsheets in there are great and there are cheatsheets for everything.
Hey Alex, if you want to remove the air from the liquid without the fat after blending it with xanthan gum just put it in a wide and tall container (it will expand) and run it through the vacpac machine several times
Amazing video Alex, Xanthan gum is created when sugar is fermented by a type of bacteria called Xanthomonas campestris. When sugar is fermented, it creates a broth or goo-like substance, which is made solid by adding an alcohol. It is then dried and turned into a powder.
You have smashed it here, awesome dish... 🥘😍😋😎👌🏻
Seeing that Alex is a one man team, huge props to him for the shots he gets. Mesmerising.
the modernist cuisine books might be a gold mine of knowledge thank u alex
„09:49” - Alex looks like some kind of movie villan about to take over the world ;D
This channel is getting more epic, year after year. I'm amazed by how you can combine interesting content, lots of knowledge and truly fantastic filmography. You don't have to choose one quality, you get all of it. Like a complex flavour of a perfect croissant with a hounderet layers, hidden inside a simple shape.
"I can't taste anything..." Nowadays this doesn't bode well...
Go bold or go home.
I absolutely love the shots, the edits, the music, the passion! Seriously, a tremendous amount of detail went into this, and I appreciate every bit of it. Thank you for the fantastic content as always and for the journey.
Xanthan gum whisked into hot milk makes a great cappuccino coffee. Pour over a cup of black coffee slightly stir to make the coffee milky but retain the frothy top. I only use the tip of the handle of the spoon to transfer a small amount of Xanthan gum to the milk.
love your leaning series! Croissants were very interesting.
When mixing a small amount of insoluble powder with a large amount of liquid, it's always going to mix better if you start by adding a small amount of the liquid to the powder to make a paste, and then gradually diluting that until it's runny before mixing it into the liquid. I wonder if you would need to use oil, or this method would work with stock or water.
This method works great for cocoa powder, so it should work for xanthan too.
It does not.
ketamine goes well with everything indeed mm yes
Ceci est pourquoi je t'aime... You are not afraid to challenge things, explain why, and reveal all. Alex, do not stop now!
Instead of oil when I mix a soluble plant fiber I use vegetable glycerin and it works much better If you're trying to avoid an oily product hope you see this Love your channel
You’re going back to the restaurant with a three Michelin star Saucier! Then you’re going to have them judge your sauces, you are a brave SOB. LoL
Alex, In the first of this series you ask for our Sauce experiments. For Fish, Chicken, I generally use crème fraîche. I add for two, a table spoon of crème fraîche, vegetable stock - to avoid watering down the finished sauce I use a stock cube crumbled into the crème fraîche, about 2 table spoons of milk. Heat stirring until the sauce combines and thickens. Job done.
You can add herbs etc at this stage as you like.
This will keep warm on a low heat for a while but will get thicker so keep an eye on it add a little milk or butter if needed..
In a similiar way i make a mock Hollandaise sauce with crème fraîche an egg yolk and white wine vinegar and butter. This has a good texture and flavour but is way quicker to make for the less skilled.
Nice cooking by the way.
"I can't believe I found something useful on the internet"
*Says a TH-cam personality*
He's being facetious
@@buzzerede *faceous*
Yes.. That's the joke..
That sequence at 9:29 where you made the sauce with the xanthan gum is a mastercraft in cinematography and editing! I can't stop watching that one part!
I'm a pharmacist and I use xanthan and similar thickening agents on daily basis..
Try this..
Instead of adding the thickening agent to the liquid, try adding just a tiny amount of the liquid to the the thickening agent instead (almost the same mass of the the theckinig agents..
Then using a mortar and pestle mix the two together until you get a paste..
Add the rest of the liquid in tiny portions one step at a time to your paste and keep mixing them with the paste until you get a homogeneous thick liquid.
Tip 2 : bei certain thicknening agents you have to add them to a hot or warm liquid and keep stirring the mixture until you reach room temperature or you get a homogeneous liquid.
Your videos are cool btw. Big fan
Came for Alex, stayed for the inevitable cocaine jokes.
Came for Alex, stayed to wonder what makes him tick…
2:25 “liquid white”
Bob Ross enthusiasts: everything starts with liquid white
Alex: *has an expensive ass pot*
Also Alex: *uses a €3 looking whisk*
steel whisks would scratch the silver though, I thought it was smart to use a plastic one
The whisk actually melts! You can see red plastic smears after he heats up his roux before adding the stock. Get a proper whisk please Alex..
@@simon_far true but it doesn't mean that he has to use one that i think looks kinda cheap
@@lvdb85 I think that's sightly burned roux.
@@1206549 i also think its just roux burns
Alex! I've been watching since your videos were getting a few thousand views and now you're really famous! Your production quality in this video is next level buddy!
Found the channel because i wanted to see what i can do with rice paper and came to one of the most exciting food series I've ever seen. Awesome content!
Always great content
Very cool seeing you here Angie! Please post more updates on the ponies! Haha
What a delightful surprise seeing you here!
And then Nathan Myrhvold just drops by
Yeah I want to see more about his visit! He is immensely influential in multiple disciplines.
Would be interested to see your comparison between roux, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum.
Tapioca starch can be used as a thickener, didn't know that.
Late comment, but Adam Ragusea has a video going over all sorts of thickeners---I think all three of those and more.
You're killing it with you're filming techniques lately. The part where you were cooking the sauce and chicken was stunning!
3 years later, this clip helped me a lot. Thanks for pointing the books out - will use them in my kitchen. Love you Alex :)
That Ramen NASA shirt is my favorite thing ever.
I should have subbed sooner but this was the last straw
Yells in a thousand voices of French culinary chefs.
“Use MSG in everything”.
-Uncle Roger
Alex, one, I didn't know you could avoid the foaming problem of cantata gum with oil! Amazing! Two, how I was taught to solve that problem was to put the sauce under a vacuum (in a vac seal machine), and it pops all those pesky bubbles! Multiple solutions to the same problem
It feels like almost a crime that I can watch this for free.
Wonderful shots, entertaining, great information and mouth watering. Thanks Alex!
When he was about to put the gum into the water I was like "wait, stop, hold it" at least he found out that it's supposed to be oil
What type of fat/oil?
@@SuperSetright Anything. Olive oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, lard, melted butter... Whatever.
@@xymist5605 Thanks for the prompt reply.
*sees the thumbnail*
Ah, so now its Alex "El Chapo" Cooking, eh? 😏
Would using a corn starch slurry for thickening create the same problems as the roux?
Yeah, I didn’t want to say it for fear of being considered sacrilegious by real foodies but that would be my go-to. I haven’t had any luck with arrowroot or tartar or faba or any of the thickeners popular these days.
Corn starch works for syrupy type sauces but can gel up once it cools down, xanthan gum is pretty stable and thickens alot of different things such as salad dressings which can be served cold without gelling
I strongly prefer cornstarch over flour for thickening gravies. I aim to get a lot of the thickening from reduction around the protein in the drippings, and start to introduce cornstarch slurried in water once it's at a point where further concentration would upset the seasoning balance. As long as it's constantly whisked while incorporated, it won't lump, and it only needs to hit a low simmer to cook and set. Flour needs to go close to the boiling point of water or even slightly past to get its best thickening and lose the flour taste which is why it's made into roux. It also has to be brought back down to see the extent of thickening where cornstarch can more readily work with on-the-fly "by feel". And it doen't kill the stock/broth flavor like Alex noted with his roux.
I use corn starch for thickening as well but there is a drawback compared to xantham gum. Sauces thickened with starch will start breaking down from enzymes in saliva particles on your eating utensil and by halfway through your meal the sauce on your plate will be less thickened.
@@Kenmanhl - cornstarch gets gluey as it cools, so what is left on the plate definitely does not get less thickened. If anything, it is quite the opposite.
The visuals in this are incredible. The cooking is great, but the content as a whole is wonderfully produced.
Xanthum gum is one of those things I've not had much experience in, seeing it as an alternative to roux for the purposes of thickening a sausage connects a lot of disparate thoughts together. Thanks for this video!
“I can’t believe I found something useful on the internet”
says the guy in the video on the internet that I learn useful things about cooking from 🧐
😂
😎👍
0:39 that sound scarred my soul
I’ve watched too much Sorted Food. I hear velouté in Jamie Spafford’s mocking voice
OMG same
I’ve been following since the ramen obsession... I still use the blackened garlic oil ... but like the last few videos, you’re leaving out the final learning experience for viewers to learn also with just cinema. Though I do love your new video editing, it’s missing that learning exercise along with you like back in the earlier videos.
Btw I used your French onion soup last year at Christmas and it was a hit. Thank you for all that you do.
Alex, the work you do is really impressive. Greetings from Argentina !!! I hope you continue like this
He knew exactly what he was doing with that thumbnail haha
I paused when he got to Xanthan Gum to make a prediction that when he first uses it he finds out just how badly it clumps if you don't use a blender or disperse it in oil first.
EDIT: yup, straight to the blender.
nice prediction lol
@@amaanshah9625 I have had minimal issues using xanthan to thicken, but I've always sprinkled over a hot pan of stir fry (replacing corn starch)
@@instantcash3472 Yeah, sprinkle method works fine too as long as it dosnt pool, gotta get that good even spread, summon the inner salt bae.
Hearing Alex use that metal spoon in his new pan made me cry
it's copper. no coating.
@@steelcucumber5708 It's coated with silver
Know how you feel. When I heard that, I was going "Nonononono! No, Alex, no!"
@@henrikginnerup8345 could it be zinc?
@@steelcucumber5708 technically the inside is solid silver. So true, no coating.
BUT STILL.
he can make absolutely anything not only full of very useful info ( I am working with Xanthan gum to make vegan cream) so the info is great but he can also make it super entertaining. not a combo you see often. love these videos.
You should win an award for the production value of this video!
Here I thought we’re finally adding cocaine imto our sauces now, still not disappointed regardless
prediction: its msg
Edit: it was not
i just saw the thumbnail and i was like yup, hes talking about msg
It ain't.
too fine to be msg. Im guessing xanthan.
@@jeremywarren3485 Same
My second guess is speed
I've wached enough food war's to know this guys is getting dangerous
It would be great to see an episode or even whole series dedicated to the many thickeners that are available and how each makes a sauce different.
Damn Alex, what a nice cinematic video. I discovered your channel a few days ago and this fully showed how big your potential is, not only editing-wise but also charisma-wise. Subbed. Rock on!
I've cooked *on* cocaine, but I've never considered cooking *with* cocaine.
Hes using a metal spoon on his brand new saucepan...
it isn't a non stick pan so it doesn't matter I think
@@the-law5065 yea it doesn’t matter. Nonstick has that delicate coating but metal doesn’t, and metals (i think silver?) better for sauces because sometimes you need that fond.
100%, I cringed when I heard the sound of steel scraping his delicate silver lining!
"Nascar if you're in the US" lol
Say what you want about Nascar but it does have the biggest fan base. Especially after sports associations like NBA and NFL are doing everything they can to dissuade people from watching.
The US also has F1.
@@clarkjm1fc3s Circuit of the America's is the only track in the US that F1 has run in the past decade.
@@origamihawk true, since 2012. But it's back in the US...
Oh wow! This solves the problem we had when we were trying to make sauces while on keto!
And oil is great for keto as well!
I am forever grateful!
I just saw you were nominated for a Streamy Award! I love Babish, but you’ve got a passion that makes your vids inspirational - I hope you win
Babish is a hack
"Working with a white powder in the kitchen feels a bit odd", right after using flour lol
In a pro kitchen white powder isn't unusual.
I think it was a joke. Chefs have a reputation for cocaine use, and there are loads of white powders commonly used to make foods: flour, cornstarch (and a variety of other starches), powdered sugar, baking soda, baking powder...
To be fair, Flour in Europe tend to be beige Instead of white 🤷♂️ But yeah there’s a lot of white powders in the kitchen
11:58 I want to see their reaction to your SAUCEPAN.
Yeah and the use of Gum !
why does it look like gravy, not gonna lie is gravy just a less french version of velouté sauce?
That depends. Gravy isn't really a specific term and means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. One of the major points of the traditional french culinary system is how well codified it is. That is, that names have much more specific meanings for things than a lot of american cooking. Veloute is always going to be a light stock thickened with roux traditionally. Then when different ingredients are added to it, the name changes. For instance if you add a mushroom reduction to Veloute you get a sauce Supreme. In the U.S., my grandmother's gravy and your grandmother's gravy could be entirely different things. Typically you could say that a gravy would most likely be similar to a veloute, it's impossible to know for sure.
I mean gravy is basically just a roux with some type of liquid added so yah, close enough
Massive appreciation to Alex's film making ability! You are getting so good!
The editing and sound design on alex's videos are so satisfying and astounding
7:57 I hope you see the irony of this, Alex. You just made roux by dispersing flour in fat first, before you used it in liquid, but you didn't even consider that Xanthan Gum could work in exactly the same way xD
This!
I had the exact same idea, that the process is exactly the same with flour and xanthan gum.