Aquafaba: What It Is and Why You Want It

And for heaven's sake, don't throw it away.  At least save it and give it to me.

Aquafaba is loosely defined as bean broth or bean water, the fluid that is drained off from a can of (previously) dry beans, not canned green beans. Vegans and other health food nut-types, as well as Depression-era survivors, will advocate saving this super nutritious liquid that the rest of us discard and using it to fortify soups and stews.   They wax poetic on how it "beefs up" soup and stews, imparting a meat-like flavor while being packed with protein and making a nutritious substitute for bone broth.  They even go so far as to say it makes a delicious soup all on its own.  (I suspect they've been eating their own vegan cooking for too long.)

However, when aquafaba is more strictly defined, it refers only to the broth from canned garbanzo beans, as known as chickpeas.  This is where things get interesting.

While straight from the can it makes a great binder, what is truly incredible to me is that it whips up and becomes foamy like an egg white.  I kid you not.  Just like an egg white.  The liquid from other beans will whip up to some extent, but none as well as garbanzo bean liquid does. [Update:  I reserved the liquid from canned white beans.  It didn't whip up quite so stiffly as the garbanzo bean liquid, but it was pretty good.  I used it to make chocolate mousse and it tastes just fine.  I'll be reserving this in the future as well.]

As with egg whites, both cream of tartar and sugar make a great stabilizer.  When it comes to stabilizing whipped egg whites used in baked goods, as experiments in America's Test Kitchen showed, cream of tartar is the hands-down winner for creating the fluffiest muffins and cakes.[1]

To measure aquafaba for use in baking, shake the can vigorously before opening, and then drain the beans using a wire strainer over a bowl.  Reserve the beans for another use, perhaps soup or hummus.  Whisk the aquafaba (because the starches that we can't see settle at the bottom) and then measure.  Any leftovers may be frozen in ice cube trays (for ease of use, freeze in 1 tablespoon portions), and then popped out and stored in freezer bags.  Previously frozen aquafaba whips up just as beautifully as fresh.[2]

For your information:

• There is about 1/2 cup of liquid in a 15-oz can of garbanzo beans.
• Experiments in America's Test Kitchen showed that the liquid of black beans did not whip up anywhere near as well as garbanzo bean aquafaba.  
• Home- or commercially-canned garbanzo beans (15 ounces) will have about 1/2 teaspoon of salt added.  You may wish to take this into account in preparing baked goods and desserts.

Links to related posts:
Cream of tartar
Egg Substitutes
Hummus
Canning Beans
Chocolate Mousse
Eggless Mayonnaise  

Cool Whip 
References:
[1]  "What Exactly Is Aquafaba, and How Do I Use It?" America's Test Kitchen, https://www.americastestkitchen.com/guides/vegan/what-is-aquafaba (accessed 25 July 2020).
[2] Ibid.

29 july 2022