Starches are used to thicken foods like gravy, sauces, puddings and pies. When starches are used as a thickening agent they must be made into a slurry before using.
What Consistency Do You Want
- 1 Tbsp starch per cup of liquid will give a thin to medium consistency. As a reference a thin sauce would be similar to the consistency of salad dressing.
- 2 Tbsp per cup of liquid will give a gravy like consistency.
- 4 Tbsp per cup of liquid will give a cream pie consistency.
To make a slurry with arrowroot powder, cornstarch, and tapioca starch
- The starch and water ratio are the same. It’s a 1:1 ratio.
- Always use room temperature water, never warm or hot.
- Put the starch your using in small bowl then add water/liquid. Mix into a smooth paste. After the slurry is mixed it is ready to pour it into the hot liquid.
- The thickening happens quickly, so you need to be ready. To prevent the mixture from going lumpy, it is important to be stirring the hot mixture while pouring in the slurry. So be prepared to stir and continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil and cooks briefly.
- When you pour in the slurry the hot mixture will turn white and cloudy however as the mixture cooks it will thicken and turn opaque.
Common Starches and Which To Use
Arrowroot Powder
- Arrowroot powder also goes under the name of arrowroot flour.
- Arrowroot powder is the most neutral flavor of all the starches.
- It thickens quickly. Once mixture has thickened and cooked briefly, remove it from its heat source. Over cooked arrowroot powder will break down and go watery.
- Works well acidic liquids. (with lemon, orange and pineapple juice as an ingredient)
- Can be frozen.
Cornstarch
- Is a great thickener, if you don’t want to freeze it. Sauces made with cornstarch will turn spongy when thawed.
- Needs to come to full boil.
- Thickening power breaks down when cooking acidic fruit sauces like lemons, oranges and pineapple.
Tapioca Starch
- Known for glossy sheen in Asian cooking/stir-fry’s.
- Loses it thickening power when thickening with an acidic ingredient.
- Tapioca starch is heat stable for a long time while arrowroot powder will break down when overcooked.
- Can be frozen