Increasing Stability

Thickening and gelling agents are sometimes called stabilizers, meaning that they prevent undesirable changes from occurring in foods. Actually, thickening and gelling agents typically provide stability by their ability to thicken or gel. For example, gelatin stabilizes whipped cream primarily by gelling. This solidifies the walls surrounding air bubbles in whipped cream and prevents them from breaking. Guar gum stabilizes frozen egg whites primarily by thickening them. This prevents the formation of large, damaging ice crystals and allows the egg whites to whip fully.