cynoscion’s blog

In Gear: Lighten Up with Cream Whippers

Despite the implication of their name and the regularity with which they appear behind coffee bars, for topping dessert-like beverages with snowy mounds of dairy goodness, cream whippers are good for more than whipping cream. In restaurant kitchens the devices are prized for making and keeping delicate sweet or savory mousses, sauces and foams, which would be difficult to create or to maintain for any length of time with more traditional equipment. At home, I find them particularly handy for creating easy, lighter or lightened interpretations of high-calorie indulgences like dessert toppings, ranch dressing, cheesecake and more.

How Cream Whippers Work

Cream whippers, also known as “cream siphons” or just “siphons,” work fairly simply. A liquid is placed in the siphon canister, which is then sealed tightly with a gasket-lined threaded cap. A metal cartridge or “charger” containing highly compressed nitrous oxide (N2O, aka: laughing gas) is slipped into the charger sleeve, which is then fitted onto a threaded site on the siphon canister cap. As the charger sleeve is screwed into place, a hollow pin in the center of the threaded site punctures the charger, ushering the nitrous oxide into the siphon canister where it dissolves into the enclosed liquid.

When the canister is inverted and the discharge lever squeezed, the gas escapes—forcing the liquid out with it—through a narrow passage, expanding as it leaves the siphon and leaving behind a foamed and frothed liquid.

Benefits of Siphon Aeration

In classic aerated preparations, created by whisking either by hand or machine, substantial amounts of fat and/or egg play a key roll in stabilizing ethereal structures, hence the calorie and fat content of such indulgences as whipped cream, chocolate mousse and hollandaise. Because aeration in a siphon occurs in a closed system and the rapid expansion of the nitrous oxide as it is transferred from the charger to the siphon canister causes rapid chilling, many aerated liquids no longer require stabilization. Those that do can take advantage of such stabilizers as gelatin or agar (a good alternative for vegetarians), replacing some or all of the fat and egg to create light, airy, stable results, with fewer calories, less fat, and cleaner, brighter flavors, which would otherwise be masked by tongue-coating lipids. (Because dissolved gelatin and agar require chilling to set their structures, and whisking creates friction—which retards cooling and allows incorporated air to escape before a gelatin or agar structure can be formed to hold it in place—such ingredients can generally not be used to sustain foams created by traditional whipping methods.)

As an added benefit, many delicate mixtures that would only keep for a few hours or maybe a few days, can often be kept for several days, sometimes more than a week, in the airtight confines of the siphon canister, without breaking down.

Siphons can also be incorporated to give volume and body to mixtures that are not usually aerated, such as salad dressings and dessert sauces. Once air is incorporated into these mixtures, they coat and cling more effectively to other foods, their flavors open more readily on the palate, and because a good portion of their volume is calorie-free gas, they go further than they would in their regular liquid forms.

Guidelines to Using a Siphon

In creating recipes for the siphon, I have found it best to just tinker, letting trial and error guide me to the right balance, but here are a few guidelines:

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