No need for weird ingredients to create amazing authentic gelato!
We discussed stabilizers in a previous post here and I go much more in depth on everything you need to know on our downloadable PDF here. Please read that previous post to understand why we need them and what they do.
Considering the many choices you have available, especially if you operate in Europe or Italy, you must understand what you are buying and what you put in your gelato.
I also wanted to mention the powder bases that you can normally buy as well. These bases have the highest dosage per liter and also the most ingredients: they make your life easier, but they are expensive and most of the times hide ingredients that are not really the best or needed. This is why I make my own base, as all knowledgeable chefs do.
Before we dive in, the golden rule: always, always and…you guessed it, ALWAYS ask for the spec sheet when you buy from any gelato supplier. They all have them and these spec sheets should give you all the info needed and ingredients in that specific item. A lot of times they call those ingredients “pure” but then you see they add other stuff, or you can see that they add things you should not need and so on..very important! Always do your research!
Pre-made powder gelato bases
We discussed what a gelato base is here. These are normally called Base50, Base 100, Base 200, Total base.. which signifies the amount in grams needed per liter. A total base is a full powdered, shelf stable base where you just add water. In these bases you’ll find the milk powder, the sugars, the stabilizers, aromas/flavorings, emulsifiers and other enhancers. Every company has different ones, but you are basically paying premium prices for ingredients that normally are very cheap like the sugars and to an extend the milk powder too. The most expensive ingredients are the stabilizers but they are here only in minimal amounts. You can recreate these bases from scratch, on your own paying a fraction of the price and ending up with a much better, customized product.
Stabilizers
With the term Stabilizers we define a large category which normally includes a wide variety of ingredients. Normally they are still called “Neutro” in Italian and they have a 0.5/0.6% dosage per liter. Some that have more ingredients might require a higher dosage. These along with the pure thickeners are normally the most expensive ingredient for your base. Stabilizer is a more general term that normally includes thickeners, emulsifiers, aromas/flavorings, a sugar component (to make the powder more soluble in your base) and some other enhancers. So these are simpler compared to the gelato base, but they still have ingredients that sometimes can be questionable and you don’t need.
Pure Thickeners
This is what we use, and the terms refers to the part of the stabilizers that (as the word suggests) only thickens the mix. These are the powders known as “gums” and normally are called “Neutro” as well (hence the confusion unless you read the spec sheets) and their dosage is normally 0.5% or less depending on the purity and strength of the ingredients. There are purest and strongest “Stabilizers” you can buy, but they do not have emulsifiers or any other crap in them. They still have a small sugar component (can be maltodextrin, dextrose or other) to make sure they dissolve in water faster and with no lumps. These are normally a combination of 2 pure thickeners (like guar, locust bean gum, acacia, xanthan..) and a small sugar component, that’s it. A combination of 2 gums because they normally work better together and also these gums are either plant based or completely natural ingredients (we use organic ones as well).
Here you know you are only paying for the good stuff and your gelato flavors will be free to shine!
Hopefully this was helpful & valuable amici!
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A presto amici!
Vincenzo