OT arrowroot & cornflour

Val wrote:
> "Jerry Avins" <jya@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
> news:VaKdnYeeot77w_XVnZ2dnUVZ_tfinZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> This is from McGee:
>>
>> *Flour and Cornstarch*
> 
> ~WTF snipped~
> 
>> (Next, there is a short section about tapioca and modified starches.)
> 
> ......and this would be pertinant to Sandra's question because?
> 
> Jerry, the question was what is the difference between cornflour 
> (cornstarch) and arrowroot and why use one instead of the other. Perhaps
you 
> are confusing this with what the pioneers did with those Mediterranean 
> tomatoes stored in their root cellars while crossing the prairie.

The information she asked for was there, along with enough more to 
provide context and information about its source. There are a few people 
who are snowed under by superfluous information, and I'm sorry if you're 
one of them. This short extract might have made a better post:

Corn starch (called corn flour in Europe) is nearly pure starch (unlike 
flour) despite it's derivation from a seed. It has relatively short 
amylose chains and therefore relatively low thickening power, Arrowroot 
is also nearly pure starch but has longer amylose chains and therefore a 
greater thickening effect. It also works at a lower temperature. Both 
cornstarch and arrowroot provide translucent, glossy finishes.

On the other hand, had I written only that, Some might have wondered 
(and someone might have asked) "Says who?"

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
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