[Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract
Carol Smith
Eskesmith at hotmail.com
Thu Dec 22 15:27:39 PST 2005
Propylene glycol a sweetener? I don't think so; it's got a very bitter back note, and a 50% W/W mix of alcohol and P Gl is considered non-potable by TTB (Your new, post 9/11 Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau, abbreviated TTB, nee Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms, abbreviated BATF). And glycerin in large quantity can be bitter, as well (according to one of our chemists), though it is a very simple 3-carbon sugar structure and is sweet at low levels.
Anything sold as Propylene Glycol, with nothing else listed in the label, had better be straight propylene Glycol, at least if it's sold for use in foods. Drug usage may have differing requirements; I'm not willing to take the time to find out, though.
Regards,
Brekke
----- Original Message -----
From: Terry Decker<mailto:t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA<mailto:sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2005 11:47 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract
Let me point out that glycerin and propylene glycol are sweetners and
stabilizers. Propylene glycol is also the solvent used in a number of dyes,
so it might be worth checking to see what the FDA permits under the label of
propylene glycol. Sugar covers a multitude of sins, although in this case
it is probably primarily glucose, sucrose and fructose, which can be used
both as sweetners and coloring agents, depending on the degree of refining.
Invert sugar is a mixture of equal parts of sucrose and fructose hydrolized
from glucose. If you slowly heat the sucrose during hydrolization you
caramelize the sugar producing the caramel to which I was referring.
Chemically, it is still a form of invert sugar. Dextrose is glucose bonded
with water. Corn syrup is a dextrose syrup made from corn starch, which
comes in a range of brownish shades although I don't know off the top of my
head whether or not they use dyes in the product and whether or not they
would be permitted under the FDA definitions.
Bear
Permitted additives, per CFR 21.169.175, are, and I quote:
(1) Glycerin.
(2) Propylene glycol.
(3) Sugar (including invert sugar).
(4) Dextrose
(5) Corn sirup. [sic]
These are the ONLY additions permitted for Pure Vanilla Extract. Anything
else should be called "flavor", "with color", or have some other modifier to
indicate that it is not strictly pure vanilla extract. There's a whole
story on the importance of bean moisture, too, that goes along with this
ruling.
Regards,
Brekke
----- Original Message -----
From: Terry Decker<mailto:t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net<mailto:t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>>
To: Cooks within the SCA<mailto:sca-cooks at ansteorra.org<mailto:sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>>
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 10:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT OOP Vanilla Extract
Vanilla extract is produced by alcohol extraction from aged vanilla beans.
The FDA requires that pure vanilla extract be 35 per cent alcohol (with
13.35 ounces of vanilla beans per gallon of 35 per cent solution). The
FDA
also permits sugar, corn syrup, caramel, colors and stabilizers to be
added
to the extract. When these additional items appear on the label, the
extract is most likely unaged. Fresh vanilla extract tends to be harsh
tasting and adding 20 per cent or more sugar smooths the taste while
caramels, colors and stabilizers give the product an aged appearance. Top
quality vanilla extract has only vanilla, alcohol and water for
ingredients
and its smooth flavor and dark rich color are the result of aging the
product between one and two years. Aging costs money.
Bear
----- Original Message -----
Hello I've never posted to the list but I've got a question. When did they
start putting corn syrup in vanilla extract? I have found such in the
Publix store brand, in the McCormick brand, and in the Nielsen-Massey
brand
at the gourmet shop. The only kind that didn't have corn syrup was the
Spice
Islands brand but, at $11.99 for two ounces, it's three or four times more
expensive. Was there a problem with the vanilla crop? Is home-made vanilla
extract just as good?
Cheers,
Isabella
(Daniel's better half..)
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