Gelling Methods

Not too long ago, pastry shops were limited to using gelatin and pectin, and sometimes agar-agar, as the only gelling agents. With the changes that came with modern cuisine and the popularity of new methods and techniques utilizing alternative gelling agents barely seen in small commercial kitchens, a new realm of products became readily available to most chefs. Thanks to this newfound popularity, there is an abundance of gelling agents available in quantities that are easier to purchase than they were a few years ago, when they were used exclusively by industrial manufacturers in very large amounts.