Gas Cylinders 101 - What You Need To Know About Them

The interest for cooking has been increasing exponentially in modern times. But as time goes by, the techniques to put up the greatest and best tasting meals are gradually shifting from manual operations to gadget-geared ones. Molecular gastronomy is definitely making history in kitchens! If you want to get a taste of such professional sounding cookery technique, you better get the right gas cylinders for food preparation.

These vessels contain gases at their liquefied states. Since the gases stored in them are at higher pressurized levels, these containers are made from durable metal material such as steel or aluminum alloy.

In the older times, they were merely used for industrial purposes such as welding or other mechanical procedures. But through time with the rise of discovering innovative cooking techniques that involve high regard to the molecular composition of food, these gas cylinders have transformed into being useful cooking equipment.

One of the most popular types of such vessels used for cooking or food preparation is the nitrous oxide cartridges. This kind is under the Case II classification of such gas containers. This category means that the substance, as in the nitrous oxide gas, only reaches its liquefied state when standard temperature with increased pressure is applied on it.

These metal containers are also known by a lot of names - whipped cream chargers, whippets or whippers. The smallest kind contains 8 grams of pure nitrous oxide while the bigger types come in 16 gram cylinders. They typically come in thumb size tubes measuring about 2.5 inches long and .7 inches wide. At first sight, they look like gun bullets due their structure - a narrow tip with a rounded end.

But for the cylinders used for industrial or commercial kitchen purposes, nitrous oxide tanks are larger both in height, weight and structure. These often involve a gas tank system that permits about ten liters of whipped cream will be produced per hour. This kind of vessels is usually used in coffee shops or patisseries.

For froths, foams or whipped cream to be produced, the vessel has to be attached to a dispenser. Upon doing so, the gas will be released into the other container, which should firstly contained prepared cream (preferably with at least 28% fat content).

Afterwards, the nitrous oxide cartridges will do the work. It will aid the process of producing bubbles in large amounts, which in the end would produce cream with the all new fluffy texture. The mentioned fat content in the cream to be put inside the canister is crucial. The rule of thumb is that the higher the fat content, the more fat molecules could be worked up and turned into a puffed coating of the cream. The lesser content might mean the whipped cream could instantly become watery.

The best thing about the gas cylinders such as the nitrous oxide cartridges is that they empower even the simplest people. You for one now have the power and capability to put up a great dish that might even deserve to rival those meals in restaurants!