Measuring Gelatine

Our answer

Gelatine varies between countries and in the UK leaf gelatine is now very popular as it is easy to use. The sheets are soaked in cold water until soft, then whisked into warm liquid. They dissolve much more easily than powdered gelatine. For the UK Nigella gives the weight of gelatine leaves for recipes as this is the most accurate measure. In the UK the main brands of leaf gelatine are "platinum grade".

Unflavored powdered gelatin is popular in the US and usually comes in 1/4-ounce envelopes. One envelope is enough to set 2 cups (500ml) liquid. Unfortunately as volume measures can vary you can get between 2 teaspoons and 2 1/2 teaspoons of gelatine powder per 1/4-ounce envelope. It is best to err on the side of using the larger 2 1/2 teaspoon measure, particularly if the liquid you are going to set is acidic or contains alcohol. Also we would not recommend substituting UK powdered gelatine directly for US powdered gelatin as the strengths are slightly different and you would need to adjust the quantities used.