To summarise your findings, consider the following:What do you see on the surface of each gel?
How far has the gel spread?
Compare the viscosity of the defrosted gels with the viscosity from the gels in Investigation 1. Are there any changes?
When making sauce using wheat flour both chilling and freezing can cause the gel to “weep”. What happens is that the liquid leeches out from the gel, causing the gel to become less stable. This is known as retrogradation. How do you think caterers and food manufacturers would apply this knowledge when making dishes and products that are to be frozen before serving?
Extension Task
Find out if there are any recommended ingredients that caterers and manufacturers may use when making a product that uses starch and the finished product is to be frozen.Hint: research the ingredient: modified starch.
Expand this Investigation with other flours – such as potato or rice.
What other flours can you think of?
Which starches perform least well after freezing?
How will this affect the eating qualities of the finished dish?
