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Can Agave Nectar Be Crystallized?

 
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Phrazemaster



Joined: 07 Jun 2007
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:18 am    Post subject: Can Agave Nectar Be Crystallized? Reply with quote
Hello everyone,

I'm attempting to make some home made chocolate, and I want to use agave nectar as the sweetener for a variety of reasons. However, as some of you may know, if you use a water-based sweetener (or ANYTHING with water in it) in your chocolate recipe, it ruins it. So I need a sweetener that is completely dry. I have considered alternatives and may have to cave to use Sucanat, or something else, but for the moment I thought I would ask you guys what you thought.

Is it possible to dehydrate/crystallize agave nectar into a dry form for chocolate making? For the record, I've had some in my dehydrator for a couple of days now and it doesnt' even look like the level is lowering (I have some on a couple of big plates). And by the way they say that agave nectar is hydroscopic, which I assume means attracts/holds water.

Thanks for any thoughts,

Mike Cool
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EngineeringProfessor



Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:26 am    Post subject: Re: Can Agave Nectar Be Crystallized? Reply with quote
Phrazemaster wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm attempting to make some home made chocolate, and I want to use agave nectar as the sweetener for a variety of reasons. However, as some of you may know, if you use a water-based sweetener (or ANYTHING with water in it) in your chocolate recipe, it ruins it. So I need a sweetener that is completely dry. I have considered alternatives and may have to cave to use Sucanat, or something else, but for the moment I thought I would ask you guys what you thought.

Is it possible to dehydrate/crystallize agave nectar into a dry form for chocolate making? For the record, I've had some in my dehydrator for a couple of days now and it doesnt' even look like the level is lowering (I have some on a couple of big plates). And by the way they say that agave nectar is hydroscopic, which I assume means attracts/holds water.

Thanks for any thoughts,

Mike Cool


Being a fruit, isn't the sugar in the agave nectar just fructose? That said, it sounds like what you want is the agave essence (flavoring, medicinal, spiritual?). If it is not dehydrating, it may mean that there is no water in it--not all liquids are aqueous you know. Also, there are other ways to dehydrate. Try mixing some ethanol into the nectar, then evaporate the ethanol--that should pull out any H2O.
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Phrazemaster



Joined: 07 Jun 2007
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:48 am    Post subject: Ethanol? Reply with quote
Hi, thanks for the thoughtful reply. Yes, I like the flavor and natural aspects of the agave nectar. I have had a couple plates in my dehydrator now for about 3 days, and it is s l o w l y dehydrating. This would not be a viable methodology for me, even if it works.

Tell me about ethanol. All I know about it is that it is derived from corn and don't they add it to gasoline? Is this safe in a food product? I assume you will tell me it will evaporate, but even so, is it safe to be around a food?

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts.

Mike
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EngineeringProfessor



Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:28 am    Post subject: Re: Ethanol? Reply with quote
Phrazemaster wrote:
Hi, thanks for the thoughtful reply. Yes, I like the flavor and natural aspects of the agave nectar. I have had a couple plates in my dehydrator now for about 3 days, and it is s l o w l y dehydrating. This would not be a viable methodology for me, even if it works.

Tell me about ethanol. All I know about it is that it is derived from corn and don't they add it to gasoline? Is this safe in a food product? I assume you will tell me it will evaporate, but even so, is it safe to be around a food?

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts.

Mike


Another way to dehydrate it is to simply boil it down to the crystalline form. This is how they make maple sugar and other forms of crystaline sugar.

I did some research on this and discovered that Agave Nectar is the latest sweetner du jour with the natural sugars crowd. Here's a clip:

...............
Agave Nectar, also called Agave Syrup, is a relatively new sweetener, developed in the 1990s. It is naturally "tapped" like maple syrup. It comes from the Agave cactus, native to Mexico, and best known for its use in making tequila. It is similar in consistency to honey but pours more easily. It dissolves nicely in liquid. It is 10% glucose and 90% fructose, but this is fructose in it's natural form (unlike high fructose corn syrup).
................

I could find no "crystalline agave sugar" and it does look like it is more of a honey alternative. You may be quite pressed to get it to a crystal form. It could wind up tasting like tequila flavored honey--not really a bad thought, uses abound. Ethanol, by the way, is the alcohol people drink in liquor (like tequila). Since you didn't know what is is, I suggest you steer clear of it. My original suggestion was so that you could get the agave essence out of the syrup. It sounds like slow dehydration may be your best approach.
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Phrazemaster



Joined: 07 Jun 2007
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:08 am    Post subject: Thank-you! Reply with quote
I appreciate your insights!!
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adogfrescatarian
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:15 pm    Post subject: agave syrup in chocolate Reply with quote
the truth is this. agave CAN be used in chocolate. i am a pastry chef, and i have figured out, through your same trial of questions. that agave will hold the sugar in suspension well enough that you CAN make choclate that will temper and set perfectly hard. its all about the ratio. i make my own raw chocolate from scratch usuing raw agave, raw cacao butter, and raw cacao powder. thats it then i temper it and mold it. i use approx 1 pound butter to 2/3 pound powder and about 1 cup agave.
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meme
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:43 am    Post subject: Evaporation Reply with quote
Dehydration with heat vs evoporation with cooling ..... like bees.
Fan it. Shock
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