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Comments (9)
- zabzonkWay back when, I used to work in microbiology. One of our favourite tricks when we were bored was to fill a rubber glove with molten agar and dye. When it set, we cut off the glove and left it where some unsuspecting person would come across it.We were often a bit horrible given to practical jokes back then (1970s), but I also remember exploring an unused store room (fighting off giant cockroaches) and coming across a litre (or two?) of pure 100% Analar ethanol, which made for a merry lab-rat party (not drunk straight from the bottle) for all.
- kqrI don't know anything about laboratory uses of agar, but I do use it in cooking. Something that baffles me is that so many recipes (at least in northern Europe) use gelatin when agar works just as well or better. Agar is cheaper, easier to handle, comes in more compact packaging, lasts longer, sets faster, is reversible, fits more food preferences, etc. Why this obsession with gelatin? What am I missing?The article contains one possible clue: gelatin melts at body temperature. This implies dishes made with gelatin melt in the mouth like chocolate does, but I can't recall experiencing that (at least not to the extent of chocolate) when eating gelatin-based stuff. (And many gels, at least in my opinion, have a better mouthfeel when more solid than liquid.)
- smusamashahDidn't know that agar.io was based on a real thing. That name always felt weird.
- mrbluecoat> thrives only in cold, turbulent waters over rocky seabeds, conditions nearly impossible to replicate in aquacultureWith our warming climate, I wonder if research is happening to develop heat-resistant agar, similar to coffee, cocoa, and rice.