Increasing viscosity (personal discovery)

Recipes
#1

I’ve been mixing Huel Powder v3.0 with different “milks” (mostly vegan) and found a certain brand of almond drink that made the mix noticeably thicker. It didn’t have many ingrediencies so I managed to nail it down to E412 and/or E418 (two different stabilizers also found in a cocoanut drink) to be the cause of it.

There are surly other people who have seen this too and there is probably someone that can explain it. The curious thing is that it doesn’t work with JimmyJoy’s powder. Have anyone here seen this behaviour?

Anyways, I recommend trying it. It kinda becomes “jello like” liquid.

#2

yes I found Alpro almond milk in particular did this whereas other brands didn’t. its kind of odd and I didnt like the gelatonous texture to be honest - a little too slimy, similar effect to adding chia seeds into the blend.

If I want my shakes thicker these days I add either a few pieces of dried fruits or some chopped banana.

In reality - unless you make your own - most store bought almond milks contain lots of different thickeners and gums as well as a lot less actual almonds than you’d think.

#3

Almond milk has serious environmental issues though. Alpro uses almonds grown in Spain and various other Mediterranean countries so it’s not responsible for the ecological disasters happening in California however the accumulation of evidence is starting to indicate that the increase of wildfires in Spain et al is being exacerbated by almond growth given how thirsty the cultivation is.

Wildfires release absolute vast quantities of carbon into the atmosphere which is a Bad Thing.

Oat milk seems to be the safest bet from an environmental perspective. Whilst the direct CO2 emissions are slightly more than almond milk, it uses far less water to produce and as a result has drastically lower indirect environmental impact than almond milk.

1 Like
#4

Guar gum and gellan - seems to be plausible. Xanthan would also be an option. Maybe it is the combination with flax seed that makes the difference, Huel contains significantly more of it. And unlike Huel JJ contains inuline. The combination with inulin may damage the effect of thickening.

Here you can find an article on the combined effects of both:
https:// www. sciencedirect. com/ science/ article/abs/pii/S0260877410003626

2 Likes
#5

That’s interesting, I tried Alpro roasted almond no sugars and that did not have the same effect. It contained E410 (locust bean gum) and E418 (gellan gum).

#6

Hemp milk also, although some dislike the earthy taste. Doesn’t need herbicides and pesticides and grows where other plants don’t And both oat and hemp grow well in UK. Pea milk is another winner.

#7

Not come across hemp milk, I shall keep my eyes out for it. Given my genius memory I actually have 3x 1kg bags of peas I my freezer at the moment so I may well look into pea milk.

A lot of arguments about these things tend to result in the argument about taste. Whilst I could give a very emotive and (some people think unnecessarily) nasty comment about it I won’t.

However some of the work that has been done in introducing yeast flavourings (as predicted by Isaac Asimov who I rely for my future predictions about everything) have managed to negate many of those concerns.

Roll on yeast vats, that’s my opinion!

#8

I’ve had both unsweetened and sweetened store bought (Mighty Pea) pea milk. The Unsweetened I did not like but the sweetened has a fairly neutral taste and is fine.

#9

Much of the hemp is actually grown in Devon so not far from you.

#10

It’s funny isn’t it, but I tried it and I had to waste much of it as it is one of the worst I’ve tasted. It was overly sweet and had a really weird aftertaste. I couldn’t drink it in the, coffee, or on its own. I tried cooking with it and it overpowered that too.

I really like Sproud pea milk. I dd mention it elsewhere, and the Sproud Barista is my second favourite after Oatly Barista if I put milk into coffee.

There are lots of new ones springing up now now, it’s hard to keep up.

1 Like
#11

its the age old thing of everyones tastes buds not being the same :slight_smile:

#12

Mate, walk down market Jew street in penzance any day of the week and you’d be forgiven for thinking that hemp isn’t grown anywhere else in the world!!!

:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

#13

Mate, I live in Glastonbury. Hemp capital of the world

1 Like
#14

Exactly, which is why I started with “it’s funny…” I can’t stand any other milk apart from soya and oatly barista in tea; the latter only if there is no soya. If I want to drink a glass of plant milk I can’t stand soya, it has to be coconut or oat or rice. Rice is disgusting in tea. Cow’s milk smells off even if it’s fresh, so on the rare occasions I have been given it in error I can smell it before I taste it.

#15

The reason it smells off is because it’s milk stolen from another animal.

I mean I’m not a vegan but the entire concept of thieving milk from another creature which is intended to nourish its young just makes me :nauseated_face::open_mouth::nauseated_face::nauseated_face:

2 Likes
#16

@hunzas yes I agree with Oatly Barista being delicious and make my coffee using it rather than adding to it. I dont tend to add any milk to huel and I prefer to use a banana to make thicker. Did not like hemp milk though. :coffee::sake:

1 Like
#17

I agree with what you say about plant milk in tea. I only drink redbush tea and used alpro unsweetened soya for yonks until the new improved recipece came along and tasted horrible. I then moved on to barista oat milk and what a difference to my tea. I use unsweetened coconut milk only to take my vitamins and any medication I might need. :coffee::coconut:

#18

Age old? Or old age? :smirk:

1 Like
#19

I agree. The original alpro unsweetened was the best. The new version has a weird sort of vanilla taste. Now I like vanilla, just not that vanilla. And not in tea.

I was a late convert to Redbush, and only started drinking it a couple years ago. I’d tried it before but not liked it. Now I drink it regularly. At least a cup a day.

#20

can be used in either context