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Blooming gelatin


chef koo

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Gelatin can act like flour -- if you just dump a bunch of it into a hot liquid, the outer granules in the clump may absorb liquid first and swell, sealing the surface and preventing the granules inside from ever getting moisture. The point of blooming is to ensure that the gelatin is fully hydrated, thus making proper dispersion of the gelatin easier. (This process works a little better at cooler temperatures.) But as long as you're making sure that you're not allowing the gelatin to clump up, it doesn't really matter.

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Dave Scantland
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Eat more chicken skin.

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  • 2 months later...

I understand the orthodoxy around gelatin but for most of my uses, I've never bothered and have been fine. 99% of what I use it for it's going to be solidifying a liquid, so I just simmer it until it's completely dissolved (I know you're not supposed to boil it either, but never been an issue). Problem solved. Simmering it while stirring removes any lumps, I've never seen any issues with clouding. If you're making a mousse where you can't be as aggressive, I can see the benefit, but EVERY recipe I see regardless of how the gelatin is being handled, calls for blooming. It almost has a putting a cork in a pot of octopus to make it more tender feel to it.

Edited by chef koo (log)
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bork bork bork

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There's an article on Serious Eats that talks about some of the reasons why blooming is appropriate; I think it depends more on what you're making.   I've seen hard bits of undissolved gelatin in marshmallows before so for those, the recommendation to bloom the gelatin is significant (as well as the fact that the liquid  used to bloom the gelatin is part of the recipe and can't be omitted). 

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