Cooking For Engineers

[rowrowmama]

I was looking at a sorbet recipe that recommends adding a bit of vodka to keep it scoopable after it's been in the freezer for a while. I can't do alcohol since my tween and non-drinking husband will be eating it. But as I was looking around I noticed references to Polyethylene Glycol being an antifreeze, and realized that's the active ingredient in MiraLAX, which is now sold over the counter.

My tween's pediatrician has had her taking MiraLAX daily for months now. The Dr. swears it's quite safe, even for long term use, becuase it doesn't have any stimulants that would create dependencies, and it's very gentle, no side effects.

It seems like I could add a small amount of MiraLAX to the sorbet to help keep it scoopable. And a small amount added to a whole batch seems like a person wouldn't even get a clinical dose, which is 17g. But how much do you think I'd have to add to get the antifreeze effect? 1 tsp? 1 tbsp?

[Jim Cooley]

I think you need a better doctor for your "TWEEN".

Who's paying for that advice and prescription? The kid needs to eat better, with more fiber. That's all.

As a mother and "engineer", you ought to know that.

You could probably acheive stabilzation of both your kid's bowels and your sorbet by adding a gum, such as Sat Isabgol/ aka psyllium husk.

Jim

[rowrowmama]

Whoa, don't think an attack is called for. My daughter has had this problem since infancy, not a time when a lot of fiber could be consumed. When she was 1 she frequently chose cauliflower over oreos and oranges over brownies, and still eats a bunch of vegetables and whole grains every day. No "wonder" bread in our house, and very little fast food. So I'll stick to the advice of a doctor who actually knows what her diet is.

Now if you or anyone else has specific information about harmful side effects of MiraLAX, I'd be happy to evaluate that information.

I was hoping someone knowledgeable about chemistry could comment on the the antifreeze properties of Polyethylene Glycol.

[Jim Cooley]

Okay, I was rather harsh and I apologize. Sort of an interesting question, too. I suspect you'd need quite a bit volume-wise to appreciably affect the freezing point -- maybe there are other ways to "soften" the borbet?

[Michael Chu]

What are the ingredients in the sorbet recipe? Using more sugar or invert sugar will depress the freezing temperature of the sorbet but it will also make it sweeter. Alternatively (and this option isn't available to everyone), you can set your freezer temperature so ice cream and sorbet are more scoopable. I keep one of my freezers at around 5F for that purpose.

[Dilbert]

this is a starting point for "maximums"

http://www.codexalimentarius.net/gsfaonline/additives/details.html?id=270

[Thoth]

PEG is perfectly safe. It works via the same mechanism fiber laxative would work but actually, you wont suffer from the side effects you may get from fiber (i.e. gas and bloating because of the gut flora fermenting it) because PEG is biologically inert.

That said, not sure how much PEG would be needed, you'd have to determine it empirically because its a complex solution. A potential downside (besides the obvious laxative effect) is that it will adversely effect mouth feel. Because high molecular weight PEG solutions will have a slippery/slimy feel to them. Though I know guar gum often used to to stabilize sorbets/ice creams and inhibit ice crystal formation is used at 0.5% of total weight of recipe. So maybe use that as your starting point for PEG. Or you could just use guar gum (Bob's Red Mill brand is usually easily found)

Though going with Michael Chu's suggestion, in theory you could use isomalt for your sugar, it has 50% the sweetness of sucrose. So you can use twice as much and get the concomitant freezing point depression with the same overall sweetness. Oddly I can find isomalt in the Korean market in my neck of the woods.

[Jim Cooley]

[Thoth]

[counter]

In the real sorbet you have to add a little bit alcohol, or you'll obtain just a lemon ice cream...