Stack beading describes the formation of small bead-like drops or rounded pieces on or in a food, or the practice of shaping foods into little beads. The most familiar kitchen example is the beading of moisture or fat: tiny glistening beads of juice that appear on the surface of a freshly cooked steak, or droplets of oil that bead on a soup. In modern plating and molecular gastronomy, beading also means forming liquids such as fruit juices or sauces into small spheres that hold their shape, using techniques like spherification with alginate and calcium. Beading affects appearance and mouthfeel, and unexpected beading — for instance fat beading out of a sausage — can signal a processing fault.