The Struggle
Whether it’s granulated or in sheets, gelatin is one of the most widely used ingredients in any kitchen. Its low melting point and ease of use makes it one of the best gelling agents. But there seems to be quite a bit of confusion when it comes to conversion. If a recipe calls for gelatin so you use granulated or sheet? What about the Bloom strength? What if I dont have the correct bloom sheet? What’s the meaning of life? All these questions will come up when attempting to figure out what gelatin to use. So it’s no surprise that we get asked:
“How do I convert all the types of gelatin?”
May the Bloom be With You
Let’s take a look at sheet gelatin. Sheet gelatin comes in many different bloom strengths 120 (titanium), 140 (bronze), 160 (silver), 200 (gold), and 230+ (platinum). The numbers are attributed to the strength and clarity of the gel. Titanium or 120 bloom gelatin is a perfectly fine gelatin that is good for foods where you don’t need to worry about the clarity, items like chaud froid. Platinum or 230+ bloom gelatin should be used for the clearest gel possible, this is best used in consomme and gummies. One misconception is that the stronger the bloom the less gelatin you will need to use. While this is technically true, this does not mean you will need to lower the amount of sheets per recipe. One sheet from each type of gelatin will have the exact same gel strength. The weight of the sheets varies which allows for them to have the same gellin power as each other. Here are the weights for one sheet of each type of gelatin.
Weight by sheet (approximately):
1 Platinum = 1.75g
1 Gold = 2g
1 Silver = 2.5g
1 Bronze = 3.5g
1 Titanium = 5g
So if you have a recipe that calls for 5 sheets of bronze and all you have is gold, you can substitute the gold 1:1 with the bronze.
Now, there are instances where sheet gelatin will be measured by weight. If you need 10g of titanium gelatin (2 sheets) your recipe will not come out right if you use 10g of gold gelatin (5 sheets). So for your viewing pleasure we have created a chart to help you out.
| Titanium 120+ Bloom | Bronze 140+ Bloom | Silver 160+ Bloom | Gold 200+ Bloom | Platinum 230+ Bloom | Beef 250 Bloom | Fish 250 Bloom | |
| Titanium | 10g | 9g | 8.5g | 7.7g | 7.1g | 6.6g | 6.6g |
| Bronze | 11.1g | 10g | 9.2g | 8.5g | 7.8g | 7.3g | 7.3g |
| Silver | 12.1g | 10.8g | 10g | 9.3g | 8.6g | 8.1g | 8.1g |
| Gold | 13.0g | 11.7g | 10.9g | 10g | 9.2g | 8.7g | 8.7g |
| Platinum | 13.9g | 12.5g | 11.6g | 10.8g | 10g | 9.3g | 9.3g |
| Beef | 14.7g | 13.3g | 12.4g | 11.6g | 10.8g | 10g | 10g |
| Fish | 14.7g | 13.3g | 12.4g | 11.6g | 10.8g | 10g | 10g |
So for example, if your recipe calls for 10g of titanium but all you have is platinum you would use 7.1g. Alternately, if your recipe calls for 10g of platinum and all you have is titanium you would use 13.9g.
Sheets to Granulated
As seen above I added two types of granulated gelatin into the chart. But for most of us the first gelatin we used was store bought granulated gelatin. This gelatin is 225 bloom and can be converted to sheet gelatin pretty easily. 1 (0.25 oz.) envelope granulated gelatin = 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin = 3 sheets leaf gelatin.
Ready to get Cooking?
Give our Tiramisu Panna Cotta recipe a try! It couples your two favorite Italian desserts into one tasty treat.
26 Comments.
Little confused by one comment if you need (in your example) 10 g platinum (=2 sheets), and you said sheets are 1:1 exchangeable, then I should use 2 sheets (=4 g) of gold – but then the chart says 7.7 g of gold… which is it? But thank you most for the “1 package to 3 sheets” conversion – I was settling on 4 by trial and error, but I’ll save the next trial and use 3 🙂 – now for a video on the best way to bloom gelatin (any kind) in a small amount of liquid, please –
So the 10g of platinum comes from certain recipes that don’t provide sheet counts. While the sheets are 1:1 they weight on each sheet is different, from platinum to titanium each sheet increases in weight the further you go down the scale. Platinum being the lightest and titanium being the heaviest. When measuring by weight this negates the 1:1 sheet ratio because of the difference in weight for each sheet.
From what I understand, different bloom strength of each grade e.g. silver (160), gold (230) is compensated for by their differences in weight, which means they all have similar setting power. Therefore, conversion should be set as a ratio. For example, if we need 10 grams of titanium, we should multiple it by 1.75 grams(platinum) and divide by 5 grams to get 3.5 grams of Platinum sheet. The chart says we need 7.1grams of platinum for every 10grams of titanium. Logically it doesn’t make sense as well as mathematically. Why would you use twice the setting power when you’re out of titanium?
We got our chart from the gelatin manufacturer and it’s worked out so far whenever we need it.
I agree with Baker Nerd. When working with weight the conversion can easily and accurately be done by ratio. If a recipe calls for X g of silver and all you have is gold, you would use 0.8X g ((bloom strength silver/bloom strength gold) OR (g sheet gold/g sheet silver)). The ratio approach let’s you convert any quantity. Also, I find the answer that you received the table from the manufacturer and it work fine inadequate. It is inconsistent with your “sheet-for-sheet” approach (which IS consistent with the ratio approach). Asking the manufacturer to explain the discrepancy and posting the information learned would be useful. As for the ratio approach, I’ve been using it for 10+ yrs and it’s never steered me wrong.
Since the chart is written with 10g conversions it also works as a ratio of you move the decimal one place to the right and use it as a percent eg. 9.3 = 93% or .93.
This way both numbers are available if someone doesn’t want to do math. Also, nothing is inconsistent with the sheets vs the ratio for weight if you reread where it explains the difference in the weight of the sheets. Check details before being snarky next time
This post is very helpful, but it seems like this sentence should be reversed – “So for example, if your recipe calls for 10g of titanium but all you have is platinum you would use 7.1g. Alternately, if your recipe calls for 10g of platinum and all you have is titanium you would use 13.9g.”
Looking at the chart shouldn’t it be “So for example, if your recipe calls for 10g of titanium but all you have is platinum you would use 13.9g. Alternately, if your recipe calls for 10g of platinum and all you have is titanium you would use 7.1g.”?
The stronger the bloom is, less amount you will need to use. Platinum is stronger than titanium, so when you need 10g of titanium, you need less than 10g of platinum. When you looking at the chart, the horizontal line is the equal substitution.
Platinum=stronger than titanium, the sentence is not backwards you might have just read the chart backwards
Thanks for the table! I just wanted to check what type of sheet the powdered to sheet conversion is for? I would assume platinum since you mention it being a higher number but did not want to assume. (Apologies if it is in there and I missed it)
Your tables do not make sense at all!
Most home bakers use powdered or granulated gelatin. This chart does not address that. The chart is for those who use leaf gelatin which comes in different strengths. The stronger (or bloom) the clearer the final product. We sell silver in our store right now. It is not as strong or as clear as gold, so it would take less gold to equal the same amount of silver strength. So in the chart you find the 10g of whatever is called for in the chart (say 10g of silver) the go to the column labeled Gold and it will tell you how much gold to use (which is less) to replace the silver. So it is only going to need 9.6g of gold (stronger) to equal the 10g of silver (weaker) that the recipe called for. I feel it takes a little understanding of the strengths of the different gelatins to make sense of this. Powdered or granulated gelatin is not dealt with in this manner. Most powdered/granulated gelatin is all about the same bloom strength.
Hope this helps.
[…] Read more here about gelatin strength and conversions if you are interested. […]
In my mirror glaze recipe, is it okay to replace the gelatin powder with gelatin leaves? I like gelatin leaves better coz it is easier to use.
Yes!
I have a 200 bloom gelatin powder and need to convert it to 250 fish bloom gelatin of your brand do you have a formula? Or chart?
You can use the 200 -> 230 ratio on this chart.
This recipe I am using calls for silver gelatin 160 bloom but I can only find silver 170 bloom. Will this be fine to use?
Yup that’s fine.
I got a equal mix ratio formulation of 100 Bloom + 210 Bloom Beef Gelatin, to make spongy Jelly Ball. As we cant convert the Bloom strength with Marine Gelatine(Veg) to get my required mix quantity which comes in water viscosity in mPa.s & water gell strength in gram towards its specification, I need your help for its conversion help in this regard – M. Ray – [email protected]
We’re not familiar with Marine Gelatine. Since it’s not a product that we carry we can’t advise on it.
Does the increase in bloom provide the clearer gelatin or is it some you do to the platinum line?
The increase in grade gives a clearer gel with a clean flavor. Less impurities lead to better gel strength and ultimately needing less gelatin which is attributed to the increase in bloom strength.
The increase in grade gives a clearer gel with a clean flavor. Less impurities lead to better gel strength and ultimately needing less gelatin which is attributed to the increase in bloom strength.
If i use 2 silver gelatin sheets how many grams should I use from Instagel?
and what is the way to use it?
4g Instagel dissolved in 6 times its weight of water = 1 soaked gelatin sheet. Let me know if you have any further questions!