[Alt-photo] Re: lump gum

[Kees Brandenburg]

Hi Laura,

Most of the time I am using gum in lumps. I disolve these to a 26% solution (by weight) by taking 260 grams and add water to a total of 1000gr. I allways fold the lumps in a peace of cheesecloth, bind it together and hang it in the water in a jar. Time does the rest. Squeeze it after 24 hours (or more). The gritty stuf stays in the cloth!

Powdered gum can also be found at kremerpigmente.com. I always get a much clearer gum with  the lump/cheescloth method!

kees



On 19 okt. 2013, at 14:58, Laura V <laura at lavatop.com> wrote:

> 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!