That stuff ain’t cheap!

Reader Lee comments:

I like chemicals too, and in fact have ever since the ’60s. But this Cremodan stuff: I looked on the Internets, and it’s pretty expensive: $25 for a pound! That’s a lot of tomato sorbet! Any idea of where I can get it in smaller quantities? Also, suppose I want to kill two Pollans with one recipe, and have both scary chemicals AND gross animal fat in one swell foop by making ice cream. Any guidance on how much Cremodan to use in your typical David Lebovitz recipe?

Yes, the down side of Cremodan is that it’s only available in large cans. The good news is that if you buy some it keeps pretty much forever. If you’re wondering about alternatives, reader Jeffrey writes:

There’s a much more easily accessible hydrocolloid that’s an excellent sorbet stabilizer – powdered gelatin. It binds water well, has great flavor release, and melts right at body temperature. In fact, as I understand it, Cremodan is largely gelatin-based.

In fact that’s true, however Cremodan also contains other gums and whatnot, some of which we’ll talk about later. Concerning quantities, a little bit of stabilizer goes a long way. Half a teaspoon works fine for a normal batch of sorbet, and is great for a batch of ice cream as well. However I should point out that Cuisine Tech has a separate product made specifically for ice cream, Cremodan 30.