I see that people make it with a blender or a whisker, but how to reproduce the texture in canisters? Maybe with a soda maker?
-
My god. Shows the differences between countries. I expect (or; always get disappointed when it isn't) whipped cream to be like its hand whipped point of origin. Why would you want the bland and overwhisked type?– StianDec 10, 2021 at 9:10
-
@Stian Yttervik but whipped with hand it's not going to feel like aerated (foam like substance, having tiny bubble inside). Isn't it?– Ya YDec 12, 2021 at 13:39
4 Answers
Whipped cream can be made by mechanically whisking it, such as with a hand whisk, electric beaters or a stand mixer, or it can be made, as in canned whipped creams, by dissolving nitrous oxide in it under high pressure, then releasing it from the pressurised environment. The rapid expansion of the bubbles as the nitrous oxide comes out of solution in the cream whips it, nearly instantaneously.
The manual whipping method does need to be stopped at the right time, before the cream is overwhipped into butter, which is not a risk with the gas method. Both methods typically involve slightly sweetening the cream and possibly flavouring it by mixing in sugar, syrups or other add-ins (I've heard powdered freeze-dried fruit is good) before whipping.
At home, one can use nitrous oxide to whip cream either by buying a premade canister, like the one pictured in the question, or by making their own using a whipping siphon, which is basically a small, screw-top pressure vessel that takes small canisters of nitrous oxide (or carbon dioxide, for other purposes, as it tends to make things it's dissolved into sour or bitter) and has a release nozzle that actually dispenses the whipped cream.
-
8In addition, canned whipped cream usually contains sugar and is likely to contain other ingredients that mean homemade whipped cream will not be exactly the same (in my opinion, homemade is better).– dbmag9Dec 7, 2021 at 13:17
-
3The ingredients on many of the canned whipped creams like that show "heavy cream" as the only thing. When you buy "whipping cream" as opposed to "heavy cream", it often contains carrageenan (which stabilizes the milk/air mixture and is undigestible (it passes right through your digestive system)).– Flydog57Dec 7, 2021 at 16:04
-
1For a representative British example, the ingredients are single cream (94%), sugar (5%), emulsifier (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids), and stabiliser (carrageenan) groceries.asda.com/product/squirty-cream/asda-squirty-cream/…– dbmag9Dec 7, 2021 at 16:15
-
1I always use simple syrup to sweeten the cream, and as a bonus you can use flavored syrups to give the whipped cream a little something extra. I always make a spice infused syrup for my pumpkin pie. Dec 7, 2021 at 21:46
-
@Flydog57 The carrageenan is there allow UHT pasteurizing which otherwise destroys the proteins needed for the cream to whip. I think the naming difference is less significant (esp. worldwide). Finding cream without carrageenan in it may depend on how close you live to cows. Dec 9, 2021 at 2:54
TL;DR
Unless you are prepared to copy the process of gassing up the cream like the canister does, you don't. Simply because what comes out of those canisters is not whipped cream!
Background
Cream is a suspension of tiny fat droplets in water (plus some other stuff because it's of biological origin, of course). When you whip the cream, you are adding small bubbles to the cream, and the continued whipping action causes the fat droplets to merge with the surfaces of those bubbles. That's because one end of the fat molecules does not like water at all, and will thus stick to the air bubbles. In the end, you have replaced the microscopic fat droplets with much larger fat surrounded bubbles. These bubbles do not merge with one another because of the monomolecular layer of fat. This is what stabilizes whipped cream. The chemists call this an air-in-water emulsion, with the fat acting as the emulgator.
This emulsion process does not happen with the "whipped" cream canisters: They rely on a gas that is dissolved within the water of the cream under high pressure, which immediately gasses out when the pressure is released. The result is again a myriad of tiny air bubbles in water, but there is no / not enough fat surrounding those bubbles to stabilize them. As such, the resulting gassed cream has a much lighter texture in the beginning, and quickly deteriorates back into the liquid from which it came as the air bubbles meet and join together.
The manufacturers of the canned "whipped" creams may add some other agents to the cream to improve the stability of the result, but they cannot reach the original texture and stability of whipped cream, simply because the result cannot be whipped cream. You need actual whipping for that.
-
Why don't they just add enough fat to allow the air-in-water emulsion, then? Dec 8, 2021 at 17:09
-
3@nick012000 Because that's not sufficient to bind the fat to the bubbles. That only happens because of the mechanical whipping process. Dec 8, 2021 at 19:01
-
I wonder if there's a way to mix in gas while squeezing through a fine mesh Dec 10, 2021 at 0:51
If you want absolutely the same texture as in the canisters, you have to use a siphon with N2O chargers. Depending on the brand you are used to, you might also need to add sugar and/or vanilla extract to your whipped cream, to get it to taste the same. Basically, these canisters can be viewed as single-use siphons, they use the same technology.
Whipped cream is also possible with a mixer (handheld or stand-mixer) or with a hand whisk and patience. This is in fact the most traditional, prototypical way of making whipped cream. It does have a few small differences though. The resulting texture from traditionally whipped is slightly denser and firmer than from a siphon, it tastes richer, and it keeps in a foamy state for longer (you can e.g. decorate a cake with it and keep it a few days in the fridge, without the decoration going runny).
Since siphons are an expensive plaything useful only for a few niche applications, you might try mixer-whipped cream at first, and only switch to siphons if the differences in texture matter to you, and if the cost of the cream and charge you'd be buying turns out to be lower than the cost of a canister.
You can get a seltzer dispenser for drinks and put a NOS cartridge and make like in some bakeries. You’ll have to look that up. CO2 is bitter because it’s carbonic acid.
I would just use a pastry bag and really good vanilla extract and some really good sugar. (Sugar in the raw) or cane sugar. I use a whisk that spins as you press down on it. Easier to get where you want to be. Otherwise you have whipped butter.
-
2Welcome! I see you have been around the network for a while, but perhaps you want to revisit the help center, especially How to Answer? Your original post adds a lot of details that don’t pertain to the question, which is just about texture. Also, the rant about canned stuff is uncalled for and doesn’t sit well with the CoC - belittling those who buy premade food. I have removed all parts that don’t answer the question, you may want to edit your post to give it a bit more substance. Your post doesn’t add any new information that wasn’t given in the two previous answers, which is usually frowned upon.– Stephie ♦Dec 8, 2021 at 7:34