I Was Doing Gelatin Wrongly All This Time!

milk_lover

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Good news, ladies and gentlemen. Now I can tolerate the generic gelatin powder with no issues. Maybe this thread will help others who have problems with the regular gelatin powder.

I did my coffee latte with gelatin the old way (i.e., mixing everything together and warming it until it reaches boiling) and then I used a strainer to test if the gelatin was dissolved. It turned out it was not dissolved completely. When I strained it and drank it, I had no issues, which led me to think complete dissolving of the gelatin is a must in my case if I want to avoid gelatin induced serotonin.

The trick is summarized in two words: blooming and not boiling.

In details, I put little cold liquid in a cup or bowl with enough surface area and then sprinkle the powder onto the liquid evenly and let it sit for at least 10 minutes if it's water or 20 minutes if it's milk. After the time passes, I whisk it to form a uniform paste.

Now you can go about this in two ways. You can either add extra liquid and then warm the mixture on the stove without boiling it while stirring it. Or warm the rest of the liquid separately and then add it on top of the uniform paste of gelatin and then stir it well for complete dissolving. I prefer the second method because you can avoid any potential boiling of the gelatin.

When I do the new method and use the strainer, I almost don't see any clumping or undissolved gelatin left in the strainer and it doesn't give me any problems if I don't use the strainer. It might be old news for some of you guys, but it was like a revelation to me :)
 

Giraffe

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It might be old news for some of you guys, but it was like a revelation to me :)
Hope this helps people who have issues with gelatin. :)

Now you can go about this in two ways. You can either add extra liquid and then warm the mixture on the stove without boiling it while stirring it. Or warm the rest of the liquid separately and then add it on top of the uniform paste of gelatin and then stir it well for complete dissolving. I prefer the second method because you can avoid any potential boiling of the gelatin.
I basically do it the way you do (both variants). Only I use more liquid (I don't get a paste), and I don't wait so long (it's bloomed after a minute or two).

Regarding variant 2, I add the cold liquid (with the gelatin) to the hot one, this is supposed to prevent lumping.
 

Amazoniac

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That's great. Thanks for sharing!
However some people, like me, have issues even with some commercial hydrolyzed collagens. It's not a matter of clumped or undissolved parts.
I never tried that before though, mainly because I don't believe that it's going to make any difference (for me).
Jenn, from this forum, suggested somewhere to use less liquid; something I never understood why..
 
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milk_lover

milk_lover

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I basically do it the way you do (both variants). Only I use more liquid (I don't get a paste), and I don't wait so long (it's bloomed after a minute or two).

Regarding variant 2, I add the cold liquid (with the gelatin) to the hot one, this is supposed to prevent lumping.
I tried less time for blooming and it was never perfect. Maybe the rate of blooming in milk is slower or something. I like your version of adding the cold liquid with the gelatin to the hot one, I will try it some time :)
That's great. Thanks for sharing!
However some people, like me, have issues even with some commercial hydrolyzed collagens. It's not a matter of clumped or undissolved parts.
I never tried that before though, mainly because I don't believe that it's going to make any difference (for me).
Jenn, from this forum, suggested somewhere to use less liquid; something I never understood why..

I find the paste from less liquid easier to dissolve in hot liquid. Even though I could tolerate gelatin to some degree now, I would prefer to take glycine because it's practical if you're eating lean meat at a restaurant, which is almost 100% of my lean meat cases.
 

superhuman

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I do 60g gelatin a day. But yes i did not know ppl didnt know how to use it.

Take the powder in grams and multiply that amount with 10. So 10g gelatin means 100g cold water. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes till it swells. Then heat water to boil and pour over and mix with a spoon till its just smooth liquid and drink
 

BobbyDukes

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This is weird. This is exactly what I discovered, a few months back. Reading this is almost like I wrote the post myself!

Adding gelatin powder to boiling water was completely pointless I soon discovered, because those clumps of powder you'd get, would never fully disolve. I'd drink the liquid anyway, and it would produce problems. I therefore wrote off powdered gelatin as a man made, processed thing that was overhyped by the Peat community.

Recently, after not bothering with it for almost a year, I decided to try it again.

Adding gelatin to cold liquids however, worked treat. I discovered that by boiling it slowly, and constantly stirring resulted in absolute perfection with it dissolving. However, I soon noticed the 'bottom of the pan' burning problem, you speak of. Again, the constant stirring stops this to some degree, but doesn't eliminate the problem completely. So your suggestion of heating the liquid seperately, is a great idea. I didn't think of that. Thanks :) The constant stirring was on my mind, as I knew it was probably increasing the leaching of unwanted metals into the liquid (until I buy some Peat 'friendlier' pans).

I buy a store produced broth normally (boiled bones in water, with some herbs), and then add a few tablespoons of powdered gelatin to it, until it starts to thicken. I love it at that texture. Some salt and vinegar, for my own taste. Then flask it (tin thing), and I drink it around the times I have milk.

I never thought of adding it to milk. Might try that.
 

Violence

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You must be joking. Blooming? Straining? 20 minute waits? Warming mixtures?

You warm up the water in a microwave, 30 seconds to 1 minute, it doesn't have to be anywhere near boiling, even drinkable temperature will do, just has to be warm enough. You put in the powder and you stir with a spoon. Thats right, you stir. Yes, a bit longer than you would stir sugar, but theres nothing more to it.

Yes it will not disolve by itself. You need to stir. I stir casually while eating or reading, or talking, until the powder is completely disolved. That means the liquid is as clear as if there was no powder in it.

Not a rocket science, in spite of this thread trying to make it to be.
 

DaveFoster

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You must be joking. Blooming? Straining? 20 minute waits? Warming mixtures?

You warm up the water in a microwave, 30 seconds to 1 minute, it doesn't have to be anywhere near boiling, even drinkable temperature will do, just has to be warm enough. You put in the powder and you stir with a spoon. Thats right, you stir. Yes, a bit longer than you would stir sugar, but theres nothing more to it.

Yes it will not disolve by itself. You need to stir. I stir casually while eating or reading, or talking, until the powder is completely disolved. That means the liquid is as clear as if there was no powder in it.

Not a rocket science, in spite of this thread trying to make it to be.
I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't you let say that.
 
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milk_lover

milk_lover

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You must be joking. Blooming? Straining? 20 minute waits? Warming mixtures?

You warm up the water in a microwave, 30 seconds to 1 minute, it doesn't have to be anywhere near boiling, even drinkable temperature will do, just has to be warm enough. You put in the powder and you stir with a spoon. Thats right, you stir. Yes, a bit longer than you would stir sugar, but theres nothing more to it.

Yes it will not disolve by itself. You need to stir. I stir casually while eating or reading, or talking, until the powder is completely disolved. That means the liquid is as clear as if there was no powder in it.

Not a rocket science, in spite of this thread trying to make it to be.
Yeah I probably made it look more difficult that it should, but I've always struggled with gelatin and when this method helped me tolerate it so much better, I couldn't contain my joy and I shared it.
 

Luann

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What's a candy brand that makes gummy stuff with no fructose syrup? Anyone?
 

Birdie

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Yeah I probably made it look more difficult that it should, but I've always struggled with gelatin and when this method helped me tolerate it so much better, I couldn't contain my joy and I shared it.
Very helpful. I was being sloppy with my gelatin prep. Just sprinkling it on milk to rest before adding my eggs for scrambled. No wonder it caused us trouble. Thanks a bunch milk.
 

Waynish

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You must be joking. Blooming? Straining? 20 minute waits? Warming mixtures?

You warm up the water in a microwave, 30 seconds to 1 minute, it doesn't have to be anywhere near boiling, even drinkable temperature will do, just has to be warm enough. You put in the powder and you stir with a spoon. Thats right, you stir. Yes, a bit longer than you would stir sugar, but theres nothing more to it.

Yes it will not disolve by itself. You need to stir. I stir casually while eating or reading, or talking, until the powder is completely disolved. That means the liquid is as clear as if there was no powder in it.

Not a rocket science, in spite of this thread trying to make it to be.

Lmao... Exactly! Who doesn't even stir until homogeneity ensues? I thought this was in our DNA! It is like swallowing without chewing :p
 

artlange

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I add two scoops of Great lakes hydrolyzed collagen (green can) to my coffee cup and 2T sugar and 1T butter, then add hot freshly brewed coffee and stir with a battery powered milk frother for about 15 sec, and the gelatin and sugar is dissolved.
 

anonbiohacker

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lol. I got some gelatin last week. started taking 4 tbsp per day pretty much off the bat... just dump in OJ and chug down... BAD IDEAAAAA... horrible upset stomach and diarrhea for 2 days straight now, literally took 15 trips to the toilet today... fml
 

anonbiohacker

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@Carrum It's Vital Proteins' gelatin powder... it's not hydrolyzed. Idk how well it would dissolve if left be. I would just dump the powder into the OJ, mix with a spoon for 5 seconds, and then drink it.
 

cyclops

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Not sure if you guys are talking about the green can or red can but...

I use the red can and just heat up some liquid on the stove and sprinkle the gelatin slowly in small batches and then stir for a minute or so until dissolved. I use allot of gelatin and there is usually just a small amount of clumping that I take out with a little strainer. Then I put it in the fridge over night and it becomes like jello.

Does blooming mean you are turning the powder into a jello-like consistency?
 

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