Diagnosis · Particles settle
The fluid gel has lost its yield stress
Suspension needs a weak, fluid gel — a network strong enough not to flow under a particle's weight, and weak enough to pour. It is a narrow window, and it sits at the opposite end of the dosage range from a set gel.
What to do
- Check the dose. Most beverages sit between 0.010% and 0.030%. Below that particles settle; well above it the drink turns slimy.
- Confirm there is free calcium. Without a cation, low acyl gellan stays fluid no matter what the dose is.
- Look at the particle. Large, dense particles added late are the hardest to hold — cut the particle size, or dose the pulp before the gel cools.
- Give the structure time to develop. Suspension strength builds as the gel matures; do not judge it on day one.
- If the window is too narrow, blend with a small amount of xanthan to widen it.
The reading behind this
How this conclusion was reached
What is actually going wrong?
Particles settle — the suspension is lost
Check this against your own system
This describes the usual cause. What actually fixes it depends on your water hardness, total solids and fill temperature — send those three numbers and we will come back with a starting point, or with a bench sample of the grade this points to.
Ask about this diagnosisOther conclusions
Everything else the tree can land on
- Gel too soft — no calcium present
- Gel too soft — water hardness unknown
- Gel too soft — high acyl grade
- Gel too soft — low pH hydrolysis
- Gel too soft — remaining causes
- Lumps — powder not dry blended
- Lumps — hydration window missed
- Lumps — process details to check
- Pre-gelation — in the line
- Pre-gelation — free calcium
- Pre-gelation — cold tank
- Syneresis — water weeping
- Gel cloudy or dull
- Gel melts when warm
- Slimy mouthfeel or off flavour
Other tools
Keep going
Three more decision aids for the same problem set.