Glad to hear of some interest from my fellow Canadians.

I've started the process and will have some PDX available within a couple of weeks, if not sooner, if all goes as planned.

ps: I've been making the most fabulous ice cream with a mix of PDX and glycerine amongst other things...and so have others. Check out the "Green Tea Ice Cream!" thread in the Sweet Treats section of the LowCarb Kitchen Forum! There's actually a bunch of experimenters (and a bunch of flavors) in there...

ARe there some more of us in Victoria? Could we arrange a regular (or occasional) lunch meeting, or .... ? I'd love to meet other "friends in low-carb places) in person and yes, I think I'd really like to try PDX and some of Kevin's recipes - I'm finding it hard to get the right "mouth-feel" without sugar.

Oy, Glenda, check out this thread for the 1st (chitchat about a regular meeting, going to have to have one of those ORGANIZED people, like SunPines or MousesMom take care of the arrangements):
Vancouver Island LC'ers

...and the PDX is arrived -- now for the packaging and labelling and such...

Hey Jude Ain't it nice to have an organizer!!?? Done my share of organizing over the years - it's someone else's turn!!!
Gotta hit yor website and keep trackof when you list the PDX (I'm so slow, you might have it listed already!!)

Glenda

Add me to the list of ones who want to try polydextrose. Any luck in getting it?

Available now. Website to be updated tonight... if I can stay awake.

It's up on the webpage, you Canadians, you....

Email link available there as well, or just PM me...

Ta!

I baked a half batch of my favorite lc cookies (Dana Carpender's Oatmeal Cookies using, as usual, 1/4 less fat) using 1/3 Splenda and 1/3 erythritol with a tad of SugarTwin, and then another half batch with the same mix of sweeteners and adding a 1/2 cup of poly-D. The first batch, without the poly-D, came out very thin (but still sweet enough and tasty) - the 2nd batch (with poly-D) came out equally tasty but held their shape much better. More experimenting to do but I think I'm a fan!!!

I woulda thought there'd be more adventurous cooks in this country, using Wheat Pro Isolate or Erythritol or Polydextrose...

It's so much fun!

Islandgirl,

This Wheat Protein Isolate, is it the same thing as Vital Wheat Gluten? I can't find it anywhere in Toronto so I may have to order some from you. Are there alot of uses for it?

Vital Wheat Gluten is higher carb, there's detail on it in the FAQ in the LowCarb Kitchen -- Kitchen Talk forum (which is a great post to read through for all kinds of technical foodie info, by the way, and highly recommended for all wanting to learn more about cooking and ingredients while LCing.

There are quite a lot of uses for it; if you Google recipe WPI wheat protein isolate , or cruise www.lowcarbfriends.com, you'll see a lot of food experimentation, mostly baking, going on. For some reason there's a lot more activity there on the baking front there than here. Though it certainly wouldn't hurt to cruise our own LowCarb Kitchen forum, too. There are SO many recipes and ideas, I couldn't possibly detail much here.

I've even got a couple of recipes at my site. Just click on the logo.

Hope this helps some.

Thanks so much hon! Looks like I have some serious reading to do when I have some time

Well, then just go to my site, there's only 2 or 3 recipes there to deal with, 1 per interesting ingredient...I've always recommended -- even before getting into products -- to start with a T&T recipe and learn from there...

Here's my 5-minute Chocolate Bundt Cake.

Hope this helps even more!



~later~

PS: over in the LowCarb Kitchen, the Quick Snacks section, KevinPA has just posted this marvellous recipe (he's VERY good), Polly Want A Thin & Cheesy Pizza. Check it out! I mean to make it next weekend.

Islandgirl - so glad i found you I'm planning an order from you soon and I have a question re: poly-d. Is it basically the same thing as the NotSugar stuff, in that it adds the texture you miss when you're sans sugar? If so...which is "better"?

Thanks for sourcing this stuff and making it available for us!

Hi there...

Now that's a tough question to answer straight up.

In one way, the polydextrose and the not/Sugar DO have similar purpose, in that they help make up for the lack of texture/lack of bulk of sugar, in recipes.

In another way, they are very different products and are used quite differently, basically because of the way they affect the other ingredients and cooking time.

Neither one is better than the other, frankly, because that would only be a good comparison if they acted the same way.

Example, I use the not/Starch in baking stuff (similar to not/Sugar, but slightly different and stronger results for texturizing/thickening/gluten replacement). I also use the polydextrose in baking stuff, but when I do, I expect something more syrupy, it's more sugar bulk replacement, but I also need to turn down the temp, reduce the moisture, etc., to take into account its water-holding capacity. ANOTHER reason to use Tried & True recipes when starting out, somebody else has figured it for ya.

On the other hand, if I want to make a syrup, or a candy, that kind of thing, I use the polydextrose, because what it really is most like is sugar texture without the sweet part (but it requires HEAT to dissolve it). So once I melt/cook it, it STAYS syrupy, not like Erythritol, which is sweet and will melt, but recrystallizes almost immediately on cooling. Yet I would use the not/Sugar for a quick cold syrup-like thing, like my own thicker maple syrup, or to make shakes, smoothies or lassis thicker and more "syrupy" and to add quick soluble fiber to my diet.

Then of course, there's the cost factor. By the pound, the polydextrose is cheaper than the not/Sugar and the not/Starch, but you use way more of it for every "application", the number of "servings" per pound is way less for the polydextrose, the not/Sugar and not/Starch last a VERY long time for most people.

Also, I use the not/Starch for stir fries, thin gravies (like jus) and savoury sauces.

Sorry, I DID say it wasn't an easy question to answer. Bottom line, I need and use all of them in my kitchen (but I love to cook and I'm LC for life). I consider them an investment, right along with the Splenda and the SugarTwin (in 3 forms ) and all the other stuff I have on my shelves.

Hope this helps some.