What is carrageenan?

A lot of inquiries have come regarding carrageenan. Many foods, especially processed foods contain chemicals known as gums. You might be familiar with gelatin and corn starch. If you look at processed food, you see all sorts of other gums like carrageenan, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, locust bean gum, agar-agar and so on. Food scientists (not cooks -- food scientists make processed foods) use these substances for four main reasons: to thicken (in ice cream for example), to emulsify, to change the texture (probably to make something thicker or chewier) and to stabilize crystals. As cooks we need to use gelatin in certain recipes and corn starch in others. I refrain from using gelatin, which is an animal source, in most recipes. Carrageenan is a natural gum extracted from a particular type of seaweed common in the Atlantic Ocean near Britain, Continental Europe and North America. You boil the seaweed to extract the carrageenan. In that sense, carrageenan is completely natural – it is not much different from tomato paste in its creation. 

In home cooking, food is prepared and consumed fresh. We really do not need to use things like carrageenan or xanthum gum for the food is not to be preserved for long. The time span between cooking and consumption is short! Yes, certainly use carrageenan as a substitute for gelatin in cheesecakes and jellies.