Rotary Evaporateur

I decided last year, while developing the menu that to be able to get the essence of certain ingredients that you cannot eat but that have a smell, that would be something amazing and can go well with food, certainly create unusual combinations. I thought about pine essence with a fresh oyster, or orange zest essence with a lobster.

So I purchased a very simple evaporator composed of 3 flasks and a cooling system with cold water. Good result for a start but the yield was so little. I researched for some time and found the Heidolph rotary evaporator. The flask is turning in the water bath while it is under vacuum with an external pump. It reduces the boiling point and allows you to distill at lower temperatures. So the fragrance does not pass the extraction point. As an example I know that the pectin cooks when passing 85 degrees C. So if you can reduce the extraction point lower than this point, the fragrance will have a feeling of a raw ingredient.

Today was the first day I used it. Lemon zest. A very few drops of essence on the surface but the fragrance was fresh and clean.

Comments

[sygyzy]

This is crazy!

[foodplayer]

Dave Arnold has fabricated one of these and demonstrates it's use at The French Culinary Institute. He makes extraordinary eau-de-vies by distilling sweet wines such as Madeira and Sauternes. Apparently, the distilled tannins from dry wines become overwhelming.
You have an insane and enviable collection of equipment in your kitchen...it must make work feel like play?

[Patrick]

we use one to distill chocolate, saffron, etc.. here at mugaritz. insane. clear liquid, intense flavor.

[Kevin]

Arnaud Berthelier was using something very similar a couple of years ago at the Dining Room in Atlanta. He would extract a clear liquid with an intense flavor of beets or mushrooms. It was pretty amazing.