I just used my iSi whipped cream maker for the first time. I cleaned it thoroughly. Then, I used a half pint of unpasteurized heavy cream (just bought yesterday with expiration 6 days away), and a few squirts of liquid Stevia. It came out super bitter. There doesn't seem to be a ton online about what the cause might be, and the answers I did find were confident but varied. I've read everything from using bad cream to not enough sweetener or flavoring. Any thoughts on what the cause might be? Thank you!
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I'm jealous that you can get unpasteurized heavy cream! The bitter question though has me puzzled. Did you taste the mixture before you put it into the whipper?– Jolenealaska ♦Nov 10, 2014 at 2:12
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12Have you used Stevia before? It has a strong bitter component which not everybody can taste. If you are one of the people who can taste it, then it is not a good sweetener for you.– rumtscho ♦Nov 10, 2014 at 7:28
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@rumtscho : or it's possible that presurizing it somehow changes the compound to become perceptible to other people ... which would kinda suck.– JoeNov 10, 2014 at 20:06
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2@joe I'd suspect contact with dairy the more likely activator than the pressurizing. Many plants, like kiwi and lots of the cucumberlikes (like some melons) turn very bitter upon prolonged contact with cream. Pressure will probably speed up the reaction, but I doubt that it will cause it.– rumtscho ♦Nov 10, 2014 at 20:09
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1Stevia is a member of the mint family... Does anyone know what kind of reactions the chemicals in the family will have on cream? I have always felt (and its reflected in my posts) that some of the reactions we expect (and need) seem to be interactions between the mechanical and chemical nature of sugar. I find that I cannot bake cakes etc as well with artificial sweeteners; maybe its just me, but the eggs and butter just don't cream in the same way as with cane sugar. One day I will find a way of incorporating different sugars into my baking and cooking, but right now its still a challenge.– Adrian HumNov 3, 2015 at 22:24
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5 Answers
I've been using stevia for years to control my carb intake and I had to learn by experimenting with it. If you use too much, it will taste bitter. Just add a little at a time, and taste as you go.
Believe it or not Whip It brand nitrous has yucky bitterant added to reduce plausibility of huffing.
In some uses, stevia seems to have a chemically after-taste. Sometimes I like it in my coffee and at other times I can't stand it.
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1Are you saying that sometimes it makes the coffee taste bad and sometimes not? Are you using different stevia? Different coffee?– Cascabel ♦Nov 23, 2014 at 7:12
The cause of unexpected bitterness is more likely the additives than the stevia outright, as always one is purchasing something more than pure extract of stevia. So for whatever chemical bonding is taking place, at least for whatever brand of stevia you used, one of two things (maybe both) is occurring as an unintended consequence. Either it's separating one or more bitter components which when differently bonded were not bitter, or it's forming some new compound which itself is inherently bitter even if the original components (individually) were not. If I can read between the lines here and assume you're not just asking a rhetorical question, I would try one or another variant on stevia to see if the results improve.
Because artificial sweeteners don't taste exactly the same as sugar. There are however so many of them that I'm sure you can find one that tastes fine.
