Instant Clear Jel®, 1 lb.

Well, the butcher and the candlestick maker probably won't have any use for it..!!! But it you are one of the millions of home bakers who love to make pies, or cobblers, or maybe thicken fruit compotes, make gravies or pan sauces, or cold thickened sauces, soups, or deserts....you will probably like this product. I can think of quite a few other places to use it as well....or at least try it.The first thing to realize is this is NOT a gelatin--it will NOT set up firm like jello. It is a thickening agent. Okay, I can hear you thinking, "...thickening agent?? What kind of a chemical mess is this??" Well, you don't have to be concerned about molecular gastronomy here. Instead, think FLOUR, or more precisely, STARCH. That is what this is. It is an instant product that works like flour, or corn starch, or tapioca flour to thicken liquids or broths or low viscosity solutions. It actually IS a pre-gelatinized form of starch from maize (corn). REMEMBER! This is the 'Instant' version of CLEAR JEL. You need to be aware that it is not the same as the 'regular' CLEAR JEL...see here: Clear Jel, 1 lb.... There are some differences in the products and in the functions of the products. The 'Instant' version (this version..) is pre-gelatinized...sort of pre-softened or prepared to accept liquid and will readily do so cold without much problem. Totally NOT like flour or regular corn starch. Another difference is that 'INSTANT' CLEAR JEL will immediately start the thickening process without heating. The starch granules start hydrating with the liquid and start swelling and thickening immediately upon being mixed into the liquid....which means it is sort of ideal for thickening COLD liquids! Pretty strange, Huh? Yep, I thought so too. So, I bought some to try it out....AND IT WORKS!!So, Where would you use this stuff?? Well, maybe a cold dessert like a strawberry pie with the pretty glaze stuff. Should be thick, but you don't want to cook it, right...There are plenty of other uses too. Think for a moment and I am certain you can come up with some of your own where it would be handy to thicken something without cooking it. There is another feature that differentiates it from the 'regular' CLEAR GEL as well. While the instant version (this one..) starts thickening immediately, it also WILL CONTINUE TO THICKEN if you do decide to heat it or cook it, but only ONE TIME. This is important---You should only heat this product once. Exactly what happens if you re-heat it...I don't know. But the manufacturer (supplier..??) says to only heat it one time.So, you CAN use 'INSTANT' CLEAR JEL to thicken pies and cobblers and compotes, as long as you only heat them ONE TIME. This means that it IS NOT useful for making home-canned pie fillings (because you have to heat..or cook these fillings several times (once in preparation, once after placing in jars, and at least once more when you bake the pie...right..??) So, no 'INSTANT' CLEAR JEL for home-canned pie fillings...or whatever..Luckily, I know of a product that is perfect for that application as well....It's the 'regular' CLEAR JEL...Clear Jel, 1 lb....specially formulated to be cooked, and re-cooked, and re-heated, etc, etc.How do I know.....Yep, you guessed it! I bought some of it too!!

I cannot say how sorry I am that after 45 years of pie making, that I only discovered Clear Jel® this year. I consider myself a good cook, and my pie-making skills top notch, but I've had my fair share of pies turn out soupy or way too stiff with whatever I chose to thicken the filling with - flour, cornstarch, tapioca flour, arrowroot and others. Sometimes the amount I used was too much, sometimes too little, and leftover pies would "weep" in the refrigerator. I've made a half-dozen pies now using Clear Jel® for the thickener and, honestly, it seems to be foolproof. The first time I used it I made a picture-perfect marionberry pie that tasted as good as it looked. The filling didn't budge an inch after cutting the pie - it was firm without being stiff, with a soft and smooth mouth feel. Most important, not a single drop of juice ran. With no watery juice, the crust did not turn into a layer of purple mush; instead it remained a distinctly separate layer of flakey goodness. The vacant spots left on the pie plate after removing some slices were bare and dry - just a few crumbs from the crust. Where in the world has this stuff been all my life?The "instant" variety of Clear Jel® thickens without cooking, but that's not to say you can't use it to thicken something that gets cooked, like a pie. The instant variety is great for making uncooked glazes for things like fresh strawberry pie, but when it's used to thicken a pie that is baked, it is designed for heating only one time (when it's baked), as it will start to break down with subsequent reheating (though I've taken the chill off a pie in the microwave oven with no problems at all)."Regular" Clear Jel® was developed for the commercial food industry to withstand the heat necessary to process products such as canned pie filling. The regular variety what you'd used for any home canning, or for cooking gravies, stews, etc. - things that you want to cook and reheat one or more times without liquid separation. The regular version achieves its thickening in the cooking process.Barry Farm Foods has some excellent, detailed information about Clear Jel® on their website - barryfarm(dot com) - where they provide equivalent measurements of Clear Jel® to exchange for other thickeners, and also explain the difference between the regular and instant varieties.King Arthur sells Clear Jel® in an 8-oz. package with their own label, and it's available on their website. I was able to find it at my local co-operative grocery store, but will get it here in the future, as it's a better deal.

Can't leave a bad review because it was honestly my mistake- you cannot use instant Clearjel for canning recipes. I used this in a pie filling instead and it was okay. It definitely thickened it SUPER fast but the flavor was bit off, even after cooking it.Not sure how else I'm going to utilize this product, would recommend sticking with regular old corn starch for recipes.

I've been looking for all kinds of solutions to thicken up my Raspberry pie. This product did an amazing job. I've tried in the past, shredded apples (Cooks Illustrated recommended), Pectin, Tapioca, corn starch from the market; none really did the trick. My recipe calls for 2.5lbs of frozen Raspberries (I grow my own so I have plenty and keep em frozen). They need to be frozen so I can toss the sugar without turning them to mush before baking. But baking frozen berries like this produce a lot of liquid in the past. I used 40 grams of Instant Clear, one cup sugar. I took 1/2 lb of the Raspberries mashed and cooked down (but cooled). As I read elsewhere, one should mix the Clear Jel with the sugar. I did that, then mixed the 1/2 pound of cooled berry mash with the 2lbs of frozen berries. Tossed all that with the cup of sugar and Instant Clear Jel mix; baked. Once the pie was cool, I cut a piece and the thickness was PERFECT, not ounces of berry juice like in the past. I couldn’t detect any difference in taste using this product. I'm SO happy I can make a berry pie now with the perfect texture using frozen berries.