Why does my chicken soup become gelatenous the next day?!


Question: I used chicken drumsticks, various veggies, macaroni.
It always congeals the next day, and then "melts" back into liquid when I heat it up again.

Why does this happen?


Answers: I used chicken drumsticks, various veggies, macaroni.
It always congeals the next day, and then "melts" back into liquid when I heat it up again.

Why does this happen?

You know that hard opaque stuff on top of the soup when its cold? That's the fat. You can scoop that off the could soup and throw it away. The reason the soup becomes gelatinous is because of the collagen in the meat. It is a very desirable feature and the sign of a good stock.

It's the fat solidifying in the stock. When fat gets cold, it gets jelly-like. Warm it up, you'll see it go away.

this is yucky animal fat
that's bad for your health

the fat from the chicken melts when heated, then congeals when it cools back down...it's that way for anything that has a fat in it like that.

When you boil tendon, bones, and skin together for a long time, it does in fact form gelatin. That is what gelatin is made up of. It may not happen as often if you cook the chicken drumsticks for less long. Hey at least it melts back agian when you heat it.

It's the collagen in the bones that cause this to happen. It is normal and expected.

It will melt when heated.

It is NOT fat. Fat will rise to the top whereas the collagen causes the actual stock underneath to turn into a jello consistency.

skim it off , it's the fat floating to the top + thickening from the cold

heat it up it'll go away

Who cares!?
Just eat your soup!!

It IS the collagen. You should note that the collagen is what gives the stock a velvetey feel. That's the total reason that stock is made from bones: to extract the collagen.

Fats are being solidified when you cool them down. When you heat them up -- liquid again. It's likely the fat from the chicken itself if you're using that when cooking the soup.

I always cook my chicken seprately on a grill or in the oven, then cut it up and toss it in the pot with store bought chicken stock. Cooking it first melts out a lot of the fats and my left overs stay liquid.





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