Gelatin is a gelling agent that is often use in the creation of many different types of dessert. Gelatin is used to create the structure of the dessert. However, there are different form of gelatin, and each of those forms require a different method of preparation.
If you dont understand the different forms of gelatin that exist, your dessert may not hold the shape that you require them to, or they may have a texture that you did not create when you prepared the dessert. There are three main type of gelling agents that is used in desserts: powdered gelatin, sheet gelatin, and agar-agar. Powdered gelatin comes in packet and many home cooks use it.
Types of Gelatin and How to Use Them
Professional cooks use sheet gelatin, and those who follow vegetarian and vegan diet use agar-agar, a plant-based gelling agent. However, agar-agar is different than gelatin because agar-agar is plant-based as opposed to the animal-based gelatin. Thus, agar-agar cannot be used in the same way than gelatin in many recipe.
The strength of the gelatin is represented by the bloom strength of the gelatin. The bloom strength indicates how strong the gelatin will set. The higher the bloom strength number, the stiffer the setting of the gelatin will be.
The lower the bloom number, the softer the setting of the gelatin will be. Thus, bloom strength allow the cook to determine the type of strength of gelatin required for the specific texture desire in the dessert. The standard amount of powdered gelatin is used in the majority of recipes.
One standard envelope of powdered gelatin contain the same amount as three gold-grade sheet of gelatin. Thus, if a recipe states that there should be a teaspoon of powdered gelatin, the cook may use one and a half sheet of gelatin instead. The ratio of powdered to sheet gelatin is constant.
However, the proper activation of the gelatin are required. Activation of the gelatin is referred to as blooming. To bloom the gelatin, the gelatin must be soak in cold water for five to ten minutes.
If the gelatin is bloomed with cold water prior to the addition of the bloomed gelatin to a warm dessert liquid, the formation of lumps of gelatin will be prevented. Thus, blooming the gelatin will allow the structure of the dessert to be set with the correct ingredient. Sheet gelatin has a slightly different activation process than powdered gelatin.
The sheets of gelatin must be submerged in water until they become soft. Once the sheets are soft, you must squeeze them to remove the excess water. The squeezing of the soft sheets of gelatin will allow for the recipe to maintain the proper amount of liquid in the dessert and keep the dessert from being too watery.
Another decision that must be made before adding the gelatin to any recipe is the texture of the resulting dessert. If the desired texture of the dessert is set to be soft, only half the amount of the gelatin should be used as compared to the amount of gelatin that would be necessary to create a firm texture. Agar-agar performs differently from the gelatin in numerous way.
Agar-agar will set at room temperature, as opposed to the requirement for refrigeration of any ingredient that employ the use of gelatin. Agar-aga will remain firm without refrigeration, but it will have a chewier texture than desserts that use gelatin. The cook must boil the ingredient in the preparation of the dessert to dissolve the agar-agar, but boiling the agar-agar will be avoided with any dessert that uses gelatin.
There are some ingredient that will prevent the setting of the gelatin if added to the dessert. Ingredients like raw pineapple, raw kiwi fruit, and raw papaya all contain enzyme that will break down the gelatin proteins. Thus, these fruits must be cooked prior to the addition of gelatin, or agar-agar must be used in place of the gelatin.
Additionally, if any amount of acid or salt is present in the dessert that uses the gelatin, the level of gelatin will have to be increased with the addition of more gelatin than would normally be used in recipes with similar level of acidity or salt. It is common for cooks to make mistake in the measurement of the amount of gelatin to be used in the recipes. For example, the common mistake of measuring powdered gelatin with scoop will result in inaccuracies in the strength of the gelatin because the weight of the gelatin can vary from brand to brand in the packets.
Thus, the best method of measuring gelatin is to weigh the ingredient in grams. Another mistake that cooks may make is in the amount of time that the dessert ingredient are allowed to chill. Gelatin will take several hour to reach the full strength that it will attain when fully chilled.
Thus, the best method of allowing the gelatin to reach full strength is to allow the dessert to chill in the refrigerator overnight. If the dessert is to be unmolded after only two hour, the gelatin may not reach its full strength, and the resulting dessert may collapse. The amount of gelatin that should be used in a dessert can vary dramatically based on the type of dessert that is to be created.
For instance, panna cotta require a small amount of gelatin because it is required to have a specific light texture. However, gummy candies require alot of gelatin because the candies must have a firm texture. Furthermore, the mirror glaze used for certain candies requires a high bloom strength of gelatin in order to achieve the shine and strength of the candy layer.
Aspic also require a sufficient amount of gelatin to allow for the sliced aspic to be created. Thus, if the relationship between the type of texture that is desire and the amount of gelatin required to achieve that texture is understood, cooks can better prepare the ingredient to achieve the best result from the preparation of the dessert with gelatin.