snowbigman Posted May 19 Share Posted May 19 Hey. Was wondering if dextrin could be made just by baking corn starch in the oven or any other action after that is needed. I read that dextrin could be also made by electrolysis. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted May 19 Share Posted May 19 First, Dextrin is a safe food ingredient, it's vegan so likely also Halal. SO it should be retail available from shops that supply bakery ingredients. If you find a place that will sell it by the kilo for the bakery industry, that's going to be the cheapest source. It can be made by gently roasting cornflour simply on a dry tray in an oven til it goes JUST golden brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbigman Posted May 19 Author Share Posted May 19 2 hours ago, Arthur said: First, Dextrin is a safe food ingredient, it's vegan so likely also Halal. SO it should be retail available from shops that supply bakery ingredients. If you find a place that will sell it by the kilo for the bakery industry, that's going to be the cheapest source. It can be made by gently roasting cornflour simply on a dry tray in an oven til it goes JUST golden brown. No, I didn't find any shop near me that sells dextrin. Do I just put it in the oven till golden brown or do I also need to affect it with some kind of acid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 Homemade dextrin works, but the commercial stuff is substantially better in my experience. I've never experimented with acid catalysis, but there is a lot of literature about it if you dig into it. To make it at home, spread it out in a thin layer on a baking pan, and roast it for a few hours. You'll find a lot of temperature recommendations around the internet, but I've always preferred to stay on the lower side, around 325F for a few hours, stirring and turning it every 20-30 minutes. You can always bump it up toward the end if you want. Burnt dextrin is not an odor you really want to experience, so I trend on the lower side. You're looking for a pale yellow to gold color. It's not the easiest thing to determine when it's done. Most people just kind of wing it by color. This is one of the few times I'd ever recommend this, but I typically judged completion by taste/texture. As it roasts it will lose it's starchy flavor and texture, and become sort of sticky and slightly sweet. The other way to describe is by it's wet consistency. I'd wet my fingers and get a little bit on them and turn it into a paste. When you pull your fingers apart it will just be kind of a wet paste without much adhesion when it's still starchy, but it will become more of a sticky goo and be kind of stringy when pulling your fingers apart. It can also be judged when it's done by an iodine test. Iodine turns different colors in the presence of starch vs. dextrin. Also, I feel I should point out one final thing. Some people seem much more sensitive to the odor of cooking dextrin than others. To me, it smells faintly of cooking bread. I've heard others describe a horrendous odor, and claimed it burned their eyes. There may be other factors like cooking temp, or if they were using a convection oven or something, but I just wanted to put it out there. If you're going to try to make your own, let's hope you're not part of the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 1 hour ago, Mumbles said: This is one of the few times I'd ever recommend this, but I typically judged completion by taste/texture. As it roasts it will lose it's starchy flavor and texture, and become sort of sticky and slightly sweet. oddly enough, it’s how a light roux is judged, like for biscuits and gravy. 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMat Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 (edited) I made it once and it worked fine. I did pretty much what Mumbles described. After it started to change color, I started tasting it occasionally until I got a slightly sweet taste. It took about 2-1/2 hours. That was the first and last time I made it! It is cheap enough to buy that it isn't worth the effort. Edited May 20 by MadMat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMat Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 2 hours ago, Richtee said: oddly enough, it’s how a light roux is judged, like for biscuits and gravy. 😄 I only make dark, chocolate-type roux. Can't make gumbo without it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted May 20 Share Posted May 20 (edited) 2 hours ago, MadMat said: I only make dark, chocolate-type roux. Can't make gumbo without it! Truth, sho’ ‘nuff. At that point there’s a bit of bitter involved, resolved by the other ingredients. I love gumbo and Étouffée Edited May 20 by Richtee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts