Where can I find "Molecular Gastronomy Chemicals?"

**Revvy** · 08-09-2011, 07:33 PM

I wanna play around with beer and science for cooking, like making stout beer "caviar" and serving them over icecream. But in order to do it I need Calcium Aginate and Calcium Carbonate.

I can't seem to find any sites via google where I can order stuff like that, and some of the other stuff I see folks like Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adria, José Andrés and Thomas Keller use.

But in smaller, not so expensive quantities. I mean I want to spend a few bucks for a couple ounces rather than a couple hundred for a couple pounds.

Any of you chefs or enthusiasts know any sources? Is some of this starting to appear in cooking/chef's supply shops these days, or is it all still special order?

**the_bird** · 08-09-2011, 07:36 PM

If you're just getting started, you could always start with a kit like this...

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/kitchen/e71f/

Quote:

There is a new breed of chef that make meals in the most unexpected ways. Imagine spaghetti made out of tomato soup! Fruit-juice caviar! Floating clouds of creamy flavor that taste like preserved lemon! Cooking has gone from the everyday drudgery of boiling, straining, chopping, and roasting to spherification, gelification, and emulsification!

I know, mere text can't truthfully explain how awesome this is - and since the ThinkGeek Taste-o-Web 5000 hasn't been invented yet, you'll just have to check out these photos of amazing foods made using this kit. This stuff is incredible to see, smell, and taste! Plus, it's easier than you think. If you've ever wanted to get started making cool stuff using techniques you've seen on TV, but didn't know where to start, here's the kit for you!

You've got fifty individually portioned-out sachets of thickeners, emulsifiers, and binders that, when mixed with your ingredients and shaped using the included tools, can make extruded spaghetti-like strands of arugula, glistening pearls of balsamic vinegar, or stratified towers of jellies, cremes and foams. Delicious.

People may think that, even with the right equipment and ingredients, it's hard to make this stuff. With the free DVD included in each package, you've got fifty video demonstrations of recipes that walk you through everything you need. Truly, it could only be easier if the kit included a semi-sentient robot monkey programmed Matrix-style with culinary skills.

So get your cooking on! It's never been easier to try something new!

This kit includes:

5 sets of food-additives:
Agar-agar - 10 sachets of 20g each
Calcium Lactate - 10 sachets of 20g each
Sodium Alginate - 10 sachets of 20g each
Soy Lecithin - 10 sachets of 20g each
Xanthan Gum - 10 sachets of 10g each
1 set of tools:
1 syringe
5 pipettes
3 lengths of 18" silicone tubing
1 slotted spoon
1 set of measuring spoons
1 DVD with 50 recipe demonstrations included

**Revvy** · 08-09-2011, 07:37 PM

Oh cool!!!! That's really what I'm looking for. Awesome!!!

**thataintchicken** · 08-09-2011, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revvy

I wanna play around with beer and science for cooking, like making stout beer "caviar" and serving them over icecream. But in order to do it I need Calcium Aginate and Calcium Carbonate.

I can't seem to find any sites via google where I can order stuff like that,

Think geek is too expensive try this instead http://www.molecule-r.com/0-13-promotion-products-cuisine-r-evolution.html

here is a link to some others.

**weirdboy** · 08-09-2011, 09:15 PM

Wow that is pretty pricey.

You could buy the individual ingredients in bulk for about the same price, and end up with a side business selling molecular gastronomy kits to other suckers.

**knotquiteawake** · 08-09-2011, 09:19 PM

Whoa Revvy, cool idea. Subscribed for results hopefully!

**Yuri_Rage** · 08-09-2011, 09:54 PM

$30 on Amazon will net you a pound of sodium alginate. Several vendors offer other chemicals available by the pound there.

**Revvy** · 08-10-2011, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yuri_Rage

$30 on Amazon will net you a pound of sodium alginate. Several vendors offer other chemicals available by the pound there.

Thanks Yuri, I never thought to look on amazon. I figured this stuff was like a specialty item that wasn't easy to get.

**Yuri_Rage** · 08-10-2011, 01:31 AM

I never thought to look there, either, but it turned up under some Google results. I, too, placed an order. The possibilities fascinate me.