How to make jelly thick. What to do if the jelly is not frozen? How to avoid this problem

What winter holiday is complete without jelly? He is loved by both children and adults. The very process of cooking jelly, then disassembling the meat, often with the whole family, is already a folk tradition. Aspic is boiled from pork meat, beef, chicken, legs, pork heads are put in it, all this so that later it does not suffer from the question - the jelly is not frozen, what should I do? After all, the most important thing in jelly is that it takes on a dense texture, otherwise it will no longer be jelly, but soup.

To be precise, jelly is a frozen broth with meat. There are many variations of this dish, it can be cooked from one type of meat, it can be cooked from several, it can be made in layers and beautifully decorated with whatever you like. The most important thing is to put all the necessary ingredients so that you don’t suffer later - the jelly is not frozen, what should I do ?!

For solidification, someone puts pork legs or heads in the dish, and someone simply adds gelatin.

Aspic is good from any meat, the main thing is that it is cooked with soul. For a more delicate texture and taste, jelly is boiled from a rooster with the addition of chicken feet, which help the dish to harden. Transparent beautiful jelly is obtained from beef. Pork gives cloudiness to the dish, but if you put onions in the broth during cooking, and then remove the fat so that it does not turn out on top of a dense fatty film, then such a jelly can also be quite beautiful and transparent. Pretty tasty combinations of chicken, pork and turkey, or beef and chicken. Each housewife knows the preferences of her family and focuses on their tastes when choosing meat for

Here are all the necessary ingredients selected, prepared and in a saucepan on the stove, our delicious dish quietly and peacefully gurgles slightly, spreading an unbearably delicious aroma throughout the house. This always creates an anticipation of the holiday among the household and the hostess, pouring the finished dish into trays or plates, thinks of only one thing: what if the jelly is not frozen - what to do ?! On this occasion, you should not panic so much, if all the proportions of the meat are observed correctly, it will definitely harden.

In order to check its stickiness and ability to harden, you can try the broth on your fingers at the end of cooking - if it sticks, it will definitely harden! If you still have doubts, you can pour a little slurry into a plate and put it on the balcony or in the refrigerator. If after 15 minutes the jelly has not frozen - what to do then? First you need to leave it still to cook and after some time repeat the test for solidification again. If it still does not freeze, it is necessary to soak and add gelatin. After that, let the broth boil again so that it does not quickly deteriorate. For those who categorically do not like gelatin, you can put chicken legs or turkey wings in a saucepan and cook.

But that's not all the problems associated with cooking jelly. Very often, the hostess is faced with the following question: what to do if you oversalted the jelly? The most important thing - in no case do not add water to it! It can completely ruin the whole taste. There are other ways to correct this annoying misunderstanding. The surest way to save the taste of jelly is to take some rice, tie it in a linen or gauze bag and dip it into the broth. The rice will draw out the excess salt from the dish. You can also lower it into the broth, and then, when it absorbs excess salt, remove it with a slotted spoon.

Boiled aspic can be beautifully decorated. Pour a little broth into a plate or tray first and refrigerate. Then, when it hardens, beautifully spread boiled vegetables, pieces of meat, herbs on this layer, then again pour the broth to the top. On the table, it will look very beautiful and appetizing. It is necessary to cook jellied meat based on the number of people so that it does not stand in the refrigerator for a long time. Some housewives ask: how long can jelly be stored? More than 3 days, perhaps, is not worth it, because it will begin to deteriorate and lose its attractive appearance. In addition, the dish will gradually become less tasty and fragrant.

The New Year's table should be plentiful, because, as the people wisely remark: how you meet the New Year, so you will spend it. Of course, it is important that we all are full, satisfied with the contents of the refrigerator and the abundance of the family menu. So let's catch...

The New Year's table should be plentiful, because, as the people wisely remark: how you meet the New Year, so you will spend it. Of course, it is important that we all are full, satisfied with the contents of the refrigerator and the abundance of the family menu. Therefore, we will catch 2015, as they say, “on live bait” - on a table bursting with delicious dishes. And the “highlight of the program”, of course, will be jelly, which is a whole science to cook. And how to be "uneducated" in this matter, what to do if the jelly has not frozen?! First of all, do not be afraid to experiment and always have a backup plan, but better 3, and now you will get to know them.

• Ode to jelly
• Varieties of the dish
• Useful properties of aspic
• The jelly did not freeze - reasons
• 3 options for solving the problem
• Gelatin is the best friend of housewives
• Dish upgrade
• Dish readiness test

Ode to jelly

This dish was born by accident. In ancient times, there were no refrigerators, so people cooked food for the future only when the temperature was comfortable for storing ready-made meals. One of the then keepers of the hearth was not a very good housewife, so not only did she digest the broth, as a result of which the family could not finish it, she also left the pot right above the fire - on the street, where there was a minus temperature.

Waking up in the morning, the unfortunate hostess was going to cook breakfast and then she saw that the broth had changed - it froze and became more attractive in appearance. The woman tried the jelly, which turned out to be delicious, and suggested a new dish to the family. And so the jelly was “born”, like many other brilliant things - because of laziness, one might say. So we should mentally thank the young lady from the distant past for such a delicious discovery, without which not a single holiday can do now.

Varieties of the dish

Many people think that jelly is a national dish. Others argue that this dish is an exquisite food that came to us from France. Who is right? You will be surprised, but both sides.

That's why the jelly got the title of a folk dish. In times of serfdom, the landowners had to feed their "collective" with something. Since earlier meat dishes were held in high esteem, but there were no refrigerators, the rich were forced to share with their serfs what was left after eating. In order to make a homogeneous mass from the leftovers, and none of the unwitting ones fought for the best piece, the cooks grinded the meat left after the hosts' meal, put the mixture in a vat, boiled and let such a stew cool down. It turned out to be jelly. In appearance, of course, it was not as attractive as modern jelly, but it tasted very much even nothing. In addition, the meat dish perfectly satiated, and for the serfs, the strength is the main asset, as you understand.

And now about the option of exquisite jelly. It was brought to us by French chefs in an era when everything foreign was fashionable in Russia. In France, jelly was prepared mainly from game, special spices were added to the dish.

There is still such a variety of jelly as aspic, which was "born" in tsarist times. Meanwhile, at first this dish was exclusively fish. But due to the shortage of fish in the distant past and its incredible high cost, the people decided to change the aspic, so instead of fish, they began to put chicken, pork and beef meat in the dish.

Useful properties of aspic

In some cases, doctors prescribe their patients to include jellied meat in the menu. Why? After all, in fact, the dish is heavy, fatty. It's all about the composition, the broth is replete with gelatin, which is so necessary for a person to strengthen and splice bones. Therefore, doctors, however, advise patients with fractures to lean on jelly. The more jelly is eaten, the faster the probability of discarding crutches and returning to a full life. But not only this is useful aspic.

Meet the full list of the miraculous possibilities of jelly:

• increased immunity;
• strengthening the work of the nervous system;
• slowing down the aging process;
• improvement of the digestive system;
• fighting depression;
• elimination of manifestations of fatigue.

It's important to know! Women should certainly include jelly in their diet, because it is literally an elixir of beauty. The vitamins contained in it help to improve the skin and activate the metabolism, and collagen actively fights aging.

Video recipe for cooking jelly

The jelly did not freeze - reasons

It's time to move on to the most crucial moment - finding out the reasons why the jelly did not freeze, because 2015 is just around the corner, which means you need to start thinking through the New Year's menu and look for sidings so that the dish is both beautiful and tasty, isn't it? ?!

So, you cooked aspic, put the yummy on trays or plates, moved it to the refrigerator and are proud of your feat. But, getting up in the morning, you find that the aspic has not frozen, it has become a little thicker, but that's all. Tragedy? Yes, if you don't know what to do. And to know this, you need to determine the reasons. These include:

Discussing the reasons in more detail when the deed is already done is a waste of time. The past cannot be returned, you need to somehow correct the situation, because 2015 is on the nose, soon you will sit down at the table. So, what to do if the jelly is not frozen?

3 options for solving the problem

If the dish failed, this does not mean at all that you need to throw it away and start crying. The product is quite edible, and correcting errors is a matter of technology.

Gelatin is the best friend of housewives

The fastest and most effective way to remedy the situation is to add to the aspic what it lacks - gelatin. So, a step-by-step instruction for "saving" jelly with gelatin:

It's important to know! Do not overdo it with gelatin, otherwise the jelly will turn into gum. Wise housewives recommend taking 20% ​​of the amount indicated on the package, this will be enough for the aspic to freeze.

Dish upgrade

Some housewives say that real jelly should not contain store-bought gelatin. The question is debatable, since the finished gelatin in its composition is no different from the “brother” formed in the broth. But it is better not to argue with true mistresses, therefore it is proposed to consider how to upgrade a failed aspic.

First, buy what was missing in the dish - pork legs, ears, beef tails. It is from these parts that gelatin is released.

Secondly, move the contents of the plates to the pan, heat. Strain the broth and imagine that it is water for a new jellied meat. Cook everything as usual, and at the end add the meat from the first version to what was cooked. Thus, you will get a double-strength broth with increased "meatiness", which means that the jelly after the upgrade will not only be well-frozen, but also wonderful in taste.

The easiest way to fix cold

For those who are never too lazy, there is the easiest way to correct mistakes - to cook soup from jelly, which, after a plentiful feast, will become a real lifesaver in the menu of people who overeat on the eve of all sorts of goodies.

Dish readiness test

As they say, it is better to measure 100 times and only then start cutting. Same with cold. In order not to be upset that the dish is spoiled, and not to waste time correcting mistakes, check the “tendency” of the broth to solidify. So, how to test for the readiness of the liquid to solidify:

Now you know what to do if the jelly is not frozen, then the family New Year's dinner will be perfect.

Not every foreigner is able to understand the taste and aroma of Russian jelly. Despite this, we love jelly for its appetizing smell, incredible benefits and excellent taste. Do you know that jelly appeared in the era of serfdom? In those days, rich people liked to eat plentifully, and often after a meal there was a lot of food left. Since there were no refrigerators, they could not keep it. So that the dishes would not disappear, they were fed to the serfs. And so that they would not swear among themselves for the best pieces, the cook dumped all the meat leftovers and offal into the vat, and then simmered the stew over low heat. As the story goes, the fire went out in the evening, and by morning the rich soup turned into a persistent jelly. People tried this jelly and were surprised - it was so delicious! And so it turned out to be a real jelly.

How to cook jelly

To prepare a delicious jelly, which will not have problems with freezing, you need to follow a few rules.

1. For jelly, you need to take a large number of bones, chicken legs, neck, tail. The meat can be either chicken or beef, but remember that chicken meat contains a huge amount of gluten. To make the aspic more tasty and rich, combine several types of meat in it.
2. All meat parts should be thoroughly washed and put in a saucepan. Pour water into the pan so that it slightly covers the legs and tails. If desired, meat can be added to the broth, but only a little, since meat does not release gluten during cooking.
3. Put the pot on the fire and bring it to a boil. After boiling, reduce the heat so that the contents languish, barely swaying.
4. Remove foam and fat that floats to the surface in time. If it is overcooked, the dish will acquire a rancid greasy taste.
5. Boil the future aspic should be at least 3-4 hours. In no case do not add water to the pan, as this is often the reason that the product does not want to solidify. When water is added, the concentration of jelly decreases sharply.
6. A couple of hours after cooking, the meat can be removed and removed from the bone. Well-cooked meat separates itself without much difficulty. The bones must be thrown back into the pan, and the meat cut. Be careful not to let small bones fall into the bowls. At the same moment, you can add onion head, carrots, peppercorns, a piece of horseradish, salt, garlic if desired, to the broth.
7. After another two hours, try checking the composition for the ability to harden. Pour some broth into a bowl and refrigerate. If the mass has become sticky and sticky, you're done.
8. Arrange the cooked meat on deep plates and cups. Pour everything with broth and garnish with sprigs of greens. Place the containers in the refrigerator. Cover them with a lid so that the smell of jelly does not spread to other products.

The jelly will begin to solidify in a few hours, but will be completely ready in the morning. But sometimes the hostess in the morning may be disappointed in the form of a liquid unhardened jelly. But why is this happening?

Why didn’t the jelly freeze

There may be several reasons for this. First, these are not those products. If the broth had a small amount of tails, necks, wings, legs, and a lot of first-class meat, this may be the reason for this outcome. The jellied meat may not harden if you haven't cooked it long enough, and the jelly part just hasn't had time to boil out of the bones. The jelly does not freeze if there was a lot of water. And it also happens that the refrigerator does not work well and does not cool the contents enough. In this case, the jelly is also unlikely to freeze. Whatever the cause of liquid jelly, the matter can be corrected. The main thing is to know how to do it.

If you are so disappointed, don't worry. The situation can be corrected. To do this, you will need a few more by-products. Some housewives make a mistake when they boil unfrozen jelly again in order to thicken it. They believe that the broth will become thicker and then it will certainly freeze. This is not true, such a broth will not harden, since all jelly substances simply die with strong boiling. If the jelly is not frozen, you need to do this.

To begin with, the unfrozen jelly must be filtered to separate the meat from the broth. Add the washed offal to the broth and set to boil on fire for 4 hours. As a result, we get an incredibly rich and strong broth, which will certainly harden. It needs to be filtered and add the meat that we removed at the very beginning. Put the jellied meat in the refrigerator for the final stage of preparation.

If there is no desire to fiddle with tails and paws a second time, it is very easy to fix jelly with gelatin.

1. To get started, buy gelatin and dilute it according to the instructions. Usually, a 20-gram pack needs about half a liter of barely warm water. Fill the crystals with water and leave to swell in a warm place. In no case do not pour gelatin with hot water, otherwise lumps will appear in the mass.
2. While the gelatin swells, you need to separate the meat from the broth and drain all the failed aspic into the pan. Heat the mixture, but do not bring it to a boil.
3. When the gelatin is ready, it should be strained through cheesecloth and pour into a saucepan in a thin stream. Straining is necessary to prevent lumps from getting into the mass.
4. Warm up the composition, but do not bring to a boil.
5. Arrange the separated meat in molds, pour over the prepared broth and send it to the refrigerator.
6. In no case do not send jelly to the freezer. It will freeze, but not harden, all jelly properties will disappear. And if you leave the product at room temperature, it will just spread.

Remember, you should not dilute gelatin in a higher concentration than the instructions on the product package. Otherwise, the jelly will turn out to be unnaturally rubbery. And if the jelly has not frozen, but you do not want to do this dish again, just make soup from the broth. It is better to cook borscht or hodgepodge, since the broth is opaque.

Aspic is not only very tasty, but also an incredibly healthy product. In ancient times, it was prescribed as a medicine for the treatment of children, the elderly and pregnant women. The gluten that is boiled into the broth from the legs and other by-products is incredibly useful for bones, tendons and cartilage. Therefore, jelly is useful for older people who suffer from joint pain. In addition, the resulting jelly is pure collagen, which helps our skin to be firmer, tighter and smoother. This determines the benefits of aspic for women.

Russian hunters in winter always took jelly with them to hunt. It was kept in birch bark sacks and gave strength and vigor. Even on long trips, jelly saved people from hunger, because it contained a huge amount of vitamins. Today, jelly is not just a healthy food, but also a favorite dish of the New Year's table. Love jelly and cook it right!

Video: how to cook jelly without gelatin

Kholodets, or as it has been called “jelly” since ancient times, can be called almost a national dish. Almost all festive tables in Russia have this dish. And, really, what is a holiday without jelly?

Many families have a whole ritual for preparing this dish. Children especially love it. This unforgettable aroma of boiled meat, bay leaf, allspice, carrots and onions, garlic. What flavor is this?! It's almost impossible to resist him. All family members are often involved in the cooking process. This not only brings them together, but also allows them to exchange such invaluable experience. Allows the younger generation to learn the secrets of cooking that have been accumulated over years of practice.

The composition of the jelly includes pork and / or beef, pork legs, ears and tails, pig heads, chicken legs and their meat. There are quite a few options for cooking jelly, and there are quite a few recipes for this dish. Each hostess herself decides what to cook from, and what ingredients are available. In essence, jelly is nothing more than a frozen broth with the addition of boiled vegetables and meat. But what to do if the jelly did not freeze?

First of all, don't despair. This matter is quite fixable. However, first of all, it is worth understanding the reasons for your culinary failure. Basically, there are only two of them. One of them is a violation of the proportion of water and meat. To properly cook aspic, it is necessary that the water slightly covers the meat. After boiling, the gas is reduced, and the pan is covered with a lid. If more water has boiled away than planned, then do not add more liquid. Otherwise, the jelly will not freeze at all. The second reason is that the jelly did not finish cooking. The longer it cooks, the tastier it becomes. In addition, the concentration of fat and substances that allow it to thicken becomes greater in the broth. Checking the jelly for readiness is very simple. You need to take some liquid and pour it into a plate. After keeping it for 20 minutes in the refrigerator, it will become clear whether the dish is ready or not.

If the jelly is poured into cups, has cooled down for a long time, but still does not freeze, this is also not a reason for despair. Of course, it is possible to cook a new one, but it is always a pity for spoiled products. Therefore, it is necessary to drain the liquid, back into the pan and put it on to cook. After boiling the jellied meat for several hours over low heat, pour it into cups again. Of course, the probability that it will not freeze again remains. This can happen if the products used in its preparation contain a small amount of gluten. That is why it is best to put less meat in aspic, but more bones, tails, hooves and legs. For greater confidence in their culinary abilities, gelatin is often added to the jelly. An excellent tool for experienced housewives not to lose face. Gelatin must be poured with warm water. After infusing for 40 minutes, it should increase several times. Next, it is heated over very low heat or a water bath, stirring continuously. The main thing is that it does not boil, otherwise there will be no use from it. After a water bath, the gelatin is filtered and poured into a slightly cooled jelly. After mixing well, pour it into cups. When the liquid reaches room temperature, the jelly can be put in the refrigerator for final solidification.

In addition, it is worth saying that it is not advisable to cook a lot of jelly. Standing in the refrigerator for several days, it loses not only its taste, but also its attractiveness.

Thus, a way out can be found in almost any difficult situation. A little patience, and a wonderful dish is reanimated again. Bon appetit!

Even the most experienced hostess at least once in her life, but faced with a situation where the jelly prepared by her, unfortunately, did not freeze, despite the fact that the dish was prepared according to her favorite recipe while maintaining all proportions and recommendations.

We eliminate the causes

To eliminate such a shortcoming, first of all, it is necessary to establish why this happened. Experienced chefs say that there are only two reasons, by and large, for which the aspic has not acquired its usual state. Most often, the dish does not freeze, because the proportional ratio of liquid and meat has been violated. The dish is guaranteed to be the right consistency if the water slightly covers the meat. To do this, immediately after the broth boils, reduce the gas, and cover the container tightly with a lid. Then the proportions will be perfect.

The second no less common reason is that the jelly was simply not cooked enough. Therefore, the composition did not produce such an amount of thickening substances that is necessary. It is easy to check the state in which the dish is already ready. You just need to pour a little jelly into a plate and put it in the refrigerator. After 20 minutes, check its condition. If frozen, you can remove the dish from the heat. If not, continue cooking.

Work on mistakes

So, the reason is established. Now it is necessary to carry out a series of measures to "resuscitate" the dish. In the event that the proportions of liquid and meat were violated, experienced chefs recommend correcting the situation by adding gelatin to the composition.

To do this, all the resulting jelly is poured into one container. Pour a bag of gelatin into a separate plate, pour it with warm water. Let it brew for 40 minutes. After that, gelatin, which must necessarily increase in size, is heated in a water bath, but do not allow it to boil. During the heating process, the component should be constantly stirred.

In the meantime, the unfrozen aspic is heated, and then strained gelatin is poured into it. Actively mix the ingredients and remove the dish from the heat. Pour into bowls, cool and place in the refrigerator. Now the dish is guaranteed to freeze.

In the event that the jelly was not corny cooked, you should simply bring it to the desired condition, and then check its readiness using the above test. As a rule, this will require an additional 2-3 hours of time. As in the previous method, all undercooked jelly should be drained into one common container and set to reach for the specified time.

In terms of taste and aroma, the “modified” jelly will absolutely not differ from the original version. These simple methods have already helped more than one hostess to save the treasured aspic.

As you can see, there is a way out of every situation. It is certainly a shame when a dish does not work out, especially if it is loved and crowned. But, as we see, everything is fixable. Even unhardened jelly can be brought to the desired consistency. Do not panic ahead of time.