What factor(s) determine what starch or flour will be used an a thickening agent?
The type used as a thickening agent depends on the particular use of the product, whether it will be frozen or canned, and on the desired cooked characteristics. For example the final appearance may be cloudy or clear and the texture may be smooth or mucilaginous. 3. How does cooling or freezing affect cooked starch mixtures? Why? On cooling, the starch granules recrystallize, forming a solid gel, a process known as retrogradation. As the mixture cools, there is a decrease in kinetic energy, which allows the amylose molecules to associate and form a 3D network. Over time, water is squeezed out of the gel as the amylose molecules pull together, and the gel network shrinks. This process is accelerated by freezing. When the starch gel thaws, water is lost as it unable to rebind to the fragile spongy mass. 4. What is the name of the process that accounts for the changes described in (3)? Retrogradation, or gel formation, accounts for the formation of the gel network. Syneresis is the term
