All of this is good. Even better if you’re fully self-actualized.
I posted recently here about nachos, specifically cheese for them. There were many useful suggestions, including using evaporated milk. Would you rather make something else than try that?
I feel the same. Good product, adds a nice texture when I want it, but I don’t use it too often because of lack of experience. Super useful, though, IMHO.
I haven’t used gelatin because I don’t usually have a need for it — I use chicken legs with the skin mostly, and the stock gels up just fine.
When I have the bones and skin from a breast, that’s when the body is not as good and I e thought about it, also from reading similar to what already posted above.
Chicken feet are not easily available at stores near me (WF, TJ, and local) — I’d have to go to a weekly farmers market where specific purveyors stock them, or then Chinatown. Easier to use legs, which are cheap and easily sourced. Wings used to be a good option, but no longer given the pricing.
I think sometime ago (as in a at least few years ago) someone also stated that he/she adding gelatin from gelatin package. I know, I know. Collagen is not the same as gelatin.
To be honest, I don’t. Even in the rare case, I need to, I add chicken feet.
I read wrong. I thought Kaleo was adding collagen. No, he was adding gelatin. When I add chicken feet, I add them on the same day I make the stock/broth. I would buy a small bag of chicken feet and use 1-2 pieces. To be honest, it is a bit of a trade off for me. The chicken feet will add a bit more mouth feeling, but the soup and stock tend to be a bit more cloudy. Just a little.
I think gelatin gives a different mouth feel than starch or flour thickening. Cornstarch, rice starch, flour… can all thicken the liquid. However, gelatin adds a certain stickiness which is different.
When I make chicken stock it gets plenty gelatinous from the bones; I’ve never seen a need to augment it with gelatin from a packet. Then again, I never plan on stock being super quick (no, I don’t own an IP).
Do or don’t add gelatin to your stocks, I don’t care. I posted my OP after trying the technique for the first time, which worked well for me. Turns out that it’s one pro chefs use.
Gelatin is the result of animal collagen breaking down in cooking. That’s what’s in the packages, and what’s also in well-made stocks that have included collagen-rich tissues.
The questions are obviously how much gelatin is desirable, and how do you go about getting it into your stocks or soups. If you want a lot, you need to use a lot of those tissues, which may not be readily available or affordable. Or, you can quickly add some/more from a package. Gelatin, whether made by the cook or a factory, also helps clarify stocks.
Sadly, I have none of those within 30 miles. If I was making a big batch of stock for something special or for preservation, I might travel for something like chicken feet or veal bones. But for, e.g., a quick cheater’s version of double stock (starting with boxed “stock”) or a leftover soup, gelatine sounds like a winner to me.