Cookbook Review...The Ultra Gel Answer Book

If you want to use Ultra Gel or Clearjel, you don’t have many options for instructions.  That's why Myrna bought The Ultra Gel Answer Book,  written by two women who have degrees in the area of Home Economics with an emphasis on food science and nutrition.  They have both taught food-related classes for church and civic groups as well as Community Education programs in Utah.

The book covers using Ultra Gel for salad dressings and fruit salads and dips, sauces and gravies, main dishes, desserts, in whipped creams, jams, jellies and preserves, and home canned specialties.  

They also cover using ultra gel in baking, not just pie fillings, but in cakes and cookies, and breads.  Think about adding pudding mix to cake mixes and you get the idea of how Ultra Gel helps make breads, cakes and cookies have an even texture and moist crumb with less fat.  Yeast breads raise faster and brown better with a softer texture.

They show how to use Ultra Gel in gravies and soups and main dishes.  The chapter on main dishes interested me as they show how to make a lot of recipes into freezer meals that can be frozen in individual dinners or as the whole recipe to make your own microwaveable freezer meals.  Ultra Gel or similar products are what commercial manufacturers use in many products because it can be frozen and reheated without the sauce getting watery.

The last chapter covers home-canned specialties; and when using Ultra Gel, you can usually freeze the product instead of canning it if you don’t have a canner.  They don’t just give recipes for pie filling, but canned stew and braised beef, as well as salsa and barbeque sauce.

Getting started with Ultra Gel isn’t too hard because the package gives directions and recipes for a few products, but this book will expand your repertoire. 

I’ve found these recipes also work with Clearjel, but as it doesn’t blend in as easily, you do have to take that into consideration when making the recipe.