You may be wondering, what makes a color natural? Follow along with us as we see what makes up natural colorants, and how they influence the Chef Rubber Natural Color Lines.

Keep reading to learn about the 4 main groups of where natural pigments are derived from:

Carotenoid

Carotenoids are what gives fruits and vegetables like sweet potatoes and pumpkins their color. Pigments like red, yellow and orange are made with carotenoids.

Chlorophyll

A naturally occurring pigment that is found in all green plants. Most known as green.

Anthocyanin

This is where purple and blue are derived from. Foods like grapes, blueberries and even cranberries have this pigment in them and that’s how these foods get such a deep and rich hue.

Curcumin

Also known as turmeric, it’s not only a root of the curcuma longa plant, but it’s also a rich pigment for achieving a deep yellow. 

Chef Rubber food colors are available in multiple forms – from powder, to liquid, gel, and paste. Which to choose will depend on the dessert, confection or beverage that is being created. The two main categories in colors for the food industry are water soluble and fat dispersible (lakes and dyes).

What does that mean?

A water-soluble colorant works best when the water content in the recipe is higher than the fat content. The best example would be when making macaron batter – the most common selection isa gel or water-based powder color that is easily mixed with the water content in the egg whites. Similarly, a fat dispersible color added to a fat-bases product like chocolate will work significantly better than adding a water-soluble colorant.

The creative mind and pastry knowledge of the Chef Rubber founders have developed and launched a full line of natural colorants. These products are derived from vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices. Chef Rubber has natural options in both water-based and fat-based colorants.

Fun facts about food color

Yellow and red combined make you hungry.

Provide decorative and artistic freedoms.

Colors can trick you into tasting things that aren’t there.

Tips for using natural colorants

Back natural colors with white to really make colors pop.

Allow time for natural pigment to develop.

Keep colors out of direct light, to help with fading.

Celebrating 25 years

Founded on real-world experience, Chef Rubber’s founders report that the past 25 years have been “our life’s work of providing specialty chefs everything they need for their creative visions to come to life. Additives, colorants, ingredients, flavorings, literature, tools, and supplies. We understand the importance of dependability, accuracy, and timeliness that world-class chefs and artists require from their vendors. We strive every day to meet our clients at the top with success.”