Re: Why does instant pudding not set up with soy milk?

Hi!

This was a particularly hard question and it took a while to learn the answer. I have edited the response received from a colleague in the starch-as-an-ingredient business.

By way of background: Instant pudding is a cold set starch pudding - you mix, leave for 5 minutes and it is ready to eat.

The following information was on a box of instant pudding that I purchased:

Skim, 1% low fat, nonfat dry or lactose-reduced milk will cause soft-set. Non-dairy creamer [different from soy milk] is not recommended.

With that the response I received (with editing):

Instant pudding relies on the use of "setting salts" or phosphates. The TSPP [tetrasodium polyphosphate] will react with the calcium in the milk to form a calcium pyrophosphate gel, the DSP [disodium phosphate] accelerates this reaction. [Both of these are listed in the ingredients list].

Soy (juice) milk, even when it is fortified with added calcium, will not set up. Not being sure of the form of calcium used to fortify the soy milk, we decided to add a CaCl2 /water solution to the pudding. This increased the viscosity significantly but still did not set. We believe there is an interaction with the casein in the milk which provides the final set along with the starch. The type of starch used is derived from dent corn or tapioca which both have significant amounts of amylopectin [one of the two structural forms of starch] which gel.

Regarding the different fat levels, whole milk provides the highest viscosity and we submit that the casein micelles are bridging between the fat globules and adding further structure. So it is true you will not be able to make instant pudding with soy milk using an instant pudding mix. Adding additional starch may get you there but the texture would be pasty [and not very enjoyable!].

Thanks for the question -- it generated a lot of interesting discussions.

Cheers.