[Alt-photo] lump gum

[Laura V]

Previously, I had used pre-mixed gum arabic and also the powdered 
version which I mixed myself, but then I ran out. The pre-mixed is so 
expensive to ship, and I couldn't find the powdered stuff online, so I 
ordered lump gum which I've never used. I can't find any instructions 
for mixing it, but finally just put some in a plastic container with 
roughly an equal amount of water. A day later and some of the lumps have 
melted, but the bigger ones are still there and it's kind of gritty and 
hairy looking. I suppose I'll just filter out the lumps and gritty stuff 
- but was I supposed to do anything differently such as heat the water?

I was really surprised at how large some of the lumps were - I was 
expecting something where the lumps were more evenly sized. Has anyone 
used this stuff? Here's an image: http://lauraval.com/gumlumps.jpg 
That's a 2-liter sized ice-cream container so those lumps are BIG!

Laura