Powdered emulsifiers make a real difference

While emulsifiers in gel form have long been in common use, more advanced, powdered varieties can offer industrial bakers a number of benefits. The advantages show up in handling, processing and even in terms of direct costs – depending on the recipe, processing conditions and individual ingredient pricing.

Simplified production

For example, compared with gels, shortenings or other emulsifiers in paste form, powdered emulsifiers simplify production. No pre-hydration step is needed and they can be added directly to the cake batter in a fully automated process. As a result, adding emulsifiers during cake production requires only a few minutes of preparation and simultaneously reduces energy consumption. And greater dosage accuracy reduces emulsifier and cake product waste.

Powdered emulsifiers also suit Middle Eastern markets, enabling food manufacturers to entirely avoid the alcohol content of emulsifier gels. Finally, good powdered emulsifiers can be stored far longer, providing at least 18 months of reliable usability.

The palm-free alternative

Take Palsgaard® SA 6615, for example, the world’s first palm-free emulsifier in powder form for industrial cakes (and sustainably produced in a CO₂-neutral factory). It has a higher emulsifier content than typical gels, requiring lower dosages to achieve high-quality results.

This emulsifier acts extremely quickly in a batter due to the enormous surface area presented by the ingredient – thanks to a sophisticated extrusion process. Impressively, a 20-kilogram bag boasts a surface area as large as six football fields, delivering instant functionality, fast uptake and rapid incorporation of air. And, with just one active emulsifier and one food ingredient (rice flour), Palsgaard® SA 6615 also makes potentially contradictory or undesirable effects easier to manage.