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Whipping cream that doesn't whip: Arrgghhh!

Darienne

By Darienne
in Kitchen Consumer

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Darienne

Darienne

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(Ontario, Canada)  Bought a 1 Litre carton of whipping cream last week.  Expiry date De 24.  35%.  (I don't know if I am allowed to post the brand name or not.  It has worked fine before. ) Made from Canadian cows in Quebec.  More ingredients than I would wish for, but what can I do except switch brands?  On the shoulder of the carton it says:  "Shake well."  Shake well?  I don't think I've seen that on a carton of whipping cream before.  Oh, it's not super pasteurized or whatever it is that some heavy cream in the States is and we all know it won't whip properly.

 

So last night's Raspberry Shortcake was a bit of a disaster with this cream which didn't whip.  I was embarrassed (and not pleased by all the helpful  'advice' I was given.)

So this morning, knowing that I would use the cream in ice cream anyway, I poured 1 1/2 cups into a metal bowl and put the bowl and beaters into the freezer.  Our house is at 67 degrees Fahrenheit...not hot at all.  And the stuff would whip only as far as slightly together and not even soft peaks, same as last night.  But then I realized as I poured it out, that the consistency wasn't correct anyway.  Whipping cream pours very thickly to begin with and this didn't.  No way.

 

So what is my point besides ranting?  Not sure.  Do any brands of whipping cream tell the user to shake well?  And other than returning it (we will), entering a formal complaint (we will), and buying another brand, at least for the time being (we will), I'm not sure what is going on.   My normal equilibrium has returned....

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Alex

Alex

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Perhaps the instructions said to "shake well" because the cream came from separatist cows.

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JAZ

JAZ

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Every once in a while, that happens to me -- a regularly reliable brand of cream just won't whip. (Most recently, it was in a class I was teaching. Fortunately, we had a different carton in the fridge to use.) The only explanation I've ever read was by Harold McGee, who said that it can happen if the cream warms up at some point in its shelf life -- even if it's chilled after that.

 

I don't think it has anything to do with shaking. And incidentally, with very few exceptions, ultra-pasteurized cream whips fine for me.

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Janet A. Zimmerman, aka "JAZ"
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Darienne

Darienne

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Posted (edited)

Alex:   that is really, really good.  Husband loved it too.  We lived in Montreal at the height of the last set of troubles and Ed took the train every morning to work...and we always wondered.  Still, it's all over for good now.  I think.  I hope.

Jaz:  sounds reasonable.  I'll return what's left of this one and try it again.  

 

lindag:  Don't have a charger so I can't tell.  (I love Calvin and Hobbes.  Have my favorite cartoon above my head on the bulletin board.)

Edited by Darienne (log)
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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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pastrygirl

pastrygirl

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It could have been accidentally frozen at some point, that can interfere with whipping. Otherwise, if the issue is simply lack of butterfat (though 35% should whip fine), you can boost that with a little melted butter added to the cream.  

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Darienne

Darienne

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My question would be...if it were frozen at some point as suggested by pastrygirl, or warmed up at some point, as suggested by JAZ, what about my point that when I looked at the cream as I was pouring it and thought...boy, that doesn't pour like whipping cream.  Could it have been, let's assume, a batch which was made incorrectly.

We will return the container to Costco who are always very good about returns, and maybe someone will tell us...or that was a bad batch and we had lots of returns...or not. 

Thanks for the help, eGers.

 

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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cakewalk

cakewalk

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45 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Could it have been, let's assume, a batch which was made incorrectly.

That's what I was wondering, because the only time I had cream that simply would not whip was when (I belatedly realized) I had mistakenly purchased light cream rather than heavy cream. So it could be that either yours was made incorrectly, or labeled incorrectly. Very frustrating when you are planning to use it for something specific and then can't. (But at least you can blame someone other than yourself!)

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