[Sca-cooks] hydrosols

[Chris Stanifer]

--- Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:

> Okay, so what precisely is a "hydrosol"? Is this simply a distillation 
> of the water which something has been soaked in? Or perhaps the flower 
> or whatever is left in when the water is boiled?

A hydrosol is essentially the distilled essence of fruits, flowers, barks or spices, though the
name implies it uses water as a carrier.  When I make hydrosols, I fill a large pot with my
ingredient of choice, and a good amount of water (or alcohol, though you must be very, very
careful with this).  I place a stainless steel bowl inside that pot (empty bowl), cover the whole
thing with plastic wrap, and then place another stainless bowl full of ice on top of the plastic
wrap.  Then, I slowly heat the pot until it begins to simmer nicely... the liquid begins to
evaporate, rises as steam (carrying with it all of the flavor and aroma of whatever ingredient I
have placed in the pot), condenses on the cold plastic wrap, and drips down into the empty bowl. 
Viola!  You now have concentrated essence.

Alcohol actually works better due to it's lower evap temp, but it is combustible and much more
dangerous.  However, if you are going to use the hydrosol to spray on baked goods, you should use
the alcohol method, or you'll end up with soggy, moldy goodies.


> So, what happened to the article? Did you get far enough long that it 
> was publishable? I do understand that is likely to be modern and not on 
> period techniques or history.


Yes, it was publishable, complete with photographs of the process.  However, when I submitted it,
it got returned with a 'been there, done that' notice attached to it, and a recommendation for
another article (blown sugar centerpiece work, which I hadn't had much practice with at the time).
 I still have the article somewhere, along with my certifications and such.  If I find it when I
move (heading out to Vegas in about 2 weeks) I'll submit it.

William de Grandfort



=====
Through teeth of sharks, the Autumn barks.....and Winter squarely bites me.


		
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