Gelatin powder vs Gelatin leaf when and why

Question

When preparing jelly type recipes there seem to be two options gelatin leaf and gelatin powder.

When looking around I found explanations for the ratio of powder to leaf such as here how much powdered gelatin to one gelatin leaf? but I'm struggling to find any good explanation of the difference and when one is preferable over the other.

The only difference I've noticed personally is that it can be a little tricky to get powder right in that if I put it in and don't mix it quickly it can become a separate ball.

So as for the question, Gelatin leaf vs gelatin powder when and why?

Answer 1

I have never personally noticed a difference. I saw that there are other answers which say that a difference exists, but the points made are not inherent in the form (powder or leaf). The difference (which is already slight in itself) is more likely to appear between different brands of gelatine, and it can simply happen that in some market, the available leaves have a quality which the powder doesn't, or vice versa. It is like filling olive oil in square or round bottles: the final shape is different, but it has no effect on the content.

There can be some slight personal preferences in handling one over the other - as you said, for you blooming the powder sometimes fails. There is nothing universal about that, I suspect that every cook makes fewer mistakes with whichever they are more familiar with. I remember how comically I failed when I tried to bloom leaves for the first time.

For me, there is no culinary reason to choose one over the other.

Answer 2

So, gelatin leaf and powder both have to be bloomed in cold water. Recipes using powder will account for the exact quantity of water needed to hydrate it. With gelatin powder, there is one strength, with the leaf there are three (bronze (weak), silver (medium), gold (strong)) and most often recipes will use the silver. Gelatin leaf is one set weight, so it is easy to know how much you are adding without having to weigh (for example, mine are always 2g each, but different manufacturers provide different weighted leaves).

I prefer the flavour of the leaf (neutral flavour), whenever I have used powder I have been totally turned off by the scent and flavour of it. In professional pastry the leaf is generally preferred.

Answer 3

From my experience with reading cookbooks, the main thing that I’ve noticed is that American recipes call for powder, while British recipes call for leaf

I have no idea what the availability of powder is in the UK, but leaf isn’t typically available in regular grocery stores in any of the places that I’ve lives