Gelatine or Collagen comparison: What's the Difference and Which Should You Choose?

Gelatine or Collagen comparison

Gelatine or Collagen comparison: We are often asked ‘Should I order Gelatine or Collagen?’ and the answer is, that it very much depends on what you want to use it for. So let’s try to be a bit more helpful!

Essentially Gelatine and Collagen are the same thing and come from the same source. They share similar amino acid profiles (they are both particularly rich in glycine, proline,and glutamine) and are both derived from animals (mammals, birds, fish or marine organisms). They are different in their physical appearance, how they interact with liquids and how well they are thought to be absorbed by the body.

 Collagen

The Collagen we sell is a light coloured powder (some people call it cream coloured) that dissolves easily in hot or cold liquids, and is used mainly for its health benefits to support skin, bones, joints, muscles, tendons etc. Collagen is thought to be more easily absorbed by the body than Gelatine.

Gelatine

We sell Gelatine in 2 forms, one is a light coloured granular powder, and the other is a slightly flexible ‘leaf’ or ‘sheet’. Gelatine thickens and gels in lukewarm liquids (it usually needs ‘blooming’   first) and is used mainly in cooking for sweets, desserts, soups, mousses, cheesecakes, jellies etc.

Maybe a comparison table will help:

Feature

Collagen

Gelatine

Appearance

Light-coloured fine powder

1)  Light-coloured granular powder

2)  Slightly flexible sheet

Interaction with Liquids

Dissolves in any liquid, hot or cold

Thickens and gels in lukewarm water, more jelly-like when cooled

Taste

Most people do not detect any taste

Most people do not detect any taste

Digestibility

Highly digestible

Slightly slower digestion

Mainly used for:

Health benefits (to support skin elasticity, joint strength and gut integrity).

Cooking,confectionary or baking

Ideas for culinary use

Mix into a hot or cold drink

Add to soups, stews, or sauces Mix with the liquid used for cereals, risottos etc

Make sweets and ice cream. Used to set desserts.

Use to thicken soups and stews, and fruit preserves

Other uses for Gelatine

Although most people only think of Gelatin in the context of cooking or baking, it is also used to make Gelli plates for printing, for Special Effects make up, for safe children’s play materials.

Gelatine glue is still used in traditional crafts such as antique furniture restoration, painting restoration, musical instrument manufacture and to prepare artists canvases

If you use Gelatine in a way that we haven’t mentioned, then please get in touch and let us know the details - we might even be able to mention you on our website.