Modernist Cooking Made Easy (24 page)

I love the flavor of butterscotch and this recipe turns it into a thick, brittle gel that adds to the creaminess and heft of the butterscotch. I like to cut it into small cubes and serve it with desserts like ice cream, chocolate cake or pound cake. It can also be used with some savory dishes, as an accent to citrus glazed pork or chicken with chipotle BBQ sauce.

I usually make my own butterscotch sauce but you can use any high quality one you have on hand. To make your own, you cook 5 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar over medium heat until the sugar melts. Once the sugar melts, after about 5 minutes, whisk in ¾ cup heavy cream and cook for 10 minutes, whisking occasionally.

Tools Needed

Kappa carrageenan

Immersion blender

Molds or setting containers

A scale with small gram measurements

Ingredients

500 grams milk, about 2 cups

125 grams butterscotch sauce

6.2 grams kappa carrageenan, 1%

Pour the milk into a pot and add the butterscotch. Bring to a boil and puree with an immersion blender until combined well. Add the kappa carrageenan and blend well with an immersion blender. Remove from the heat and pour into molds.

Let cool at room temperature, or in an ice bath, then place in the refrigerator to finish setting.

Once fully set the gel can be turned out and cut into any shapes desired. The gel should last for several days in the refrigerator.

I
OTA AND
K
APPA
G
ELS

Iota carrageenan creates elastic gels and kappa carrageenan creates brittle gels. Because of this, you can combine the two in different ratios to make many intermediate textures.

Iota and Kappa Gel Ratios

The ratio you use will depend on the elasticity and hardness you are looking for. In general, a combined 0.3% to 1.0% total weight will range from soft to hard.

A 1:1 iota to kappa ratio will create a gel of medium elasticity and a 2:1 ratio will skew towards the carrageenan with the highest concentration.

For example, if you want a soft, elastic gel, you can use 0.20% iota with 0.1% kappa. For a gel of medium hardness and medium elasticity you would start with 0.25% iota and 0.25% kappa. For a hard, mainly brittle gel, you would use 0.3% iota with 0.6% kappa.

P
EANUT
B
UTTER
C
USTARD
G
EL

This peanut butter custard gel is a great dessert on its own or it can be used as a garnish for a variety of dishes. You can tweak this recipe by substituting melted chocolate for the peanut butter.

Tools Needed

Iota carrageenan

Kappa carrageenan

Standing or immersion blender

A scale with small gram measurements

Ingredients

540 grams milk

5 grams vanilla extract

75 grams white sugar

5 grams salt

4 grams iota carrageenan, 0.5%

1.5 grams kappa carrageenan, 0.2%

180 grams smooth peanut butter

Combine the milk, vanilla, sugar and salt with a blender. Add the carrageenans and blend well to combine.

Pour the milk into a pot and bring to a boil. Whisk in the peanut butter until combined and smooth.

Pour into molds and let cool on the counter. Once they are cool, place them into the refrigerator to finish setting.

Once fully set the gel can be turned out and cut into any shapes desired. The gel should last for several days covered in the refrigerator.

G
ELATIN

G
ELATIN
A
T A
G
LANCE

Common Names

Gelatin, InstaGEL, Gelatina, Vegetal

Basic Ratios By Weight

0.5-1.0% soft gels

1.0-6.0% hard gels

0.4-1.0% light foams

1.0-1.7% dense foams

10% of liquid for marshmallows

Sheets per 100 Grams Liquid

0.3-0.55 sheets, soft gels

0.55-3.3 sheets, hard gels

0.2-0.55 sheets, light foams

0.55-0.9 sheets, dense foams

5.5 sheets, marshmallows

Bloom Temperature

Cold

Dispersion Temperature

Above 50ºC / 122ºF

Setting Temperature

Below about 30ºC / 86ºF, faster at colder temperatures

Melting Temperature

Depending on the concentration from 30ºC / 86ºF - 40ºC / 104ºF

Gelatin is one of the oldest “modernist” ingredients in western cooking. It is used in many childhood favorites from the ubiquitous Jell-O at family picnics to the marshmallows roasted in s’mores. Gelatin can also be used to create foams and a wide variety of gels.

Gelatin is taken from the collagen found in the bones and skin of animals. If you make a stock at home it is what gives it body and causes it to gel in the refrigerator. It is clear and colorless and when dried it is solid and brittle. When hydrated it forms a flavorless and transparent gel which easily blends into other ingredients.

H
OW TO
U
SE
G
ELATIN

Gelatin has many different uses but there are similar steps to using it. Unlike many ingredients you first need to hydrate the gelatin before dispersing it.

Hydrating Gelatin

All gelatin has to be hydrated, or “bloomed”, before it can be used. Gelatin commonly comes as a powder or in dry sheets. They are both used in a similar manner but have a few differences when hydrating.

Hydrating Powdered Gelatin

To hydrate powdered gelatin you sprinkle it in cold liquid and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. The gelatin and all the liquid will go into the recipe and should be taken into account.

Hydrating Gelatin Sheets

Gelatin sheets are also hydrated in a cold liquid for 5 to 10 minutes. However, once they have hydrated you squeeze the liquid out of the sheets and it does not go into the final recipe.

Dispersing Gelatin

Once the gelatin has been hydrated you need to disperse it into the liquid you want to gel. This is typically done through whisking, either by hand or with an standing or immersion blender.

When dispersing the gelatin make sure the liquid is warm, typically above 50ºC / 122ºF. If you don’t want to heat all of the liquid you can dissolve the gelatin in a portion of it and then combine it with the rest. You can also disperse it in water first and then mix it into the flavored liquid, though it will dilute the flavors some.

C
ONVERTING
B
ETWEEN
G
ELATIN
T
YPES

As mentioned previously, there are two main types of gelatin, powdered and sheet. Sheet gelatin also comes in four different strengths: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. The strength of gelatin is measured by their “bloom strength” and each type of sheet gelatin has a different bloom strength. We’ve listed them, as well as Knox, the most popular brand of powdered gelatin, in the table below with their bloom strength.

However, because of the difficulty in moving between gelatin types I tend to have both powdered gelatin and sheet gelatin on hand so I can use whatever a specific recipe calls for and save myself the effort of converting.

Because the sheets of gelatin are different sizes, they actually contain the same amount of gelling power. So if a recipe calls for “1 sheet of gelatin” you can use any type of sheet.

Powdered gelatin typically comes in ¼ ounce / 7.2 gram packets of 225 bloom strength. Four sheets of gelatin equal about one packet, so each sheet is around 1.8 grams.

If you are using a recipe that calls for 2% powdered gelatin, you can figure out the number of sheets you need to use for every 100 grams of liquid by dividing the percent by 1.8. However, this only works for small amounts because the math isn’t exact and at larger volumes the small differences add up.

For a detailed look at this conversion process I highly recommend reading an article by Daniel R. Moody that goes into detail explaining how to convert from one type of gelatin to another.
^[20]

G
ELATIN
G
ELS

Gels are the most common thing gelatin is known for. With the popularization of Jell-O, many people picture gelatin gels as firm, wiggly cubes of fruit juice. While gelatin can make this type of gel there are many more kinds of gels that can be made from it including panna cottas and other soft gels.

Gelatin Gel Ratios

When discussing gelatin ratios it can be very confusing because of the differences in the bloom strength. All of our ratios are for powdered gelatin with a bloom strength of 225 so it is easier to convert to gelatin sheets. We also give the number of sheets per 100 grams of liquid as well.

The type of gel created is dependent on how much gelatin you use. For powdered gelatin the ratios often range from 0.5% to 1.0% for soft, tender gels. For very hard, firm gels it can be used in ratios of upwards of 6% but the typical range for firmer gels is 1% to 3%.