I don't know anything about laboratory uses of agar, but I do use it in cooking. Something that baffles me is that so many recipes (at least in northern Europe) use gelatin when agar works just as well or better. Agar is cheaper, easier to handle, comes in more compact packaging, lasts longer, sets faster, is reversible, fits more food preferences, etc. Why this obsession with gelatin? What am I missing?
I don't know anything about laboratory uses of agar, but I do use it in cooking. Something that baffles me is that so many recipes (at least in northern Europe) use gelatin when agar works just as well or better. Agar is cheaper, easier to handle, comes in more compact packaging, lasts longer, sets faster, is reversible, fits more food preferences, etc. Why this obsession with gelatin? What am I missing?