A much smarter way to mount lecithin foams

[Sethro]

When I get towards the bottom of my skim milk carton for my morning cereal, and shake it well per routine, I wind up with a very robust, stable foam.

So for service, transfer a few tbsp of foam base to a pint container, close lid and shake well. Voila, foam. No immersion blender + bain marie of nasty water + another bain marie to mount in.

This took me 5 years to think of?

[stealw]

Could use same technique to throw together a quick salad dressing. Oil, acid, seasoning, Shake and serve.

Jim

[conor610]

There's a big difference, isn't there, between an emulsion and a foam. We've all (ok, those of us whose mothers have a dressing cruet) been making dressings this way, but I'm interested in this for foams only. Does lecithin have to be involved? Is there lecithin in skim milk (I could probably look this up, but maybe someone knows off the top of their head)? What else could stabilize a foam made this way?

Similarly, I've been looking at foaming soap dispensers recently--they say that a 10/90 soap/water ratio will create foam. Could these be turned to culinary uses?

[Sethro]

There's a big difference, isn't there, between an emulsion and a foam.  We've all (ok, those of us whose mothers have a dressing cruet) been making dressings this way, but I'm interested in this for foams only.  Does lecithin have to be involved?  Is there lecithin in skim milk (I could probably look this up, but maybe someone knows off the top of their head)?  What else could stabilize a foam made this way?

There's no need to create an emulsification between lecithin and liquid (fat or water). Lecithin is protein an will bond pretty easily with most bases. The only issue is incorporation, due to the granule size and wicked clumping disposition. I shear my lecithin foams together in the vitaprep, no heat necessary. Keep a quart in the lowboy and transfer a couple floz at a time to your pint container, and shake away.

There is no lecithin occurring in skim milk. Lecithin is derived from soy. Skim milk will foam because there is little to no fat interfering with the proteins. It foams in a similar way to egg whites. For this reason I base most of my frothy foams on skim milk, even juice flavors.