Edible CMC has the functions of thickening, emulsification, shaping, water retention and stabilization. Adding CMC to food can reduce the production cost of food, improve the quality of food, improve the taste of food, and prolong the shelf life of food. It is an ideal food additive in the food industry. It can be widely used in various solid and liquid beverages, canned food, candy, cakes, meat products, biscuits, instant noodles, rolled noodles, quick-cooked food, quick-frozen flavored snacks, and soy milk, yogurt, peanut milk, fruit tea, juice and other foods. in production.
1. Application of CMC in ice cream.
Ice cream is a kind of frozen food processed from dairy products such as water and milk, white sugar, caramel, maltodextrin, edible oils and fats, fresh eggs, compound emulsification stabilizers, edible flavors, etc. Smooth and high nutritional value. Since water is the main ingredient in the production of ice cream, and the excessive amount of water can reduce the production cost, it will also have a certain adverse effect on the product quality, and will promote the formation of more rough ice crystals in the ice cream, thereby affecting the Taste. In the ice cream production industry, measures to solve this problem usually include the following:
(1) Increase the content of solids in ice cream production materials, usually by increasing the amount of solid raw materials such as dairy products, white sugar, maltodextrin, edible oils and fats to achieve this purpose. The addition of these solid raw materials can fill and block the formation of large ice crystals. However, excessively increasing the amount of solid raw materials will increase production costs and reduce the market competitiveness of products.
(2) Improve the production process of aging and freezing, but this requires higher equipment, which will increase the procurement cost and operating cost of the equipment.
(3) Adding a certain amount of emulsion stabilizer, this method is used to inhibit the formation of rough ice crystals, which is more economical and beneficial to the control of production costs. Emulsion stabilizer is a composite food additive, which is made up of thickening stabilizer, emulsifier, buffer and other raw materials. When used in ice cream products, it can improve the structure and taste of ice cream and reduce production costs. As a thickening stabilizer, CMC is also used in the compound production of various emulsion stabilizers. The compounding of CMC with guar gum and carrageenan can make the ice cream material obtain a higher viscosity, and can improve the emulsification ability of the protein in the material, so that the structure of the ice cream becomes delicate and soft, the taste is smooth, and the texture is thick and good. Strong bite and good resistance to melting.
The use of CMC in ice cream production can reduce the generation of large ice crystals in ice cream, enhance the anti-melting performance and delicate and smooth taste of ice cream, whiten the color of ice cream, and increase the volume of ice cream. At the same time, the use of CMC in ice cream can also reduce the amount of solid raw materials used and the production cost of ice cream.
There are usually two ways for food companies to use CMC in ice cream production: one is to purchase compound emulsion stabilizers directly from food additive manufacturers, which often contain CMC. Many small and medium-sized ice cream manufacturers generally use CMC in this way due to their weak technical research and development capabilities. Another way is that ice cream manufacturers buy back thickening stabilizers, emulsifiers and buffers from outside, and then use their own technical strength to compound them. Some large-scale ice cream production enterprises, due to the large number of high-quality technical personnel and their own strong research and development capabilities, use their own methods of compounding emulsification stabilizers to produce ice cream.
Commonly used thickening stabilizers are CMC, guar gum, carrageenan, gum arabic, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, pectin, etc.; commonly used emulsifiers are molecularly distilled monoglycerides, sucrose esters, Tween, discs, polyglycerol esters, etc.