Many uses of gelatin: From manufacturing to avant-garde cuisine

One of the many uses of gelatin is in the kitchen of top culinarians around the world. It is, in many ways, a secret ingredient that enables chefs to create extra-culinary magic. As the famous avant-garde gastronomist, Wylie Dufresne, told Saveur, "Gelatin is the holy grail." According to Dufresne, part of gelatin’s magic lies in its unique ability to melt in the mouth.

Gelatin, the ‘holy grail’ of the culinary profession

Gelatin is excellent for creating foams infused with aromatic herbs and spices that delight the senses. It’s also ideal for stabilizing and gelling mousses, thickening broths, creating glazes and giving food great body and texture.

Here are a few interesting culinary applications you might not be aware of:

Oil-free mayonnaise: Gelatin gives sauces a shiny appearance and a smooth texture, making it a substitute for oil in mayonnaise recipes.

Flavor binding: Another fantastic gelatin functionality is flavor binding. High-end chefs often use gelatin in cooking sauces to combine flavors into a harmonious taste.

Mousses: When it comes to cooled mousses, gelatin is the ingredient of choice due to its excellent gelling and stabilization properties. Gelatin can be formed into a liquid, warmed, combined with other ingredients, cooled, frozen and then served at room temperature without being damaged. Not many ingredients can boast such strength and versatility.

Espuma: This innovative culinary foam, invented by chef Ferran Adria, combines flavors in a liquid that's forced through an air canister to create a foam with intense flavor and a delightful, airy texture. Because of its stabilizing functionalities, gelatin is a key ingredient in making espuma. 

Consumers also love gelatin

A chef’s best secret is no longer a secret. Ordinary food-loving consumers are now using gelatin at home. Quick research reveals the emergence of a huge home-foodie culture, with gelatin becoming a highly prized kitchen essential for the ordinary cooking adventurers. 

Gelatin can empower consumers by allowing them to create beautiful, restaurant-style food at home. For example, using gelatin in desserts such as panna cotta or cheesecake results in restaurant-quality texture and appearance. 

Gelatin can also solve problems for home cooks. Imagine hosting guests on a summer day and serving homemade cake topped with whipped cream. At balmy room temperature, the whipped cream starts to melt and lose its structure, ruining the lovely appearance. This problem can be avoided by adding gelatin, as gelatin’s stabilizing functionality helps keep it firm at room temperature. 

The home applications of gelatin are endless. It can be used in a variety of scenarios: fortifying smoothies, glazing meat, thickening sauces and creating homemade confections. It can even be used to purify used cooking oil! 

The Gelatine Manufacturers of Europe (GME) offers a fabulous selection of useful gelatin recipes.

GME: Recipes

Gelatin applications in the food industry

In the food industry, gelatin is used for its gelling, emulsifying, stabilizing and other unique functional properties. Gelatin can help enhance food texture and taste, and solve a wide variety of manufacturing challenges. Because gelatin has a neutral taste, it can be combined with countless flavors. 

Gelatin: the star ingredient in the world’s favorite sweets

Have you heard of gummy bears? Of course, you have. They’re famous worldwide, for their crystal-like appearance, soft gummy texture and ability to dissolve in the mouth, releasing an intensely satisfying burst of flavor. Gummy bears owe their fame to the unique melt in mouth property of gelatin. 

And have you ever wondered why marshmallows are so fluffy and light? Or where they get their sumptuous texture from? You guessed it — gelatin. Thanks to its foaming functionality, gelatin is a star ingredient that gives marshmallows their signature airy texture. 

Gelatin as a fat-replacement in low-fat dairy products

With heart disease prevalent worldwide, more people are cutting back on saturated fats. Traditionally, dairy products — no matter how delicious — can contain large quantities of fats.

Manufacturers responded to changing consumer demand by developing low-fat versions of popular dairy products such as yogurt and ice cream. However, these products can lack appeal when fat is removed, because the dairy products often also lose their creamy texture and satisfying mouthfeel.

This is where gelatin comes in. Gelatin restores texture to fat-reduced dairy products without negative health implications. In fact, gelatin is a safe, nutritious protein derived from natural sources.

Gelatin is the perfect ingredient for the job. It has no flavor or aroma, allowing it to blend well with the other ingredients. Its gelling and glazing functionalities help recreate the rich texture and luster of fat.

Its benefits go beyond texture. Gelatin also addresses practical issues in dairy production. For example, low-fat yogurts are prone to ‘syneresis’  — the separation of water from a gel substance – which leads to an unappealing watery layer. As a thickener and stabilizer, gelatin strengthens the gel structure and helps prevent syneresis.  

Gelatin used in surgical equipment and revolutionary biomedical applications

Gelatin is more than a food ingredient-it has a wide range of technical applications in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. As a natural product that is well-tolerated by the body, it is an ideal component for various medical uses.

For more than 100 years, gelatin has been the main shell excipient used in the manufacturing of hard and soft capsules.  

Capsule or tablet manufacturers use specially formulated gelatins with excellent dissolution rate, allowing the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to be quickly released in the stomach. This means gelatin dissolves at body temperature, ensuring timely medication release.

Highly purified gelatins, low in endotoxins — toxins found within bacterial cells — are used in specialized biomedical applications. For example, purified gelatin is a key component in some hemostatic products, which help stem blood flow during surgical procedures.

Gelatin also plays a role in vaccines and other injectable medicines. In vaccines, it protects live viruses, while in injectable medicines, it acts as a safe, natural preservative that extends shelf life.   

Perhaps even more exciting is gelatin’s role in regenerative medicine, a groundbreaking approach to treating some diseases. Stem cell therapy, tissue engineering and biomolecule delivery systems all fall under this field. Gelatin is highly valued because it mimics the body’s matrix, blends with other biopolymers and is non-immunogenic. When low in endotoxins, gelatin provides an ideal medium for cell growth and differentiation.