[CH] Re: V6 #176 hab mash cap stability to freezing & xanthan

Cameron Begg (begg.4@osu.edu)
Thu, 27 Apr 2000 08:04:35 -0400

Hi C-H's,

As lucidly as ever, George Nelson wrote:

>  .......fairly unfazed by freeze-thaw cycles.

Who says the age of great literature is past?

>As I mentioned earlier,
>enzymes are most certainly broken free of membranes and from within vessels
>and if there are any which could degrade capsaicin they would be free to
>react.  ..................

>Of course, if I recall correctly, the Cardinal said the mash produced by
>freeze-thaw is rather potent, so it appears any degradative enzyme activity
>is rather slight in this situation.

However this touches upon another mysterious reaction. We all know 
that hot sauces generally exhibit a decrease in potency as they age. 
I have heard this glibly dismissed as "just oxidation", and while I 
accept that oxidation can still take place in a fermented sauce (most 
of the free oxygen used by the yeasts) and in a dark refrigerator, 
the enzyme hypothesis is more appealing. Another sort of built in 
self destruct mechanism. A cunning evolutionary trait to make us 
plant more and more peppers?

>Sources of xanthan gum?

Delete panic; insert calm. As ever, the generous Jim C. of MTWP&H has 
filled the breach with a sample.

-- 
---
                      Regards,               Cameron.