Molecular accessories, the laboratory tools of the bar: moulds for sphere, cube and block ice, single and triple emulsifying springs, a caramelising torch, graduated containers of 50cl and 1 litre, mesh strainers and droppers.
Molecular accessories: the tools between the shaker and the lab
This is where you find the tools that do not make a technique on their own but make it possible: ice in the right shape, foam without a siphon, an exact measure, a fine strain, a flame. They cost little, and they are the ones to buy first when you start with molecular mixology, before the siphon and before the smoking gun.
Ice: sphere, cube or long block
Mould
Shape
Goes in
Why
Sphere
One large ball
Old Fashioned, neat spirits
The shape with the least surface: it melts the slowest
Large cube
Four cubes per mould
Rocks serves and Negroni
One cube fills the glass and dilutes little
Small cube
Eight cubes per mould
Everything
The size that fits any glass
Long block
One long block
Highball and Collins
It fits the tall, narrow glass where a large cube will not go
There is one rule: ice chills by melting, so every shape chills and dilutes in the same movement. What changes is the speed, and the speed depends on the surface. A sphere has the least surface of all, which is why it goes in drinks that are sipped slowly. The professional cube mould, with its frame, makes enough for a night's service.
Foam without a siphon: the spring
The whisk spring goes into the shaker with the egg white and you shake dry, without ice: it beats the liquid and works in air, and the foam rises. The triple spring does it faster than the single one. Then you add ice and shake again to chill: two stages. It is the technique for one sour at a time; when you serve ten foams a night a siphon makes more sense, and you will find it in the siphons category.
The three pieces that make the serve
The ice ball mould makes the sphere that sits in an Old Fashioned: the shape with the least surface, which chills slowly and dilutes less than any cube.
The triple whisk spring whips egg white inside the shaker faster than a single spring: stainless steel, dishwasher safe, made in Italy.
The gas blowtorch flames the peel over the drink, toasts rosemary and caramelises sugar on the rim: the flame is the fastest technique on this page.
Measuring: jug, container and dropper
The jigger measures the glass, the jug measures the bottle. The 500ml graduated jug has a raised scale that does not wash off, and it is used to measure out a premix; the 1000ml graduated container is used to make it. The 100ml dropper bottle doses bitters, tinctures and house saline solutions drop by drop. Bars that work in batches keep all three.
Fine straining and muddling
The mesh strainer, flat or conical, is the fine strainer for a fine strain (double strain): it holds back the seeds and ice shards that a Hawthorne lets through. The julep strainer is the bowl-shaped strainer for stirred drinks. The steel mortar and pestle, shaped like a goblet, crushes spices and herbs at the bar where the muddler cannot reach, and the 800ml beaker is the lab mixing glass for infusions.
Care
Silicone moulds, springs, jugs and strainers go in the dishwasher. The blowtorch is refilled with lighter gas and kept away from spirit bottles while lit. Leave the moulds open to dry: silicone keeps the smell of the freezer if it stays closed and damp.
Which accessory should you start with in molecular mixology?
The whisk spring and an ice mould: both cost little, they go on the menu without changing your recipes, and they change a sour and an Old Fashioned straight away.
Sphere, cube or long block: which mould?
The sphere for neat drinks sipped slowly, because it melts more slowly. The large cube for rocks serves and the Negroni. The long block for highballs and Collins, where a large cube will not fit.
Does a whisk spring replace a siphon?
For one foam at a time, yes: shake dry in the shaker with the egg white, then again with ice. When you serve ten foams a night, or they have to be identical in every glass, you need a siphon.
What is a blowtorch for at the bar?
To flame the peel over the drink, toast rosemary and caramelise sugar on the rim of the glass. It is refilled with lighter gas.
Do these accessories go in the dishwasher?
Silicone moulds, springs, jugs and strainers do. The blowtorch does not. Leave the moulds open to dry so they do not keep the smell of the freezer.
Molecular AccessoriesAdd
Molecular AccessoriesAdd
Molecular AccessoriesAdd
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