So I am still all a bit confused and sceptical about 'dry shaking' or the shaking of egg based drinks without ice first in order to facilitate greater emulsification.
Bartenders have been using eggs since the earliest days of bartendign and yet i have not knowingly seen this advice or direction before and yet bartenders now swear by it.
is it just me or is it like bartenders 'spanking' their mint before using it... sounds okay but is it really just an over complication for over complications sake? Is the the Molecular Mixology legacy?
cheers
aw
Not being a scientist I can't speak with authority on the issue, but what has been said is that the emulsification of the protiens in the eggs don't work as well when cold, so to get to the root of the matter it would be necessary to get the scientific evidence/rational behind that to a) see if it is in fact the truth and b) if it makes "enough" difference. Where's Alton Brown when you need him! :->
As for the slapping of the mint, this sounds quite reasonable to me, and is easier to show evidence of. By slapping the mint you break some of the cells, which releases additional aroma. So slapping a mint before adding it as a garnish will add more of a minty aroma than not. Assuming of course more minty aroma helps rather than hurts the overall impact of the drink. I would think that sometimes an unmolested mint leaf might add "just the right amount".
Just by experiential evidence, I do not think that there's much doubt that the dry-shake with eggs - generally speaking - is the better way to go. That said, most bartenders do not dry-shake, and I get great flip when I order it fairly often even when there's ice involved.
But, like everything else, if there's the best way to do it, should we not use the best way? Have a standard of some kind?
Liberty Bar :: Seattle, WA :: Alcohology
My question is I guess why are we only just finding this out now?
Or is there historical precedent for this? Do any old time books refer to dry shaking at all?
Well why didn't you say so in the first place! :->
I've never heard of dry shaking from a historical standpoint. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason for this is because bartenders hadn't really been thinking "scientifically" before. Just remember that for ages chefs have been claiming that searing a steak seals in the juices (many still do), which it wasn't until they started to actually look at it scientifically that they realized this isn't so.
For me, this is what molecular gastronomy/mixology is all about. Digging into the "science" behind the art, and from that understanding learn better ways to do things.
Guys I am no expert, but I have been using the Dry-shake method for awhile now. It works well for me. But I can still get a great foam on my egg based drinks depending on what ice I use, machine based thin ice just dosn't stand up to a long hard shake.
I have watched bartenders using the "hard shake method" And I mean the real hard shake not the semi hard shake. With great effect! I don't know about everyone but I think bartenders are starting to question there methodolgy and there reasons and look more deeply at the "how and "why". Just because there is no historical background doesn't mean that it isn't palusable concept.
Maybe someone could desgin a copper shaker, as copper is supposed to react with egg white. Plus you know us bartenders AW, we always catching on to trends. What I would like to know is where this trend orginated.
Hayds
Dam ispell cant get it to work!!!!
http://thepoetryofbartending.blogspot.com/- check it out :)
Normal 0
As an amateur, I've always thought the Dry Shake had more to do with over-diluting the drink than the emulsification properties of proteins in cold environments. From my, admittedly limited, experience I've found that I tend to shake harder and/or longer when I'm using eggs (whites, yolks or whole) in a drink, in order to get that decent layer of foam, as opposed to when there's no eggs involved.
My thinking was always along the lines of: "If I'm shaking harder and/or longer, then I'm bashing the ice around more and so more of it will chip off and melt, thus giving me more water in my drink".
If you Dry Shake though, you emulsify the proteins and create your foam beforehand, allowing you to shake your normal amount of time/strength and add a similar amount of water to the drink as you would with any other. Of course I could be entirely wrong, and it doesn't really answer whether or not the Dry Shake is an historical practice, but that's the angle I've always come at it from.
I'll tell you what is catching on here in SF is the use of the electric "milk frother". It is used before you add ice to the drink in the mixing glass, and does a quick and quiet job of whipping the egg white into a nice froth. Then the bartender can continue with the drink as normal. No fuss, no muss... and no ridiculous "hard" shaking or whatever other convulsive techniques seem to be in vogue. Check it out:
BTW, even if the slapping of the mint is actually effective, I can't bring myself to accept it. It just seems way too pretentious to me. Like some kind of hyperbolic showmanship. Tearing a mint leaf or two produces the same kind of effect, and looks a little less silly.
Right...
When shaking cocktails with ice, to my mind, in terms of the cocktail, you accomplish three things at once. 1) dilution 2) agitation 3) chilling.
Theoretically, you could accomplish all three of these in separate steps and end up with a decent cocktail.
Have all your ingredients (including water) chilled to just above freezing. Put them into a tin. Whir with a stick blender. Pour into glass.
But that really doesn't sound like much fun to me.
More like a lab assistant than a bartender.
Though at the busy Peruvian restaurants in town, that is more or less exactly how they make pisco sours.
Haven't quite decided where I come down on dry shaking. A few places in town do it. Especially those that use a spring in the tin seem to get consistently excellent results.
I like the idea of the milk frother, but am opposed to having something around the kitchen that only does one thing. Especially when I can get about the same results most of the time by dry shaking with a spring.
In regards mint, you're on the right track Robert. From what I remember of college Botany, the scent glands of most plants are on the surface of the leaves. There are hairs associated with these glands, which when brushed cause the oils to be released. And, sure, there's a bit of showmanship in "spanking the mint". The clap attracts attention and gives an audible clue that you're done with the cocktail. Calling spanking the mint, "hyperbolic shomanship" or "pretension" is a little much, though. It's not exactly bottle juggling or pouring burning whiskey between two mugs.
okay, i'll give you the "hyperbolic showmanship" (and withdraw if forthrightly) if you'll allow me the "pretentious" - since that is my humble opinion.
as for the physiology of the mint leaf, this explains it pretty thoroughly: http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/feb252003/544.pdf (a little too thoroughly actually). but it seems that "The essential oil glandular trichomes in menthol mint leaf were noted to exist as epidermal structures." so perhaps this spanking has its merits.
I would have to agree with Hayds on this one, I have been "dry shaking" eggwhites long before I heard the term being used. For the simple reason that I dont like diluting the drink too much, as is the case when you shake a fizz for too long, and I enjoy it even less with stringy egg white in it ,I shake it dry beforehand and then shake it with crushed ice after. I also add the coil from my hawthorn but I wouldnt swear that this makes a considerable difference. Wondrich mentions in Imbibe that they used to shake a Ramos fizz for up to fifteen minutes each and had special "shaker boys" employed to do this job. I dont know, Robert perhaps you could enlighten me, but do you think it is too diluted when made in these traditional ways?
One needs only to pick up McGee's On Food and Cooking to understand eggs better. As for the tool that Alex shows above, I've been using a similar one for the last 4 years now: the only difference is that mine has a "hard" or solid blade as opposed to the spiral "blade". I found that the hard blade gets the job done more efficiently.
And I agree with Robert, this "revelation" is one of the good things to come out of molecular mixology.
Stop staring at my Harry Johnson!
I was chatting over email with a friend about a Savoy cocktail I made recently...
---
Mountain CocktailThe White of 1 Egg.1/6 Lemon Juice. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Lemon Juice) 1/6 French vermouth. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth)1/6 Italian Vermouth. (1/2 of 3/4 oz Punt e Mes)1/2 Canadian Club Whisky. (Generous 1 oz Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey)(Dry shake ingredients with spring or blender ball for a half minute or so. Add ice and...) Shake well and strain into medium-size glass.
...and used the dry shake method. He asked me a very good question.
"Hey are you dry shaking all sour style drinks with egg-white?"
I had to admit that I was dry shaking all of my sour style drinks with egg whites, but it hadn't really occurred to me to think about when I should or should not be dry shaking.
We've got this new "revelation" from food science (I hate the term "molecular").
When is it appropriate to deploy it?
I agree with the majority here on dry-shaking and indeed as other have stated, this is one of the good things the 'questioning aspect' of MM/Food & Bev Science has brought about. The addition of tossing a spring from a spare Hawthorne strainer in for the dry-shake does indeed work wonders, probably quite comprable to those blender balls you had mentioned a while ago Erik.
As for when it is in/appropriate - not sure that it's ever not appropriate when dealing with drinks containing Egg (even Cream). I'd even found a use for the method in a cocktail or three containing neither, but rather with fresh herbs whose flavors I wished to add to the drink. As I was intending to build these and therefore required no shaking for chill & dilution, only agitation, dry-shaking was perfect and resulted in a much better flavor than simply stirring the ingredients...
Ok, Im not much of a research junkie, but I do have my small break thru's. Ok the first mention of dry shaking that I have found and by complete accident is in Bottoms Up, by Ted Sauciers.. Man I love the pictures!!! Anyways page 126 - Hotel Georgia which contains egg white "Shake well before adding ice.This gives a nice "top".Then add ice to chill, and serve in a cocktail glass."! Ok so the boys were dry shaking in Canada in the 1950's. So Dry- shaking has been around for a long time really. Someone has just picked up on a forgotten technique! And this technique has been re-established by bartenders that are looking more deeply into classic cocktails and there culture.
Doesn't this also pre date Hurve and Mcgee? Man eggs are amazing.....
3.1.12 Use of eggs in cooking: how to make mousses When egg whites are whisked, air bubbles are introduced. Normally, when air bubbles are introduced into water, they do not remain stably incorporated and tend to rise and escape due to their lower density. However, egg whites, which contain mainly water, can be whisked to produce a stable mousse. This is due to the proteins that they contain, which are denatured on whisking, exposing their hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts. In a similar way that they can stabilise fat water mixtures, the hydrophobic groups on the denatured egg proteins, which do not like to interact with the surrounding water molecules, will place themselves in contact with the air bubbles, surrounding them, leaving their remaining hydrophilic parts to contact the water. Gradually a network of these denatured proteins is formed around the air bubbles, and acts to keep the bubbles stably incorporated in the mixture. Not all the proteins present in egg whites will denature on whisking. The ovalbumine proteins, which make up the majority of the proteins in egg whites, are not denatured by vigorous beating and will only denature under high heat. Most proteins can however make foams. Interestingly, gelatin, when it is denatured, can also be used to stabilize mousses. If sufficient gelatin is added to a water based liquid, the liquid can form a stable mousse on whipping because, like denatured egg white proteins, the hydrophobic parts of the denatured proteins will surround the air bubbles, while their hydrophilic parts stay in contact with the surrounding water, keeping the bubbles stably incorporated in the liquid. Such knowledge can be used to form a mousse from any non-protein containing liquid, by simply adding gelatin. And finally one should know that the minimum proportion of water to make foam is 5% of the foam. The quantity of proteins is very low (some milligrams). More precisely, with enough water, one egg white could make about one cubic meter of foam (the maximum ever done practically was 15 liters. Who is going to beat the record? The stability of a mousse can be increased in the following ways: 1. The mixture should be whisked for a long time. As the mixture is whisked more and more, the beating action breaks up the air bubbles into smaller bubbles. This further stabilises the mousse, since it means that the forces of surfaces are stronger and stronger; think of the meniscus at the surface of a glass of water, you see that near the surface of the glass, the water goes up; it’s 36 / 119 because of forces between water molecules and the glass; the nearer to the surface, the stronger the forces; in a foam, the smaller the bubbles, the nearer to the surface of a bubble, and the stronger the surfaces forces. 2. Mind whisking in a machine, as this may cause over-whisking. Overwhisking causes the proteins to denature and form a network too quickly, before sufficient air has been introduced. 3. Increasing the viscosity of the liquid phase helps increase stability of a mousse – a bubble introduced into in a viscous liquid will have more difficulty rising than in pure water, because it will be harder for it to move through the liquid. 4. It is often recommended that egg whites should be whipped in copper bowls with copper utensils. Copper forms very tight networks with reactive sulphur atoms exposed on denatured proteins, preventing these sulphur atoms from forming the disulphide bridges with other denatured protein molecules. This reduces the strength of the resulting protein network, which allows more air bubbles to be included. However, copper is expensive and a nuisance to clean, so is not always practical… and the effect is not very important. 5. The addition of acid improves theoretically mousse formation because it speeds up the denaturation of the egg white proteins by breaking their weak intra-molecular forces that keep them folded. This means the proteins can form the air-stabilising network more readily. However, again, the effect is not important, and even sometimes undetectable. 6. The presence of fat in the liquid to be mousse should be avoided. The lipids present in fat sources will tend to bind to the hydrophobic parts of the protein as it is denatured, reducing the number of available hydrophobic groups that can surround and support the air bubbles. However, once a stable mousse has been formed, the fat source may be added (and often is when preparing cakes or souffles). Egg whites are whisked in the absence of egg yolks or else the hydrophobic parts of the lecithin molecules will tend to link to the hydrophobic groups of the denatured egg proteins, preventing these groups from forming the network stabilising the air bubbles. 7. Sugar is often added to egg whites to make meringues. Sugar tends to destabilise the formation of the denatured protein network, so should be added after the egg whites have been whisked. As well as generally “diluting” the numbers of proteins, the sugar molecules themselves surround the protein molecules, preventing them from binding with each other so easily. This especially pronounced with icing sugar, where sugar particles are even smaller, so are able to surround the protein molecules even more tightly. Sugar also increases the viscosity of the liquid part of foams, limiting the “creaming” of air bubbles. Ok so that is what I think Jamie was talking about? I have more info on eggs if anyone wants it just pm ok guys. hayds
3.1.12 Use of eggs in cooking: how to make mousses
When egg whites are whisked, air bubbles are introduced. Normally, when air bubbles are introduced into
water, they do not remain stably incorporated and tend to rise and escape due to their lower density.
However, egg whites, which contain mainly water, can be whisked to produce a stable mousse. This is
due to the proteins that they contain, which are denatured on whisking, exposing their hydrophilic and
hydrophobic parts. In a similar way that they can stabilise fat water mixtures, the hydrophobic groups on
the denatured egg proteins, which do not like to interact with the surrounding water molecules, will place
themselves in contact with the air bubbles, surrounding them, leaving their remaining hydrophilic parts to
contact the water. Gradually a network of these denatured proteins is formed around the air bubbles, and
acts to keep the bubbles stably incorporated in the mixture. Not all the proteins present in egg whites will
denature on whisking. The ovalbumine proteins, which make up the majority of the proteins in egg whites,
are not denatured by vigorous beating and will only denature under high heat.
Most proteins can however make foams. Interestingly, gelatin, when it is denatured, can also be used to
stabilize mousses. If sufficient gelatin is added to a water based liquid, the liquid can form a stable
mousse on whipping because, like denatured egg white proteins, the hydrophobic parts of the denatured
proteins will surround the air bubbles, while their hydrophilic parts stay in contact with the surrounding
water, keeping the bubbles stably incorporated in the liquid.
Such knowledge can be used to form a mousse from any non-protein containing liquid, by simply adding
gelatin.
And finally one should know that the minimum proportion of water to make foam is 5% of the foam. The
quantity of proteins is very low (some milligrams). More precisely, with enough water, one egg white could
make about one cubic meter of foam (the maximum ever done practically was 15 liters. Who is going to
beat the record?
The stability of a mousse can be increased in the following ways:
1. The mixture should be whisked for a long time. As the mixture is whisked more and more, the
beating action breaks up the air bubbles into smaller bubbles. This further stabilises the mousse,
since it means that the forces of surfaces are stronger and stronger; think of the meniscus at the
surface of a glass of water, you see that near the surface of the glass, the water goes up; it’s
36 / 119
because of forces between water molecules and the glass; the nearer to the surface, the stronger
the forces; in a foam, the smaller the bubbles, the nearer to the surface of a bubble, and the
stronger the surfaces forces.
2. Mind whisking in a machine, as this may cause over-whisking. Overwhisking causes the proteins
to denature and form a network too quickly, before sufficient air has been introduced.
3. Increasing the viscosity of the liquid phase helps increase stability of a mousse – a bubble
introduced into in a viscous liquid will have more difficulty rising than in pure water, because it will
be harder for it to move through the liquid.
4. It is often recommended that egg whites should be whipped in copper bowls with copper utensils.
Copper forms very tight networks with reactive sulphur atoms exposed on denatured proteins,
preventing these sulphur atoms from forming the disulphide bridges with other denatured protein
molecules. This reduces the strength of the resulting protein network, which allows more air
bubbles to be included. However, copper is expensive and a nuisance to clean, so is not always
practical… and the effect is not very important.
5. The addition of acid improves theoretically mousse formation because it speeds up the
denaturation of the egg white proteins by breaking their weak intra-molecular forces that keep
them folded. This means the proteins can form the air-stabilising network more readily. However,
again, the effect is not important, and even sometimes undetectable.
6. The presence of fat in the liquid to be mousse should be avoided. The lipids present in fat
sources will tend to bind to the hydrophobic parts of the protein as it is denatured, reducing the
number of available hydrophobic groups that can surround and support the air bubbles. However,
once a stable mousse has been formed, the fat source may be added (and often is when
preparing cakes or souffles). Egg whites are whisked in the absence of egg yolks or else the
hydrophobic parts of the lecithin molecules will tend to link to the hydrophobic groups of the
denatured egg proteins, preventing these groups from forming the network stabilising the air
bubbles.
7. Sugar is often added to egg whites to make meringues. Sugar tends to destabilise the formation
of the denatured protein network, so should be added after the egg whites have been whisked.
As well as generally “diluting” the numbers of proteins, the sugar molecules themselves surround
the protein molecules, preventing them from binding with each other so easily. This especially
pronounced with icing sugar, where sugar particles are even smaller, so are able to surround the
protein molecules even more tightly. Sugar also increases the viscosity of the liquid part of foams,
limiting the “creaming” of air bubbles.
Ok so that is what I think Jamie was talking about? I have more info on eggs if anyone wants it just pm ok guys.
hayds