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| Our apple pies are great, but the shelf life is only two days. What can we do to extend the shelf life? S.S., Fairfield, N.J. | to Top |
Mix a large 10 kg batch of granulated sugar at slow speed with 10 g of potassium sorbate (100 ppm). Add the normal amount of sugar to your apple pie formula. The preservative of potassium sorbate will increase the shelf life of the apple pie to about seven to eight days. Potassium sorbate is the potassium salt of sorbic acid. Potassium is the most widely used food preservative in the world. Potassium sorbate is effective against yeasts, molds, and certain bacteria, and it is widely used in bread, cakes, pies and fillings, baking mixes, doughs, icings, fudges, toppings, and confections. The maximum level allowable by law is 0.1%. If preservatives are used in a food, they must be declared in the list of ingredients on the label, along with a short explanation of intended use, such as "preservative", "mold inhibitor," or "to retard spoilage", etc.
Tenbergen, Klaus. The Workbench. Modern Baking 19(1):16.
Updated: Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
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