Wednesday 14 March 2012

testing prehydrolysed tapioca starch - PREJEL from AVEBE FOOD as an addition to gf flour


The wonders of LinkedIn mean that I can try using a dry powder form of my tapioca gloop.  I take 100ml of water 10gm of tapioca flour, stir together while cold, then cook, stirring constantly, to a clear gel.  I use this to add flexibility and ease of handling when making pasta and flatbreads.  It is a bit of an effort doing this each time, and I wondered if a dry version could be added to the flour, which would mean a pre-mixed flour could be made available.

I got sent a tub of this powder some time ago, but with moving house it has sat unused.  Last night I amused myself running a first test.  I made two small batches of flatbread, using 100g of my standard flour mix (40% urid, 40% tapioca, 20% cornmeal).   To one I added 10g of the PREJEL. I used this amount as I wanted to be sure to spot the effect if there was one.  I added cold water to get a firm dough (100ml for the batch with PREJEL, 70ml for the plain).  I let them rest for ten minutes and then rolled out four flatbreads.

The dough with the PREJEL felt plump and soft, and rolled without any tearing.  The plain dough took a little more care to produce a flat disc.

I cooked both on a non-stick frying pan.  It is the first time I have tried cooking flatbreads on my new induction hob, so I was not too sure of the right heat settings, but both batches were treated the same.

Both batches of flatbreads were flexible when they were first cooked. I rolled and rerolled them several times, and both retained their shape.  The plain flatbreads had a slightly leathery texture between the teeth, the PRJEL flatbreads had a slightly more adhesive feel.

As both batches were flexible I reheated one of each, to mimic a possible normal use if buying flatbread readymade.  The PREJEL flatbreads were more flexible after this, but both still retained their shape and could be rolled.  In a more extreme test I left the flatbreads out on the worktop overnight, not wrapped or covered in any way.  The next morning the plain flatbreads were stiff and could not e rolled without cracking.  The PREJEL batch could still be rolled and were soft enough to eat without difficulty.  The slit visible in the PREJEL flatbreads on the top were not cracking but the way I marked the flatbreads to be able to tell which batch had the PREJEL in.
top - PREJEL, lower - plain.  10hrs uncovered

I should have run a test comparing my tapioca gloop to this powder as well as the plain flour.  However, it is clear that the addition of some of this PREJEL gives a dough that is easier to work and a flatbread that remains flexible and easy to chew.

4 comments:

  1. Dear Lois Parker,
    As an employee of AVEBE I'm delighted to see that people actual test our starches at home. Also glad to notice that our Prejel starch gives an improvement in performance. AVEBE is world's no. 1 in potato starch and derivatives. However we also supply tapioca starch products in various applications.
    Would you mind to share what kind of Prejel you have used? Prejel is a brand name and can be a starch of different origin. Prejel stands for pregelatinized, normal starch is not soluble in water and needs to be heated. The Prejel starches are made cold water soluble.

    Kind regards
    Henk Meima
    AVEBE Commerce
    Veendam
    Netherlands

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    Replies
    1. The pack I have says 511744 PREJEL VA 70 T 40X25kg F. I may have been sent some product data, but I have moved house recently and am still woefully disorganised.
      I

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    2. Thank you for sharing this information. AVEBE does not only has potato starch and derivatives but also soluble potato protein which can be used as an alternative for gluten replacement.

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  2. Tapioca starch are in great use for the preparation of sabudana. They are used for the preparation of sweet dishes and other snacks at the same time.

    Vietnam Tapioca Starch Supplier, Tapioca Starch Manufacturers


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