Sodium citrate

Citrate de sodium

What it is

Two cheesemakers in Thun patented the trick in 1911, melting Emmental with citrate salts so it could cross an ocean without splitting — processed cheese begins there. It works by grabbing calcium, which is also why a blood bag is dosed with the same salt: bind the calcium and blood will not clot.

In the kitchen

For a cheese sauce that never breaks, weigh it at about 4 % of the liquid — 11 g to 265 ml of water, beer or wine — bring it to a simmer, then melt in the grated cheese a handful at a time. It is also the fix for a purée too acid for alginate: a pinch lifts the pH above 3.6 and the spheres set.

Goes with

Cheddar Gruyère Comté Emmentaler Mustard White wine vinegar Potato

Also used with

Low-acyl gellan gum

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us