A New Adventure: Cooking With Gelatin Tips and the Science of Jello

Gelatin. What is it? Where does it come from? How does it work? These are questions that I am going to address today because until today I didn't know! There is tons of info out there on cooking with gelatin and I have come up with a handy little list of gelatin tips and facts that I hope will help me to avoid some of the common pitfalls of using gelatin in the kitchen.



Cooking with gelatin is not something my mom ever did much. It is one of those gaps in my domestic science education that is there because she had personal preferences. So I have determined to fill in the gaps myself.





Because my mom didn't like cooking with gelatin I became a bit of a gelatin snob. If you can't make what ever you are making gel with out the help of this ubiquitous gelling agent then you don't know what you are doing.



This of course is not true. My mom simply didn't like jellied foods. And since the only jellied food we had in our house was jello (or jelly as they call it here in the UK and don't even get me started on that) and we only had it when we were ill it does not have the best associations.





Gelatin however is a very common ingredient in a lot of British cooking for both sweet and savoury dishes and it is time I learned what all the fuss is about and perhaps add a truly useful ingredient to my pantry.





I may give it a try this weekend in a dessert for SD and me on Saturday. I am thinking panna cotta. Lemon perhaps. Or lavender as I still have shedloads of it! I don't want it to be too rich because I think we might have Stroganoff something for a main course. If you remember this post about menu planning you will understand the balance I am trying to achieve. Stroganoff is very rich and filling. I would like dessert to be light and fluffy.



And in typical even-star fashion I don't want to embark on this little adventure with out a bit of a road map.



What is gelatin? How does it work? If I know how it works then it will be easier to get it to work for me.



Regular old non veggie friendly gelatin is made from the collagen and connective tissues and bones of animals. These materials are exposed to highly acidic conditions which break up all the protein molecules and the resulting bits of collagen are dried to make a powder. Gelatin does not exist as such in nature. It is the product of a process.



There are all sorts of other kinds of gelling agents that are suitable for all sorts of dietary restrictions and some that behave in different ways that can be used to achieve an affect. For example ordinary gelatin after it is gelled melts in your mouth whereas there are kinds derived from sea weed that don't.



That, as grim as it sounds, is what gelatin IS.



But how does it work? How does it make something gel?



Well just about any gelling or thickening agent works by trapping water or other liquid molecules. They just do it in different ways.



Gelatin works by being exposed to heat in a liquid and then cooling. That is why when you are making jello you have to use hot water. The heat excites the collagen particles and separates them from each other. When the liquid starts to cool the particles start to relax and come back together forming an organized structure trapping liquid between them. And thus creating a gel.



But is it as simple as that? I have dug around the interwebs and found some very useful and surprising information on cooking with gelatin.



Did you know that adding pineapple, kiwi fruit, fresh figs, ginger root, guava, or papaya will stop your jello from gelling? I didn't! All these fruits contain an enzyme called bromelain that keeps the gelatin in a broken down state and prevents it from forming the structure that traps liquid to form a gel.





Before I add anything to my gelatin I will need to look up bromelain content!



If you want to avoid clumps mix your gelatin powder with a little COLD water before adding hot. Like when you make gravy and dissolve your flour in cold water before adding it to the rest of the sauce. This also applies to pectin.



Don't let your gelatin/liquid mix boil as it will break down the gelatin too much and it won't gel. BUT after gelling you can melt it gently and re-gel several times before it loses its ability to set. Why you would do this I am not sure but I am sure there must be a recipe out there that calls for it.



The more sugar you use the softer the set. This one I find interesting because it is the opposite of how pectin works. I would like to know why. Perhaps the crystal structure of the sugar prevents the collagen particles from forming their liquid trapping structure?





If you are adding solids to your jello then do not add more than the amount of jello you have. For example if you have four cups of jello don't put more than four cups of solids in it. Common sense that one really. Also it will also take longer to set if you put solids in.



It is funny but once I knew how gelatin works a lot of the tips I found on the internet were simple common sense. It was no longer a mystical alchemical additive whose behaviour was arbitrary and capricious.



For example for a softer set use more water for a harder set use less. Common sense for any gelling agent.



Wait until the gelatin is semi-set before suspending your solids. Like anything liquid solids would just sink or float before the jello set.



One good thing to know is your gelatin to liquid ratio for a standard set. The consensus seems to be one tablespoon (1 tbsp, 1/4 ounce, 1 envelope) to two cups liquid. However I have also seen recommendations that if you double a recipe you should use slightly less liquid than the ratio calls for. I have the opposite problem however in that I would like to HALVE a recipe. Logically in that case I would use slightly more liquid.





There are lots of other great gelatin facts. There should be as it has been used for more than 400 years!



I challenge all of you to try something new this week! Pick an ingredient you have never worked with before and find out all you can about it. And then use it in something. Join me on my little gelatin adventure!