However, It turns out I unknowingly had a bottle of Sour Salt in the pantry. I’m told that Sour Salt is another term for sodium citrate, but the bottle says 'Citirc Acid". Can we confirm one way or another?
I trying to determine how to measure the amount of sodium citrate to any given recipe.
One source said “2 parts cheese 1 part liquid 3 percent of cheese weight in sodium citrate”. Another suggested “just 60/40 mix of cheese/liquid with 2% sodium citrate by weight”. But I never got a response from either about how to actually go about it. This excellent post sodium citrate ratios mentioned “2.0% to 3.0% ratio of total liquid plus cheese weight”
I prepared the sauce by doubling the recipe (2 cups cheese), which came out to a teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 cup of lemon juice converted from metric.
That online calculator only speaks in terms of sodium citrate. It turns out I don’t have that. I need to know how I get sour salt incorporated/substituted into the recipe.
That’s correct but @sbbodcderf is referencing a relatively recent trend where people are using citric acid + baking soda to make sodium citrate as referenced in the video they linked (pasted in again below):
I mentioned in a previous post that calculators for sodium citrate cheese sauces don’t seem to take the type of cheese into account but this Lifehacker post at least tried a few cheeses with different moisture levels and amounts of sodium citrate. It’s volumetric but if you feel like mathing it up you can use those measurements and either @robert’s Reddit link or this ChefSteps forum post with the theoretical yield of citric acid and baking soda to work out the percent you want
Yes, that sounds frustrating. Unfortunately, not only do we not have enough information to answer your question I don’t think there’s enough consensus about how to arrive at that information depending on the type of cheese you’re using
The problem is three parts:
Determining how much sodium citrate results from using citric acid and baking soda. Both @robert’s reddit link and my ChefSteps link show the yield in grams so that’s the first part solved. However…
The amount of sodium citrate used varies depending on the type of cheese used and worse, there are no calculators that account for that or (even worse in my opinion) frequently there are just blanket statements that are based on unstated and/or incorrect assumptions.
Further, we don’t know what kind of cheese you’re even using. If we did (especially if it was by mass, not volume) then we might be able to make a recommendation but without that information the best you’re going to get is inaccurate recommendations at best.
That’s not to say recommendations at this point won’t work but they would be based on flawed premises. Would it be possible to know what kind of cheese you’re using and how much? Mass would be best but there’s enough leeway that the volume you mentioned up top might work in a pinch
It says Sodium citrate, which causes the cheese to stay together as it melts, is typically used in a 2.0% to 3.0% ratio of total liquid plus cheese weight
But how does that translate to the volume of Sodium citrate in terms of teaspoons, tablespoons, etc.
The reason why a lot of these measurements are given in mass (especially if they involve percentages) is because you can’t consistently or accurately convert the amount of sodium citrate used without knowing the density of the specific product being used from the start.
For example, you know how recipes will recommend salt but also recommend a specific type (eg, kosher vs table vs pickle vs rock) and even then probably recommend a brand (eg, Diamond Kosher vs Morton)? This is the same thing. The molecular weight of sodium citrate won’t change any more than the molecular weight of salt will change but depending on what form and/or who manufactures it the amount present in, say, a teaspoon or tablespoon can vary enormously.
That said, if you want to take a crack at it, I just measured the weight of a one teaspoon (4.92ml) of Modernist Cuisine sodium citrate and it averaged out to 5.8g so if you want to use that as a highly unsubstantiated measurement, go nuts.
To be clear, I’m not trying to bury you in information but point out that there simply isn’t enough information to give an accurate answer to what you’re looking for. Additionally, the fact that you’d be making it from scratch adds another possible error in measurement, the fact that we don’t know what kind of cheese you’re using and the fact that we only have a volume measurement adds another likely error, etc., etc. That’s not to say this won’t work but there’s not really a reliable way to answer your question as presented, hence my last reply
My problem is that i don’t have sodium citrate, but what do you think of this solution? Amazon Brand - Happy Belly 100% Lemon Juice, Bottle, 32 fl oz . Since were only interested in the citric acid, not the taste, it’s non - concentrated 100% juice.
I just looked up the chemical name for this type of citrate and i got a good laugh about the nomenclature. Na3C6H5O7. Is trisodium citrate so NACHO CHEESE is the chemical name for the ingredients and the common name for the product… Life is strange …???was it a coincidence? No i think someone has played a good joke on all of us all and for years we have accepted the spelling as well NACHO …LOL
I get you, but why would I spend $8 on an ingredient without a reasonably reliable way to apply it in the recipe, that hypothetically might end up ruining a dish?
If that 32 oz bottle of lemon juice is an applicable replacement for the fresh lemon juice, it will cover eight of those double recipes I used for only $2.66.
You have a larger chance of ruining the dish with lemon juice. Honestly. Worst thing that happens if you use the proper product is the texture isn’t exactly how you want it
If you are making sodium citrate in situ (that’s what you have to do when starting from citric acid) you will have much less control than using directly pure sodium citrate and the likelihood of not optimal end products is much higher.
