Calcium Chloride

Calcium chloride is a salt. Thus calcium chloride can be utilized just like plain table salt (sodium chloride) is utilized. Using calcium chloride for salting foods has the added benefits of not increasing sodium consumption, which can contribute to high blood pressure and heart diseases. Furthermore, the use of calcium chloride as a salt increases calcium consumption. With these two health benefits, I wonder why calcium chloride use in cooking is not more prevalent besides the fact that calcium chloride is more salty than plain table salt.

Regardless, in molecular gastronomy, calcium chloride provides the more desirable effect of transforming into calcium and chloride ions in water. Calcium ions form a polymer when in contact with alginate, thus allowing the molecular gastronomy technique known a spherification.

Additional information

• Accepted as safe food additive in US.
• As natural as table salt.
• Used to salt sidewalks and melt snow.

Usage

Calcium chloride can be added to liquid solutions. The following percentages provide a guideline for what percentage by weight the calcium chloride added to a liquid should be for normal spherification. Normal spherification is when alginate solution droplets are introduced into a calcium setting bath.

• 0.5% for normal spherification, for a calcium setting bath