Cooking is filled with all sorts of little tricks and hacks that can give you a better finished product. One of the most useful, but perhaps trickiest to master is using gelatin. So, we asked Chef Jerry Pellegrino, what are some of the most important things to know about cooking with gelatin?
Gelatin is a flavorless jelly-like substance that is extracted from the collagen of cow bones. It is used in cooking, as a gelling agent to lend sturdiness to a dish. It is featured in such dishes as aspic, gelatin desserts (Jello) or panna cotta. It comes in either sheets or powder and is available in ranked grades of quality. Many cooks favor using the sheets, which offer more precise measurements and are easier to handle.
Gelatin comes in four grades: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Each grade of gelatin has a different strength or ‘bloom’, with bronze the weakest and platinum the strongest. This can become quite confusing but fortunately the sheet size in which gelatin is sold is adjusted accordingly, with a stronger bloom meaning a slightly smaller sheet size, meaning that sheet for sheet all grades have the same setting properties. Bronze gelatin is the most commonly used grade in commercial kitchens whilst platinum grade is normally sold in supermarkets in packs of 15 leaves. 1 sheet of gelatin will set around 100ml liquid to a soft setting.
If you want t use gelatin powder, you’ll get it to “bloom”.
Blooming powdered gelatin" means to hydrate gelatin powder by sprinkling it over a small amount of cold liquid, allowing it to sit for a few minutes so the granules absorb water and swell, ensuring a smooth texture when added to a hot liquid later; essentially, it's the process of preparing gelatin powder before using it by letting it "bloom" in cold water.
Key points about blooming gelatin:
Why it's important: Blooming helps prevent lumps in your final mixture by allowing the gelatin to fully hydrate before dissolving in a hot liquid.
How to do it: Sprinkle the powdered gelatin over the surface of cold water (usually about 4 times the amount of gelatin powder) and let it sit for a few minutes until it becomes soft and slightly gel-like.
To use gelatin sheets, soak them in a bowl of cold water for 5-10 minutes or until soft. Remove from bowl and squeeze out excess water. Next, dissolve the leaves in the warm or hot liquid that you want to set. If your liquid is cold, slowly warm the mixture to a low heat and add the soaked gelatin sheets.
Above all, do not ever let a liquid containing gelatin boil. It will ruin the product, and you’ll have to throw it out and start all over.
Here is an easy recipe Jerry found that uses gelatin.
Lemon Panna Cotta
Ingredients:
1 cup (236 ml) heavy cream
1 cup (236 ml) whole milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ¾ teaspoons powdered gelatin
⅓ cup granulated sugar
Instruction:s
Place 4 small (4 ounce) ramekins onto a plate or small baking sheet.
To a saucepan add the cream, milk, vanilla and lemon to a pan. Whisk in the gelatin and leave for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, place the pan over medium heat, bring to a light simmer and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Divide the cream mixture between ramekins and refrigerate at least 4 hours to overnight.
