Cornaby's E-Z Gel Instant Food Thickener, Gluten-Free, 16 oz

I just started using this recently and still getting the hang of all that it can do. I've been getting more acquainted with pectin gelatin corn starch and now this. This is by far the easiest and most versatile. I am still getting used to what quantities are needed for what items. It does seem to vary a little bit depending on what you're adding to it whether it's acid alkaline or has a water base or oil in it. I actually used it recently to make vinegar free mustard because I am allergic to yeast.... It came out really amazing and was the first time I've had mustard in about 20 years. I also made a dairy free butter. It needs to be Next with liquid type medium before it can be added to whatever it is. The vegan butter turned out divine and I literally ate it out of the jar. I made it with refined coconut oil And honey. I'm mixed the easy gel with distilled water and then I added the honey and then mixed in the coconut oil. I mixed it with powder sugar and added it to my cream cheese frosting and I was able pipe it!!!! The longer it sat in the final mixed product the stiffer it got. That is the picture I have included. Anyone who knows cream cheese frosting knows you cannot pipe decorate with it. And making cherry pie filling was unbelievably good. I use tart cherry Juice and frozen organic cherries from Costco put them in a saucepan cooked until they softened out of the easy Gel and it never even got to the pie... It was so good it was like the best cherry gem that ever existed. I just read all of the reviews to get more ideas and I will be tinkering it to Making sweets such as fudge and icing and will explore how it works for putting custards and making lemon curd type items. I will add it to coconut milk to see how it affects the ability to make truffles. I like that I get great results from this fairly easily while being able to manipulate ingredians by lowering sugars or not adding sugar at all as replacing dairy with coconut milk or other liquids. It's pretty amazing stuff and if you like tinkering in the kitchen and are not scared of what the outcomes might be then you definitely have to get some of this stuff. If you are a die hard person and only ever do anything in the kitchen with a recipe you probably won't like this stuff because you have to be inflow and not scared and paying attention to outcomes and knowing enough to know how to start over salvage or manipulate something so there is no food waste.

VERY EFFECTIVE THICKENER TO MAINTAIN SAUCE INTEGRITY

This review is for Cornaby's E-Z Gel Instant Food Thickener, 16oz. I came across this randomly and wondered how well it would work. I wish I'd discovered it sooner. It thickens cold or hot liquids easily, doesn't impart any weird flavors, and from what I can see has fewer net carbs than thickeners like cornstarch (good if you have diabetes or are on a diet). I use it to make fat-free salad dressings and to thicken up soups with fewer calories than roux or cornstarch. Basically any liquid can be thickened to get the mouth-feel and viscosity you want. Just make sure you whisk it in while slowly adding it. The first time I used it I just dumped some in and, like all thickeners, it gels on the outside and you have the raw thickener inside this "gel shell". I found that if I slowly sprinkle in a few pinches in about 1/2 of flavored liquid you'll get a nice salad dressing consistency (without the oil!). If you added more it's more like a thicker gravy or stew consistency. And if you add even more, you'll eventually get to the instant pudding stage (recipe on bag). A little goes a long way making the 16oz bag quite large so I'm sure I'll be using it for a while.

When using this in recipes that specify Instant Clearjel (brand) I've needed to use 1+1/2 x to almost 2 x as much. With that adjustment it works fine, thickens without heat and doesn't add any strange flavors to the food. If you try to eat it right away it's sometimes a little grainy and thin; it needs to sit for a few minutes, preferably cold, to turn into a smooth & thick gel.

Bought this brand particularly because it is a “modified” cornstarch that is only modified using natural enzymes and mechanical pounding. I’m chasing a texture for my ailing cat that will be similar to that found in Gerber or Beech Nut baby food - haven’t done the cooking work yet but I’m reasonably confident it will work as planned. Apparently this modified cornstarch is also capable of making that really gelled pie filling that is a hallmark of some of the commercial pies that have great texture but a lot of other nasty ingredients. Those pies use a “chemical” process to “modify” their cornstarch and like the rest of the nasty, artificial ingredients are used more for their cheapness than for their wholesomeness. From my understanding it’s this superior gelling ability gained from a multi-step modification process that causes this stuff to be so much more expensive than regular ‘ole cornstarch. I’ll be testing regular and this modified cornstarch side by side when I start the food making process and will update this as to whether it’s worth the added expense.

I was looking for a product to improve my home made yogurt, which I make with a small amount of powdered dry milk added per gallon of skim milk, aiming for a low-calorie final product. My yogurt wasn’t bad, but varied in smoothness, sometimes lumpy and sometimes too thin. I tried to use pectin as a thickener once and had such poor results I don’t want to try it again. I used E-Z Gel as the only change in my recipe, using one tablespoon of Gel per half gallon and 1-1/2 tablespoon of Gel in the remaining half gallon of skim milk. The result (for both quantities of Gel added) I think rivaled the quality of any brand of commercial yogurt I have purchased at supermarkets: Perfectly smooth (just about the texture of soft ice cream), no lumps, and no added undesirable taste/flavor that I could notice. Extremely easy to use. I see no reason to add more than 1 tablespoon per half gallon of skim milk; perhaps less could be used. I plan when making my next batch to omit from my recipe the addition of powdered dry milk— hope to produce an even lower-calorie result. I have not used this product for any other purpose. For this one purpose I find it completely satisfactory and economical. Highly recommended.

This works if done correctly. Make a slurry with room temperature water FIRST, then add to your completed bubbling food in the stove pot, simmer or low boil 1 minute and turn off your heat to can mixture of whatever... canned fruits or hot and spicy Thai Garlic Pepper Sauce, etc. The stuff thickens as it cools. But while canning most people want to put hot mixture into sterilized jars, pop on lids with rings and into hot water bath to can process. So then the thickening will be better seen after cans have been removed from hot water bath water and cooled on counter. I might suggest you go a bit heavier on the amount recommended on package as having a bit thicker sauce is always more preferable to too thin. You can always thin out a thicker sauce but you cannot make a too thin sauce thicker...as it is too late for that. This Slurry pre-mixing is the same idea behind adding Cornstarch or Flour to sauces, gravies, etc. as you don't want Dough Balls of unmixed product ruining your efforts. Though all of us have had to pull out a hand blender stick to mix a gravy gone wrong when you did not take to time to pre-mix a slurry of water to Cornstarch or Flour BEFORE adding to your food. This direction needs to be added to the directions as an ALTERNATE idea for incorporation--as it has met with success when utilized and from comments here on... could have been avoided with the Slurry Method. (Directions on bag probably written by a man that NEVER sees a kitchen except to come sit at the table to eat...LOL) I like to use in Turkey Gravy or Ham Sauce for holidays. Favorite Ham Sauce is: 1 jar of Orange Marmalade, 1-2 Tblsp. of Dijon or Horseradish Mustard, 2-3 Tblsp. of Frozen Orange Juice concentrate, add pre-made slurry of 1-2 Tblsp. Cornaby's to 1/3 cup water. Good Luck canners, bakers, or budding chefs of all ages!

Clumps up too much While I find this product does thicken well, however for whipped cream, it doesn’t dissolve well and is too clumpy and hard to break up once clumped. I don’t know if I’ll buy this again.

Great product works better than other thickeners.

I used this to make freezer strawberry jam with very little sugar. It worked great.

Parfait,très utile pour faire des préparations d’avance…

I was looking to stabilize whipping cream, this worked great. I chose it because it was labeled gluten free.