Re: pineapple jello

[Guest guest]

Pineapple juice will not work with gelatin, no matter how diluted or strained,

no matter if the juice is homemade. Even a tablespoon of pineapple juice used

in making gelatin with other juices causes the non-hardening gelatin.

Tastes OK, by the way, but you need to drink it, not eat it with a spoon.

I am not sure what chemical is in pineapple juice that blocks the firming up of

gelatin. Never looked it up. Pieces of pineapple used in gelatin often work OK

as long as there aren't too many. But the juice blocks the gelatin firming up.

Kim M.

SCD 5 years

>

> anyone have ideas why home-made pineapple jello (from home-made, strained

juice) would not harden? I used KNOX followed the instructions perfectly- just

diluted the juice a bit but still used the right knox/liquid ratio.

>

> Jodi

>

[Guest guest]

At 04:59 AM 5/4/2009, you wrote:

anyone have ideas why home-made

pineapple jello (from home-made, strained juice) would not harden? I used

KNOX followed the instructions perfectly- just diluted the juice a bit

but still used the right knox/liquid ratio.

Did you heat/ boil the pineapple juice before making the

gelatin?

If the pineapple juice was freshly squeezed/juiced, which I think you do

with all your fruit juices, it may unset the Jello, and it will certainly

prevent it from setting properly if added to the mix from the

start.

There is a naturally occurring enzyme in pineapple, called

bromelain. Bromelain basically acts to break protein down. That's

one reason pineapple is popular as a side dish with heavy meats like

pork. Of course, they usually serve canned pineapple, and therefore the

bromelain is gone, but.... (One intriguing thing about bromelain is that

if it is taken on an empty stomach, it acts as an anti-inflammatory. If

taken with food, it acts as a digestive aid.)

Jello is mostly made of gelatin, a protein. So add an

protein-destroying enzyme to Jello, and it won't congeal because the

protein molecules have been torn apart.

But, if the pineapple is heated enough (precursor for canning or packing

in juice cartons and bottles, which some of us don't tolerate), the

bromelain enzyme gets destroyed. Hence the trick is to use canned

pineapple when making Jello. If you tolerate it. OR, you need to

pasteurize your freshly squeezed juice pretty much the same way we

pasteurize milk for yogurt before you make the Jello.

—

Marilyn

New

Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund