Customer Reviews

Experimental Kit Texturas, 150 Grams (Limited Time Offer- While Supplies Last 15% Off)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Update: After leaving the review below, the seller was kind enough to ship samples of Algin and Calcic. This was a very much appreciated gesture and indicates superb customer service from FromTheGourmet.com.

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I was so excited to receive this kit and start playing with molecular gastronomy. The first 6 or 7 recipes in the pamphlet that accompanies the kit shows you how to do spherification and reverse spherification - basically, making little spheres of liquid, like "melon caviar". However, all of these recipes require Algin and Calcic, two chemicals that are NOT included in the kit. I was very dissapointed.

Good kit for people learning about molecular gastronomy, full of different types of emulsifiers, and gelling agents. Not much in the kit, but it's supposed to be a sample pack. these ingredients are expensive, but easily found on the web. I just wish they gave you tapioca maltodextrin for making powders with this kit. all and all good starters kit. also some of the recipes require ingredients that did not come with the kit, like isomalt, still easy to purchase off the web.

This product is great for budding chefs who want to experiment with gastronomy. It has a wide range of chemicals enabling you to become familiar with different techniques and skills. The sample sizes are perfect.
In my family's case, we were originally going to commit to buying two chemicals (sodium alginate and sodium citrate) used for spherification. They were being sold in larger quantities but the price was a little too steep for our budget. Instead we settled on this kit. Now we get to thoroughly try out many different chemicals before we buy some in bulk. I would highly recommend this if you are not 100% percent certain about which chemicals you want or if you are just beginning to experiment with gastronomy. (And as an aside, the customer service with this company is exemplary.)

The kit offers enough product to try out several neat gastronomical concoctions and includes a small recipe booklet. The recipes were very simple and easily modified to my taste. It is essentialy a chemistry set for artistic chefs. Really cool.

A great value compared to a other resellers. The seller even read an earlier review I did. Realized I didn't reeive an instruction booklet in my box and offered to send me a hard copy and a pdf.

I finally got around to playing with the sample kit. On my first attempt to make olive-oil foam, I discovered that the kit contained only 6g of Glice. I know the description says 'approximately 10g', but this is almost half the advertised quantity

The various 4-5 star reviews you are seeing are well-deserved. I became aware of these culinary gems through reading Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food and then doing searches on Amazon. This kit has a great bunch of fun chemicals. I think the most approachable ones are the spherification and the ingredients equivilant to making your own pop-rocks.

There are various jelling agents that work in surprising ways. Agar is included. While agar might be new to many people, I've personally had a long experience with it. Agar is actually readily available from chemical supply companies and from asian food marts, but is an unknown to many cooks. I used it for making my slants for my yeast collection for brewing beer. Another culinary outlet for agar probably lost on the makers of the kit. :-) But a good one none-the-less.

The product comes is a sturdy plastic box with 12 sturdy plastic containers inside. I mention this because I can tell you that the packaging will be useful after the ingredients are used up. Maybe put spices in it. Use it to create a new gift for someone. Be creative, but it's nice not to get something flimsy.

And finally, to the company itself. One other reviewer mentioned missing 2 important components. Mine arrived mis-packaged with 12 of the same ingredient. Oops. Well, this isn't a life-or-death product, so the mistake was a good way to see how the seller handles customer service. In a word, excellent!

In this case, I talked Brian (no phone maze... he just answered the phone). He expedited a replacement, sent me a fedex return pdf and I was good to go. Yes, it was a minor inconvenience, but I know these things always happen. It's how people plan to deal with the mistakes that matter. It's not even a big vs little company thing. I got service today for my Seagate external drive that was as personable and helpful as my talk with Brian at For the Gourmet. (I'd give the Seagate drive a good review, but sadly, Amazon doesn't carry it.) For the Gourmet has another different sampler kit, but I couldn't find it for the product link. Sorry. :-(

Summary: this is money well spent for anyone who likes to cook. It makes the perfect Christmas or birthday gift for the chef on your list... especially if you've run out of unique ideas.

Received the kit quickly after I ordered it. I kinda wish there were more instructions/recipes but at least there's some! (Other food chemicals I've bought came with none!)

I was just starting to get into molecular gastronomy when I bought this and this was the perfect starter kit to be able to experiment, see what I liked to create and then buy the larger and more expensive version of those chemicals. It saved me hundreds of dollars and I would recommend it to anyone interested in this style of cooking.

After reading the reviews I excitedly ordered this kit, as I am a Chef looking to expand my horizons. However, I read that this kit did not include two of the chemicals called for in many of the recipes(algin and calcic). I have heard nothing but good things about this company, and after reading the review that mentioned the missing chemicals which were sent by the company, I was hoping for the same favor. I realize that this is a little presumptuous, but as I am very excited about the possibilities of this kit, I thought it couldn't hurt to ask. Thanks From The Gourmet!