Science Buddies: Gel Well: Which Additives Make the Strongest Gelatin?

Gelatin. It's hard to think of another food that is used as frequently on the dinner table as off. You can find it in all sorts of sweet foods, from ice cream, yogurt, and gummy bears, to marshmallows and yellow colorings for sodas. Off the table, it shows up in glues, photographic paper, playing cards, crepe paper, medicine capsules, hair gels, and professional lighting equipment. From the kitchen to the theater-what a range of uses. In this cooking and food science fair project, you'll investigate how to change the strength of gelatin gels. What makes a gel weak and quivery, or strong and tough? Find out how gelatin can go from blubbery to rubbery.