Gelatin Sheets
Gelatin sheets, also called leaf gelatin, are gelatin cast and dried as thin flat sheets rather than milled into powder. The material itself is the same partially hydrolysed collagen, made from bovine hide and bone, porcine skin or fish, but the format changes how it is used: a sheet is a unit of a known and consistent gelling power, so a recipe can specify a number of leaves rather than a weight.
That consistency is deliberate. Sheet gelatin is produced so that a single leaf delivers approximately the same gelling capacity regardless of its Bloom grade, with higher Bloom sheets made thinner and lighter and lower Bloom sheets heavier, so that four leaves set the same volume of liquid whether they are bronze or platinum grade. The convention is not universal across suppliers, so the weight per leaf is stated on the pack.
Sheets are used by soaking in cold water for several minutes until fully hydrated and limp, squeezing out the excess and dissolving the softened leaf in the warm base. The advantages over powder are that the sheet cannot lump, that the soaking water carries away some of the odour, and that it is easy to count. The disadvantage is cost per unit of gelatin and a format that suits kitchens and small scale production rather than industrial dosing.
We source bulk Gelatin Sheets from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Zhejiang. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Protein
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear pale amber brittle sheets, often lattice embossed, free from foreign matter |
| Odour and Taste | Practically odourless and tasteless |
| Bloom Strength | 190 to 220 g for gold grade |
| Weight per Sheet | Declared on the pack, typically 1.6 to 3.3 g by grade |
| Sheet Dimensions | As declared, tolerance plus or minus 3 mm |
| Protein (dry basis, N x 5.55) | Not less than 88.0 percent |
| Loss on Drying | Not more than 12.0 percent |
| Ash | Not more than 2.0 percent |
| pH (1 percent solution) | 5.0 to 7.0 |
| Transparency | Not less than 350 mm |
| Soaking Time in Cold Water | 5 to 10 minutes to full hydration |
| Sulphur Dioxide | Not more than 50 mg/kg |
| Chromium | Not more than 2.0 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 1.5 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | Not more than 1000 cfu/g |
| E. coli | Negative in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
Sheet gelatin is traded in named strength grades corresponding to Bloom ranges. Bronze sits around 125 to 155 Bloom, silver around 160, gold around 190 to 200 and platinum around 235 to 265, with each grade cut to a different leaf weight so that the gelling power per leaf stays broadly constant. Higher grades give clearer, cleaner tasting gels because less material is used to achieve the same set, which is why platinum is preferred for glazed and mirror finished work.
Beyond strength, sheets are distinguished by the raw material and the pretreatment. Type B sheets from the alkaline lime process on bovine hide and bone have an isoelectric point around pH 5, and type A sheets from the acid process on porcine skin around pH 8 to 9, which matters where the gelatin is used alongside charged gums or proteins. Fish gelatin sheets, lower in melting point and setting more softly, are made for markets that exclude bovine and porcine material. Halal and kosher certified sheets are traded separately, and leaf dimensions vary between suppliers, so leaf count alone is not a transferable measure between brands.
Applications
- Patisserie mousses and bavarois, where the gelatin sets the aerated base
- Mirror glazes and nappage on entremets, using high Bloom sheets for clarity
- Panna cotta, jellies and set creams in restaurant and hotel kitchens
- Charlottes, terrines and layered desserts, where a firm clean set is needed
- Savoury aspic and chaud froid work in classical kitchens
- Cheesecake and no bake dessert setting
- Fruit jellies and pâte de fruit in confectionery, where sheets are used at small scale
- Stabilising whipped cream and fillings against collapse
- Culinary school and demonstration use, where counting leaves simplifies teaching
Brands Using Gelatin Sheets
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Gelatin Sheets on the ingredient label.
- Dr. OetkerPlatinum Grade Leaf Gelatine 13 g ↗A retail pack of leaf gelatine sheets sold for setting marshmallows, jellies and mousses at home.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Dr. OetkerGelatin Sheets ↗A consumer baking aid consisting of neutral gelatin sheets used for moulds, aspics and set desserts.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Gelatin Sheets
Top Gelatin Sheets manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States gelatin is an established food ingredient with generally recognised as safe status and is used without a food additive listing. Bovine sourced material is subject to the specified risk material controls, which exclude central nervous tissue from the food supply, and to sourcing by the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy status of the country of origin, with manufacturers maintaining the supporting documentation. Gelatin is not a major food allergen and requires no allergen declaration, though the source species is normally stated because consumers avoid porcine or bovine material for religious and dietary reasons.
In the European Union gelatin has a dedicated section in the hygiene rules for food of animal origin, which lists the raw materials that may be used, requires the acid or alkaline treatment followed by heat extraction, and specifies the health documentation for consignments. The transmissible spongiform encephalopathy regulation places additional restrictions on ruminant material and requires bone gelatin to be produced by a process removing the mineral phase. Gelatin is treated as a food ingredient rather than an additive and carries no E number in food use. Pharmacopoeial monographs cover gelatin for pharmaceutical applications, and Codex has not issued a separate commodity standard, so trade works from those monographs and the manufacturer specification.
Manufacturing Process
Sheet gelatin is made from the same extraction process as powdered gelatin and diverges only at the drying stage. Hide splits, crushed bone or porcine skin from inspected establishments are washed and pretreated, bone being demineralised in dilute acid to ossein, hide taking either a multi week lime soak to give type B or a short acid soak to give type A. The pretreated stock is washed to neutrality and extracted with hot water in successive batches at rising temperature, each fraction weaker in Bloom than the last.
The extracts are filtered, deionised on ion exchange resin, concentrated under vacuum and flash sterilised. For sheet production the hot concentrated solution is cast as a thin uniform film onto a moving belt or a chilled drum, gelled by cooling, and then dried in a tunnel with filtered air of rising temperature and falling humidity until the moisture reaches around 10 to 12 percent. The dried ribbon, which is by then a clear brittle film often embossed with a lattice pattern that gives the leaf its familiar appearance and stops sheets sticking together, is cut to size, stacked, weighed and packed. Extraction fractions are blended before casting so that each production run hits the target Bloom for the grade being made.
