When to add gelatin to jellied meat? Jellied meat with gelatin

Gelatin – what is it?

First, you should find out what gelatin is. It is an animal protein that looks like a sticky substance. It is obtained from the ligaments, tendons and skin of animals, as well as from the bones and scales of fish. Due to its gelling properties, this product is used in cooking as a thickener and is widely used in the food industry.

Dry gelatin is sold in the form of plates or free-flowing granules of a transparent yellowish color. As a rule, it is packaged in bags of 10, 15 and 25 grams. But in stores you can also find larger packages.

With or without gelatin

This is one of the most common questions about aspic on the culinary internet. Indeed, how can you ensure that the broth hardens and takes on the consistency of jelly, and not meat “ice cream”? And besides, what should you do if you want to cook a light, dietary dish without pork legs? There are very simple answers to these questions.

Variation of jellied meat with gelatin

This is the simplest option, which gives us complete freedom of action. After all, absolutely any meat can be used for jelly with gelatin. Any recipe for jellied meat with gelatin has comments (step by step and with photos), but the technology in any case will be exactly the same as described above. The most important thing is to know exactly how much gelatin to take:

If we want to get a trembling jelly, like a pudding, we dilute 20 g of gelatin per liter of prepared jellied meat. Let's say we cook in a 5-liter saucepan. And then we take 100 g of gelatin, no more. After all, you need to take into account that 400-500 ml of water will certainly boil away.
And if we want to get a firmer consistency, feel free to take at least 2 times more - 40 g per liter of finished broth.

And an equally important question is how to dilute gelatin and when to add it to the broth. Everything is simple here too. Firstly, there are always instructions on the bag. But even if she is lost, we act like this:

First of all, the ratio of gelatin to water should be 1:10. Measure out the required amount with a spoon and pour into a glass.
Pour cold boiled water into it (10 times more in volume).
Leave for 30-60 minutes, the water should swell.
Now put the glass in a water bath for a few minutes. You can simply immerse the glass in a pan of water and put it on low heat. When it heats up, stir thoroughly until completely dissolved.
OK it's all over Now. Gelatin is ready. It is added to the hot but not boiling broth when it is already cooked (or 10-15 minutes before the end). Just keep in mind that gelatin is not boiled. That is why it is added specifically to the prepared broth. Then we proceed as usual - pour it into molds and put it in the cold.

ADVICE

There is gelatin in powders and plates. For beginner cooks, it is easier to work with powder - it is simply poured into the broth and dissolved evenly. But working with records requires some experience.

Jellied meat without gelatin

The recipe for jellied pork without gelatin with a step-by-step description of the steps and photos was discussed above. We were able to easily do without this food additive, since all the necessary substances to give the jelly the desired consistency were already in the meat itself. Or rather, in pork legs (and there are plenty of them in ears too).

But is it really necessary to always take pork? Not at all. Here are some more natural sources of collagen:

Beef legs.
Ox or cow tails.
Legs of lamb.
Country chicken.

That is, it is quite possible to cook jellied meat without gelatin - for this you need to take exactly these types of meat. By the way, note that regular store-bought chicken will not work. It’s easy to verify this from personal experience: after all, chicken soup put in the refrigerator will never turn into jelly. Another thing is a village rooster or chicken. They provide the necessary amounts of collagen, which results in the desired consistency.

How to dilute gelatin for jellied meat in broth?

Before preparing any dish with gelatin, it must first be diluted in liquid. What proportions of water and dry powder to use depends on the desired hardness of the future dish. To dissolve the granules, you need to prepare an enamel pan, water, broth, a glass, a clean container, gauze (or a fine-mesh strainer). You will also need a stove and, of course, the granules themselves.

So, how to properly dilute gelatin for jellied meat? Pour the dry powder into a glass and fill it with boiled cold water. Stir well and leave to soak. After about an hour, the gelatin will swell and increase in size.

Pour the resulting mixture into a saucepan, place on the stove and turn on low heat. While cooking, stir the gelatin constantly until it is completely dissolved. When the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat immediately. Remember that you absolutely cannot boil it!

After this, the solution should be filtered. To do this, place gauze or a strainer on a dry and clean container. Gradually pour in all the gelatin. Now, after filtering, you can mix it with the broth that you cooked specifically for making jellied meat.

Transparent jellied pork knuckle and turkey – natural and very tasty

Jellied meat is one of the main dishes on the New Year's table. For the most delicious treat for the holiday table, try making pork knuckle jelly with the addition of turkey neck. The latter type of meat improves the taste and gives the dish a unique aroma. The result is a very tasty cold appetizer that freezes well and is easy to prepare.

Required components:

Pork knuckle - 1 pc. (large)
Turkey neck - 1 pc.
Onion - 1 head
Carrots - 1 pc.
Salt to taste
Garlic - 2-3 cloves

Let's start cooking:

1. Soak the cleaned and washed shank in cold water for 4 hours.

2. Then drain the used liquid and fill with new, clean water. We send the neck and peeled vegetables to the knuckle. Place the pan on the stove and bring the contents to a boil. During the process, be sure to remove any foam that has formed from the surface of the broth. Then reduce the heat to low and simmer with the lid closed for 4 hours.

3. Fifteen minutes before the end of cooking, add garlic and salt to the ingredients of the pan. Then take out the meat and sort it out. The broth must be strained using a sieve and cheesecloth.

4. In order for the jellied meat to be not only tasty when served, but also to look beautiful, it needs to be decorated even before pouring. Place carrots cut into slices and a boiled egg on the bottom of the selected form. Distribute the pieces of cooked meat evenly on top.

5. Next, pour the broth over everything and leave to cool on the table. Then put the yummy in the refrigerator overnight or until completely frozen.

If the jellied meat has frozen and easily separates from the mold, then you did everything right.

The traditional treat for the New Year's table is ready to eat. Transparent jellied meat, enriched with your favorite flavors, will go perfectly with vodka in the family circle. Enjoy cooking for your family and friends!

Hardening of gelatin in jellied meat

Jellied meat with the addition of gelatin hardens very quickly, provided that it is placed in the refrigerator on the middle shelf. In this case, the dish will harden within an hour. If you want to get a rich taste, then prepare the jellied meat in advance. It needs to brew, ideally for about half a day.

It happens that the prepared dish does not harden at all. This means that you have not carefully studied how to properly dilute gelatin for jellied meat. The situation can still be improved. Dissolve the granules again in the proportions indicated on the package. Add the solution to the broth and bring it to a boil. After cooling, send the jellied meat to re-harden.

To avoid a similar incident with you, prepare the dish correctly. Cook only over low heat so that the liquid evaporates slowly. Do not add water under any circumstances, this will disrupt the entire process. At the end of cooking, there should be half as much broth left as there was at the beginning. This indicates that you are preparing jellied meat correctly.

When to add gelatin to chicken jellied meat

An interesting fact is that if it is not a chicken, but a rooster that gets into the jellied pot, then gelatin does not need to be added to the finished broth. During prolonged cooking, the bones and skin of the poultry will give up all the collagen, and the jellied meat will harden on its own. But to do this, you need to be sure that this is a rooster, especially one raised at home.

A city dweller who bought chicken from a store counter should know that gelatin must be added to the jellied meat from it. This also applies to jellied meat cooked from necks.

When to add gelatin to an hour before the broth boils, you should soak the food gelatin, based on the proportions indicated on the bag.

The chicken should be well boiled with the addition of spices. Remove fat from the surface with a spoon. After this, the meat should be cut and placed on plates or forms. If desired, the meat is decorated with herbs, eggs, and carrot slices. My favorite ingredient in jellied meat is garlic.

Only after this is the pre-soaked and swollen gelatin poured into the hot (but not boiling!) broth. You can strain the broth before doing this. The main thing is not to allow a new boil, but simply to achieve complete dissolution. Some recipes call for adding gelatin at the end of cooking, which is understood as continuing to boil. But then the hardening force may decrease.

The plates filled with meat components are filled with broth with gelatin and placed in the cold.

How much gelatin should I add to jellied meat?

It is recommended to add twenty grams of gelatin per liter of jellied meat. In this case, the dish will turn out to be unstable, with a characteristic “shaking”. It will be so soft that you can eat it with a spoon. If you want to prepare a hard jellied meat so that it can be cut into dense pieces with a knife, then increase the proportions. For a liter of food, take forty grams of dry granules, but no more. The fact is that excess gelling solution will harden the jellied meat very much. Therefore, instead of a tasty snack, you may end up with a spoiled meal.

As an example, it is worth considering the situation of how much gelatin is needed for 3 liters of jellied meat. Let's say you want to get something between a solid and quivering mass. Then take ninety grams of dry granules. You can easily cut the jellied meat and eat it with a spoon.

To make the entire cooking process more understandable, you should consider several recipes for preparing the dish.

Making homemade jellied chicken and pork legs in a saucepan

Jellied meat made from chicken and pork feet takes a little longer to cook than from one bird, since the pork feet need to be thoroughly boiled. The cooking process can take several hours, so it can be divided into two stages - the first is boiling the jelly broth for 6 hours. The second stage is freezing the finished food in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

Ingredients:

Recipe:

To make the broth clear, you should wash the pork legs well, you can even soak them overnight. In the morning, wash the chicken carcass and legs.
Divide the bird into pieces and place it in a cooking pot along with the legs. Fill with water so that it completely covers the meat.
Let’s boil, skim off the foam, and immediately turn the flame down to low. Let the broth simmer on the stove, covered with a lid, for 5 hours.
The dish should not actively boil; the jellied meat should simmer. You should periodically skim off any foam that forms and remove excess fat.
1 hour 30 minutes before the end of cooking, add peeled vegetables - whole carrots and onions and add salt to taste.
15 minutes before the jellied meat is ready, add the garlic cloves, peppercorns and bay leaves.
The jellied meat is ready, remove the vegetables and meat from the broth. When the meat has cooled, separate it from the bones and chop it. Strain the rich broth using a strainer or two layers of gauze. Spread the meat in an even layer in the molds and pour in the broth.
Read also: Is it possible to eat pork while losing weight? Pork: 5 myths debunked by nutritionists
Place in the refrigerator to cool (at least 6 hours or overnight).

Chicken jellied meat

The lightest version of jellied meat, which will resemble a clear aspic, can be prepared from chicken breast. Usually this dish is decorated with a boiled egg, carrots and green peas. Of course, the easiest way to cook jellied meat with gelatin is in a slow cooker, which you can do if you have such equipment.

The recipe makes about eight appetizer servings. If you need more, simply increase the quantity of products. So, what will it take? About half a kilo of chicken breast, three hundred grams of chicken legs, thighs or drumsticks, twenty grams of gelatin, a medium carrot, an onion, five cloves of garlic, bay leaf and salt to taste.

Rinse the bird and peel the vegetables (onions, carrots and garlic). Place the prepared products into a multicooker bowl (or pan). Fill with a liter of water. Cook for about one and a half hours.

Meanwhile, dissolve gelatin in a glass of water. Let it disperse and swell. Use the above rules on how to dilute gelatin for jellied meat in broth. Remove the vegetables and meat, separate the fillet from the bones and cut everything into pieces. Chop the garlic.

Place all the vegetables and meat on the bottom of the molds. Pour gelatin into the prepared broth. Heat on the stove and pour the mixture into molds. After cooling, place the dish in the refrigerator until completely frozen.

Chicken jellied meat with gelatin in a slow cooker

Cooking time: 6 hours. We need: a sieve, a slow cooker, plates for jellied meat.

Ingredients

onion	75 g
chicken	2.3 kg
salt	5 g
instant gelatin	15 g
garlic	8 cloves
water	4.2 l

Step-by-step preparation

Wash 2.3 kilograms of chicken under running water, cut into small pieces, put in a bowl, fill with cold water and leave for 60 minutes.
After an hour, transfer the chicken meat to the slow cooker, add 4.2 liters of water and select the “Stew” function (5 hours).
After 4 hours, put 75 grams of onion into the slow cooker and add 5 grams of salt.
After the program is completed, remove the meat from the broth, cool and remove the bones.
Pour gelatin into 205 milliliters of broth, mix thoroughly and leave for 7-10 minutes.
Add 8 cloves of chopped garlic, prepared gelatin to the total mass of the broth and stir thoroughly.
We separate the chicken meat into fibers and place it on plates for jellied meat. Fill it with strained broth.
Place the jellied meat in the cold until it is completely frozen. Then you can serve it to the table.

Pork jellied meat

This recipe will certainly appeal to those who love cartilage and a lot of meat. To prepare, take half a kilo of pork and shank, twenty grams of gelatin, a carrot, an onion, three cloves of garlic, two bay leaves, black pepper and salt to taste.

Before cooking jellied meat with gelatin, you need to soak the pork knuckle in water so that its skin softens. This is usually done before bed so that you can start cooking in the morning. Wash the knuckle to remove any blood, remove all dirt, not forgetting to scrape in hard-to-reach places.

Place the prepared meat and shank in a saucepan and cover with water. Usually for this amount of food they take one and a half liters. Bring to a boil, skim off the foam. Now simmer over low heat for about four hours. At this time, fat will appear on the surface; some housewives recommend removing it.

About an hour before the meat is ready, dilute the granulated powder. In general, you can decide for yourself how much gelatin to add to the jellied meat. It could be thirty or forty grams. Place whole peeled onions and carrots into the broth. Also add peppercorns, bay leaves and salt to taste. Cook for about another hour.

Remove the pork parts, remove them from the bones and cut them into pieces. Strain the broth and pour it into a clean saucepan. Place the chopped meat in it and bring to a boil. Add chopped garlic and pour in the dissolved gelatin.

All that remains is to pour the dish into the molds and put it in the refrigerator until it hardens. Pork jellied meat goes well with mustard, horseradish and potatoes.

How to cook jellied meat with gelatin

The recipe for gelatin jelly is simple. You will need:

meat (beef, pork, chicken) – 1.5 kg;
onions – 3 pcs.;
carrots – 2 pcs.;
spices - to choose from;
salt - to taste;
gelatin – 20-60 grams per liter of broth (depending on the desired strength).

Preparation:

Pour 3.5 liters of water into the meat in an enamel pan.
When the water boils, drain it and add new water.
Salt and add spices.
After an hour, add onion, cut in half and carrots, cut as desired.
Leave to simmer over low heat for one hour. Don't forget to remove the scale with a slotted spoon.
Place the meat and strain the broth through cheesecloth.
Brew gelatin in one glass of hot water. Wait until it swells. Mix with the rest of the broth.
Cut the meat. Divide into forms. For containers, you can take plastic or metal trays, vessels, bowls, and silicone molds. Add boiled carrots, add some greens if desired.
Pour the broth into the contents of the molds.
Place in the refrigerator and wait until it hardens.