Diagnosis · Gel too soft — high acyl grade
You are almost certainly using the wrong acyl grade
High acyl gellan produces soft, elastic, cohesive gels, setting at 70–80 °C and re-melting over much the same window. It will not give a firm, clean break however much you add — the texture is set by the acyl content, not the dosage.
What to do
- If the product needs a firm gel with a clean break, move to low acyl — or blend 20–40% low acyl into the high acyl to tighten it.
- If a soft gel is genuinely what the product needs, the fix is dosage rather than grade: raise the level and accept that the texture stays elastic.
- Do not use high acyl in a retort or UHT process. It is thermally reversible by design.
The reading behind this
How this conclusion was reached
What is actually going wrong?
The gel is too soft, or will not set at all
Does the formula contain free calcium or magnesium — milk, mineral water, an added calcium salt, or hard tap water?
Yes, there is a clear divalent source
Are you using a high acyl grade?
Yes, high acyl
Check this against your own system
This describes the usual cause. What actually fixes it depends on your water hardness, total solids and fill temperature — send those three numbers and we will come back with a starting point, or with a bench sample of the grade this points to.
Ask about this diagnosisOther conclusions
Everything else the tree can land on
- Gel too soft — no calcium present
- Gel too soft — water hardness unknown
- Gel too soft — low pH hydrolysis
- Gel too soft — remaining causes
- Lumps — powder not dry blended
- Lumps — hydration window missed
- Lumps — process details to check
- Pre-gelation — in the line
- Pre-gelation — free calcium
- Pre-gelation — cold tank
- Syneresis — water weeping
- Gel cloudy or dull
- Gel melts when warm
- Particles settle
- Slimy mouthfeel or off flavour
Other tools
Keep going
Three more decision aids for the same problem set.