Guar Gum Vs Xanthan Gum

[debmidge]

Are these interchangeable? Does one have benefits over another?

Do they have the same properties?

are cakes made with one and not another? or both?

I am ready to stop buying Xanthan gum and only buy guar gum and will do it if they are interchangeable, etc.

Thanks for info

Deb

[Guest j_mommy]

Deb, From what I understand they are interchangable. Guar gum is just cheaper. I have used both(at seperate times) in teh same recipes and it has turned out the same both times. I did this b/c I was wondering to. Guar gum is about $6 cheaper here!

[kbabe1968]

Guar Gum is actually a fiber too - (check benefiber, guar gum is it's "active ingredient"). Not to say you can use benefiber to bake with LOL

I have not found a local source for guar gum, as soon as I do I'm switching. I think from the fiber fact alone (and how little we can get - unless we eat tons of veggies & fruits - whcih we shoul dany how! LOL ), I would us it instead. Of course, I add flax to a lot of things!

[hangininthere]

Yes, guar gum and xanthan gum are interchangeable, same measurements for each.

I use guar gum, works great for me.

I looked up guar gum and xanthan gum on Wikipedia, and it explained thoroughly what the two are and how they're made.

Xanthan gum, if I'm remembering right, is totally synthetic, made in a laboratory.

And guar gum is from guar beans, but still made in a laboratory. But seems the more natural and healthy to me, being from a real plant product instead of totally synthetic.

Best wishes to all!

[debmidge]

guar gum can be purchased at celiac.com store and

www.kinnikinnick.com

[little d]

I up for using somethning that is a lot cheaper that $10.00 (xantham gum) but my Whole Foods has not had any guar gum lately, I need to find some because I have a bag of mix that was given to me that I would love to try.

donna

[debmidge]

My local Whole Foods no longer sells xanthan gum and never sold guar gum. This WF has to be the smallest WF in the chain. They are moving to a larger site in 2008. Meanwhile, I have to buy a lot of my supplies over internet as health food stores in area aren't stocked in these gums either (I would be surprised if they sell them at all).

I get much from kinninick, celiac.com, Gluten Free Pantry, etc. mail order. For two months Whole food wasn't offering the gluten-free Pantry Favorite White Bread Mix -- I had to run all over county to see who had it. Turned out while the A&P stopped selling it, the new Stop & Shop has it. Now Whole Foods has it again but only had 4 boxes. It's hard to figure these stores out....they want your business but resist getting what you want to buy. I wrote A&P a nice complimentary letter in Jan 07 - then they re-vamped their store in Feb. only to remove the gluten free pantry mixes that I complimented them on. I went into store and mentioned it and the overal answer is like "well, that' s how it is. " Shop Rite does a much better job at gluten free selections. I get the overall impression that there's not many celiacs in Union County......or at least a demand for gluten-free food from this county.

[Darn210]

I've read that they are interchangelable except that guar gum works as a laxative. If you need help in this area - go for it. If you're already having trouble - maybe not so much.

[vtchef]

Yes, guar gum and xanthan gum are interchangeable, same measurements for each.

I use guar gum, works great for me.

I looked up guar gum and xanthan gum on Wikipedia, and it explained thoroughly what the two are and how they're made.

Xanthan gum, if I'm remembering right, is totally synthetic, made in a laboratory.

And guar gum is from guar beans, but still made in a laboratory. But seems the more natural and healthy to me, being from a real plant product instead of totally synthetic.

Best wishes to all!

Acctually, Xanthan gum is NOT synthetic at all. It is all natural. It IS made in a laboratory, however. The bacterium is feed in the lab and the results are harvested in the lab, but the process and results are 100% natural.

[hangininthere]

Thanks for the info.

I just now looked up both xanthan gum and guar gum on-line some more, and found these interesting tidbits:

Xanthan gum is made from a certain type of bacteria that causes black rot to form on broccoli and some other types of veggies. And has something to do with corn. Don't know if those allergic to corn would have a reaction to it or not.

Xanthan gum and corn are high in salycilates, for those allergic to salycilates. This was from a comment by a reader on that site's article.

Here are the sites:

Xanthan gum:

Open Original Shared Link

Guar gum:

Open Original Shared Link

Guar gum is much more inexpensive than xanthan gum.

Best wishes all,

Patti

[RiceGuy]

I've tested and compared both guar and xanthan extensively. What I've found is basically what I've read on them. That is, guar gum is more spongy, and better suited for cakes, while xanthan gum is more stretchy, and better suited for breads. They are pretty close in some respects, and the major difference I find is that guar helps retain more moisture in the finished product. So if your baked goods are turning out on the dry side with xanthan, guar should be an improvement. On the other hand, if you want to reduce the moisture content, xanthan should be an improvement.

I've found xanthan helps get a less cake-like texture, which I have been working on for my breads, and especially biscuits. I prefer a hearty, stiffer texture, as opposed to a soft buttermilk sort of texture.

Both are fibers from what I've read, though I'd expect the effect on digestion to be negligible since there wouldn't be much in a given serving. Whether the effect is laxative in nature would seem to depend on the sort of fiber. Apparently not all types have a laxative effect. I've read that insoluble fiber has a laxative effect, but apparently guar and xanthan are of the soluble type. Not all articles I've read on the topic seem to be in complete agreement as to the effect of soluble fiber on the digestive process, but personally I find no laxative effect from either guar or xanthan.

Both Source Naturals and NOW Foods make guar gum, and these are available all over the web. I've found guar to be about half the cost of xanthan, usually even less.

Board member ShayFL has recommended chia seeds for the binding ingredient, which I'm about to try. I will post the results. The cost can be less than xanthan, so if it works well enough that's probably what I'll use.