What does the term "Cooling effect" mean?

[Barbo]

I see this so many times concerning recipes with differrent types of
sugar subs. I would appreciate understanding this term as I'm doing
a lot of baking right now. and I have quite a few sugar subs to experiment with. Thanks so much. You have all been so helpful.

[Charski]

Some sugar alcohols, most notably erythritol and xylitol, make your mouth feel "cool" rather like eating a menthol cough drop does. There is a scientific explanation for why which I'll leave to a more scientific mind!

Combining them with other sweeteners or dissolving them in liquid lessens the effect in many cases but it's something to keep in mind if you're making something that will recrystallize, like fudge - I made a cooked fudge with erythritol that had that "cooling effect" and it's kinda like mint fudge without the mint! DH, who normally doesn't care one way or the other about fudge, really like that batch.

[Charski]

Well that was easy, this is from Wikipedia:

Erythritol has a strong cooling effect (positive heat of solution[6]) when it dissolves in water, often combined with the cooling effect of mint flavors, but proves distracting with more subtle flavors and textures. The cooling effect is only present when erythritol is not already dissolved in water, a situation that might be experienced in an erythritol-sweetened frosting, chocolate bar, chewing gum, or hard candy. When combined with solid fats, such as coconut oil, cocoa butter or cow's butter, the cooling effect tends to accentuate the waxy characteristics of the fat in a generally undesirable manner. This is particularly pronounced in chocolate bars made with erythritol. The cooling effect of erythritol is very similar to that of xylitol and among the strongest cooling effects of all sugar alcohols.

[Kevinpa]

A cooling effect will result with any sweetener prone to recrystallization. The faster it recrystallizes the more prominent the cooling effect. When these sweeteners come in contact with your tongue the heat causes evaporation which emphasizes the recrystallization. A very good example of recrystallization is making rock candy. If you dissolve sugar in water and then drop a string or stick in the water, as the water evaporates, the sugar crystals that are dissolved in the water will recrystallization and cling to the string or stick forming the candy. Given enough sugar in something like fudge and you will get a cooling effect from that also. To experience that it has to be very sweet. The reason people experience it more often with erythritol and xylitol is the rate of recrystallization is many times faster than that of sugar.

I did an experiment earlier this year that may dramatize it better for you.

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/lo...xperiment.html

[Barbo]

Thanks everyone for teaching me. Kevin your experiment was awesome.
Crytal rock candy is from my childhood. My mom said a big no no to it for
my teeth's sake.

I'll be having fun making your truffles Kevin.

typo's by