FoodieCuisine.com

By Todd Barron @ FoodieCuisine.com

NOW Foods Xantham Gum

Have you ever had a low-fat salad dressing and wondered why it was so thick?  In most cooking recipes, flour, corn starch, or butter, are used as a thickening agent.  The problem is these items all have a lot of calories (and the butter has fat.) 

So, how do they do it in low-fat or low-calorie food?  The trick often can be found in Xantham Gum.  You may have never heard of it, but it’s a common powder used in cooking and baking.  It thickens anything you add it to and has only 5 calories for every half teaspoon.  The best part is that it doesn’t require much to thicken sauces.

Another nice feature of Xantham Gum is that it becomes less thick as it’s agitated.  Have you ever noticed that you can squeeze salad dressing or ketchup out of a bottle better if you shake the bottle first?  You can thank Xantham Gum for this as it becomes less thick when agitated (or shaken.)  It thickens back to it’s resting state when left alone for a few seconds as well.  This is what allows it to thin when shaken, be squeezed out, and thicken back once at rest on your food.  Cool huh?

I bought a pack of 4 from Amazon for $27 and it has lasted me for two years (and will continue to last me over the next two years probably.)  The manufacturer of the brand I choose, NOW Foods, describes the product as follows: “Xanthan Gum is a soluble fiber produced from the pure culture fermentation of the microorganism Xanthomonas campestris.  It is used in the food processing industry as a thickener, stabilizer and emulsifier for a number of different foods.”

I’ve used it in a variety of sauces and as a substitute for fat when I’m cooking low-fat meals.  It’s worked great so far and is something I recommend you give a try in your cooking adventures.