quote:
Gator2, please 'splain your aggie math.
Usually a formula adds up to 100% unless you are using the cheese in the same way as Bakers Percentage uses flour; i.e., 100% and then everything is expressed relative to that.
Edited to add the comparison below.
From your post:
Bakers percentage
100% cheese
93% water
4% sodium citrate
Pulled from a body cavity:
Absolute percent
Cheese 100 = 50.76%
Water 93 = 47.21%
Sodium Citrate 4 = 2.03%
Total = 100%
Also, FWIW: When doing product development work, my personal preference was the latter as it was easier to remember standard ballpark percentages of the total; e.g., soups and stews are usually salted close to 1% of the total. Having said that, however when adding things such as emulsifiers and anti-oxidants one has to figure out the total fat in the product and apply the chemical accordingly.
Since the simple formula used for illustration contains water and no tomato, Rotel or pickled jalapenos, etc. there is no acidic ingredient to make the addition of sodium citrate necessary. I believe what was never explained or has become lost in 8 pages is that the function of sodium citrate is to buffer the acid ingredients, raising the pH to the point where the dairy proteins are not so tightly precipitated that they exhibit a sandy mouthfeel.
I think I have spoken the truth, but it's getting to be evening even on the left coast.
[This message has been edited by JTMW (edited 2/9/2014 10:09p).]
Either will work, depending on what you've learned. For me, baker's percentages work best. But you're wrong on the science behind sodium citrate.
quote:
Sodium citrate allows the proteins in the cheese sauce to become more soluble while lowering the pH of the sauce, which creates a smooth emulsion without curdling. Though citric acid will also lower the pH, it will not work on proteins as sodium citrate does. Using citric acid will result in a soupy or grainy texture instead of a silky emulsion.
