Omelet wrote:
>
> I was making dad's latest batch of calves foot jelly and tried to add
> some pureed beef heart to it for nutrition.
>
> The beef heart MELTED all the jell! I had a nice solid batch of jelled
> stock and adding the pureed heart to it totally prevented it from
> jelling. I actually tried adding more jelled stock to it in case it was
> a dilution issue.
>
> What enzymes are in beef heart that melt collagen???
>
> I ended up freezing the resulting stuff for soup later on.
> --


None. Physical reaction, not chemical. The collagen in gelatine isn't
intact.

Gels/jellies are formed by networks of molecules trapping liquids (or
air in the case of aerogels). Disrupting that network will destroy the
gel. Cutting into a formed set gel will 'break' it, with resultant
'weeping'. Or else the 'weeping' gel is too old and breaking down anyway


Adding the beef heart particles prevented the network from forming
again.

Layering the beef heart with partially cooled jelly will work, just as
layering fruit/vegs with gelatin makes those nice moulded jellies.

OK?