Add gelatin to soup as a replacement for stock?

Question

My wife made some chicken soup last night, but we didn't have any stock to start it with, so we used water.
Flavor-wise, the soup was fine - it was just lacking the mouth-feel associated with good soup. There was plenty of oil floating on top of the soup, so it wasn't lacking in fat.
I was thinking it was probably because we'd started with water instead of stock.

We're planning on making our own stock soon (so many good tips here!) but we didn't have any on hand last night, nor were we prepared to run to the grocery store.
However, we realized after we'd eaten the soup that we had a couple of packets of powdered gelatin in the cupboard.

Would powdered gelatin have given the same mouth feel as stock?

Answer 1

I'm looking for the online reference, but I remember reading in Cook's Illustrated that they were able to substitute a bit of gelatin to mimic the mouth-feel of homemade stock. I did find a beef stew recipe that used gelatin.

Based on how you described your recipe, I would say that the long cooking of chicken bones is indeed what's missing. You might get a better result if you roast your chicken breasts and vegetables before cooking them in the broth.

Answer 2

I think there are a few components to a good stock mouthfeel + flavour. You may be able to approximate these without actual stock with a bit of hackery:

1. Use flavourless, commercial gelatine and a small amount of saturated fat (bacon grease). This would simulate both the fat from the dark meat, and the gelatine from the bone.

2. Brown up some starches and proteins. The resulting hydrocarbons and altered amino acids are the fundamental flavour in a stock.

   • If you use the fat above to do the browning, less will float on the top (some is absorbed in the yummy browned food bits)
   • Dried mushrooms or seaweed can work (as can leftover rice or potatoes).
   • And while this isn't mouthfeel, it's critical to feeling like soup as it triggers the savoury part of our taste.

3. Cheat with extra spices and dried vegetables. One of the flavours in many stocks is the onion/carrot/celery (or other trinity of goodness). Dried spices and bits are a great hack to get that base of flavour.

Answer 3

In the years since this question was originally asked I've run across two references to using gelatin in sauces:

• Serious Eats' Food Lab featured an article talking about adding gelatin to store-bought stock to make it more similar to restaurant stock:
  http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/04/the-food-lab-why-chicken-pan-sauce-better-at-restaurants-make-at-home.html
• And another Serious Eats article about adding gelatin as a thickener to beef stew, rather than more flour, specifically to keep the stew's flavor from becoming dull and paste-like:
  http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/10/excellent-beef-stew-on-a-weeknight-pressure-cooker-food-lab.html

So yes, gelatin can add/enhance a thicker mouthfeel, especially for short-notice cooking that doesn't use bones.

Answer 4

I found this "recipe" for thickening soup with gelatin some time ago. I'm trying it today--hope it works.

It calls for one standard packet (two teaspoons) of gelatin for 4-6 cups of broth, or 8 if it was almost rich enough.

http://oureverydaylife.com/thicken-soup-gelatin-40133.html

Answer 5

Possibly, since some of what you're getting from a carcase is gelatin. If you try it, let us know how it turns out.

Answer 6

The flavor of stock comes mainly from the bones, not the fat. Fat should be skimmed off the surface when making stock. Boiling chopped chicken breast will not give the same flavor, and your powdered gelatin is also unflavored. There's really no substitute for a good stock. The closest you can come to instant would be instant stock/bullion.