Grapefruit Powder

PURPOSE

WHAT IS IT?

When you want that grapefruit taste in recipes like a dry mix, or where the grapefruit either needs to be added to intensify, or add a hint of taste, or a fragrance, dry grapefruit powder usually trumps the fresh. It’s also good for those spots in the world where it’s hard to come by fresh citrus fruit. It’s excellent in a variety of mixes, foods, beverages, and confections.

Made from white grapefruit that is freeze-dried, at the peak of freshness, then ground, grapefruit powder is a more intensified version of the taste than the fresh fruit. Use sparingly.

EXPERIENCE

This powder adds a naturally tart flavor with a sour follow-up and a burst of bittersweet at the end.

SHELF LIFE

Freeze dried fruit has a shorter shelf life than other spices. You can watch the color fade as it ages. Order, as needed, in smaller amounts. Best within three months of delivery, use within six months. You can extend its life by inserting a desiccant pack to the storage container to reduce moisture and keep it fresh a bit longer.

CULINARY GEOGRAPHY

Grapefruit hybrid of two Asian citrus plants accidentally crossed on the island of Barbados: The sweet orange and a pomelo.

TRADITIONAL USES

• Flavorant for grapefruit cakes and icings;
• Citrus-Soy Chicken
• Fruit pops for a little extra sour
• Punch up punch, or a sugar topping or rim

A FEW IMPROVISATIONAL RIFFS:

• Put a little flair in your flan
• Toss cubed roasted potatoes with grapefruit powder, a pinch of paprika, thyme and lavender.
• Grapefruit bread
• Grapefruit-dusted house made marshmallows

HEALTH WARNING

Do not use any grapefruit product if you take cholesterol drugs as it may counteract the effect of them. If you also have a problem with acids, consume all citrus products sparingly.

THE BACKSTORY

Freeze drying goes back to the days of the Incas. They would drag tuber roots to the high mountains to freeze dry in the thin, cold, low bacteria air. More formal European stabs at it, in a lab, came about in the 1930s, largely for medicine. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that commercial freeze drying became a thing for foods, and it took another twenty years for more broad use of the technique.

Grapefruit are also a more recent innovation, a graft of a sweet orange and a pomelo.

Get top quality from our friends at SpiceJungle.