Diagnosis · Syneresis — water weeping
The network is squeezing water out of itself
A syneresing gel is usually one that is cross-linked too tightly for the water it has to hold, or one that has been sheared after setting. The liquid that appears is not excess water — it is water the network has expelled.
What to do
- Reduce the gellan dose and rebuild the body with a co-hydrocolloid: xanthan, locust bean gum or a modified starch.
- Raise the total solids slightly, or add a small amount of sugar or polyol to bind free water.
- Check the ion level. Excess calcium tightens the network and pushes water out, the same way an overdosed gel does.
- Do not pump or agitate the product after it has set. Mechanical work on a set gel accelerates weeping.
- For a frozen product, run a freeze-thaw cycle before you call it solved — the damage often only appears on thaw.
The reading behind this
How this conclusion was reached
What is actually going wrong?
Water weeps out of the gel
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
- Gel cloudy or dull
- Gel melts when warm
- Particles settle
- Slimy mouthfeel or off flavour
Other tools
Keep going
Three more decision aids for the same problem set.