Glucono Delta Lactone (GDL) | meat acidifier

Description

What is GDL (Glucono delta lactone)?

Glucono delta lactone (GDL, E575 or d-glucono-1 5-lactone) is a food additive used as a preservative and acidity regulator. It is a natural food ingredient made from glucose, a sugar found in many fruits and honey. It is a safe additive also known as E575.

Properties of GDL

GDL is a white, odorless, crystalline powder that is readily soluble in water. It has a slightly sweet taste.

Applications of glucono-delta-lactone.

GDL is often used industrially to replace tartar, baking soda, and other acidity regulators in baking. It is also commonly used in the food industry as a pH (acidity) regulator, to improve the texture and stability of products such as meat, cheese, frozen desserts, and canned vegetables. It can also be used as a fermentation accelerator in the production of beer and wine.

Common home applications include making dry sausage (see below) as well as curdling soy milk for making tofu (read on)

Is GDL safe?

GDL is safe for human consumption and has been approved for use by several regulatory agencies around the world, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union.

Contents

• 100 grams.
• GDL is also known as E575 or d-glucono-1 5-lactone
• Allergens: none
• Vegan

The use of GDL in making dry sausage

An important function of fermenting sausages is to lower the pH. It’s also the riskiest, most laborious part. Couldn’t you just use vinegar or lemon juice to lower the pH? Yes, you can. Many professional sausage makers do it this way. They use Glucono-delta-lactone, or GDL It’s guaranteed to work, 100% safe and you don’t have to ferment anymore, it just works while your sausage is in the fridge.

Dosage of GDL when using dry sausage

GDL lowers pH by about 0.1 point per gram per kilogram. So assuming a pH of fresh pork of 5.5-5.8, you need 6 grams per kilo to drop from 5.8 to 5.2, or up to 12 grams to ferment to an even slightly safer pH of 4.6.

How do you use GDL when making dry sausage?

1. Mix the GDL-with sodium nitrite curing salt and flavorings- through your sausage meat.
2. Leave the sausages in the refrigerator for two days to acidify and move them to your drying room.
3. Dry the sausages at 10-12 degrees and about 75% humidity.

Optionally, you can combine this method with a slow starter, for example, a RAPS biostart plus or a Primal SK soft, which gives almost no acidification but taste. Then, after acidification, dry the sausages for the first 4 or 5 days or so at room temperature.

Dosage of GDL when making tofu

For use as rennet for tofu: 1-1.5 g per 100 g of dry soybean. Very suitable for ‘silken tofu. Curdling should be done for about 45 minutes at 80-90 degrees (e.g. a water bath or in a steam oven), to activate GDL.

Buying GDL?

Order it at startercultures.eu, the European webshop for all your fermentation, sausage, and charcuterie needs. By Meneer Wateetons, renowned Dutch fermentation and meat expert and author. Order on weekdays before  3 pm and we’ll ship the same day.  Questions on the usage? Ask them in our chat, we’re here to help!

Online English spoken sausage making workshop

In this English spoken online workshop you will learn the theory and practice of making fresh sausages. What types of meat work best, where can you find your ingredients, what are the main pitfalls and what funny things can you do with casings. Foodwriter ‘Meneer Wateetons’, author of several books on fermentation and alternative food preparation techniques,  will teach you all about fermentation, curing salts, food safety, pH, starter cultures, molds and drying conditions. Click here for more info.