On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1152

neighboring granules together, though even
theseclusterseventuallydisperse.Sheetswith
theirsmallsurfaceareaintroducelessairinto
the liquid, which can be an advantage when
thecookwantsgreatclarityinthejelly.There
is also an “instant” gelatin that is
manufactured by drying the extract rapidly
before the gelatin chains can form junctions,
so it disperses directly in warm liquid. And
hydrolyzed gelatins have been intentionally
broken into chains too short to form a gel;
they’re used in food manufacturing as an
emulsifyingagent(p.627).
Thestandardproportionadvisedbydessert
gelatinpackagesisone7-gmpackageper
cup/240ml,orabouta3%solution;2%and
1%solutionsareprogressivelymoretender.
GelatinDoesn’tStrengthenNailsor
Hair
Though it’s widely believed that gelatin
supplementsstrengthenbothnailsandhair,


thereisnogoodevidencethatthisistrue.
Nailsandhairaremadeofaverydifferent
protein called keratin, and gelatin has no
advantage over other protein sources in
supplying the building blocks for keratin
production.
CarbohydrateGelling
agents:Agar,Carrageenan,

Alginates

Gelatinisn’ttheonlyingredientthatcooks
haveattheirdisposalforturningaflavorful
liquidintoanintriguingsolid.Starchgels
giveusvariouspiefillingsandthecandy
calledTurkishDelight,andpectingelsthe
manyfruitjelliesandjams(p.296).Alongthe
seacoastsoftheworld,cooksfoundlongago
thatvariousseaweedsreleaseaviscous
substanceintohotwaterthatformsagelwhen
thewatercools.Thesesubstancesarenot
proteinslikegelatin,butunusual