creating foam

[laurenmilan]

I'm looking to learn creating foam accents for dishes, and have seen a lot of discussion of the use of foams in restaurants, but nothing in the way of how to best create one in the home. What's the preferred/required equipment and methods?

[jackal10]

Stick blender, and some practice. There was a thread recently on Carrot Air.

If you can afford it, get an ISI whipped cream canister, but the gas cartridges are quite expensive. In the UK the whipper is £22.50 and the cartridges £4.50 for 10. - close to $1 each

For most domestic foams, like cream or egg-white, and old fashioned balloon whisk works as well as anything.

Edited December 18, 2003 by jackal10 (log)

[gsquared]

The ISI comes with a good set of recipes to get you started. Probably the single trickiest aspect of non-cream ISI foams is getting the quantity of gelatine just right. Too much and the gel will not disperse sufficiently in the canister - too little and the foam will be unstable.

[Jensen]

The iSi website has a couple of recipes for foams. It also recommends using the canister for keeping sauces warm. There are also tips on making foams, including a information on gelatin weight conversion.

I got my iSi charger the first year I was married, which makes it 16 years old now. It's not quite the same as the Dessert Whip model; the most notable difference is that mine did not come with a cap for the charger screw-on thingie.

I also seem to recall the instructions telling us not to remove the charger until the canister was empty. Being an unrepentant collector of paper, I probably still have the instruction booklet. I should see if I can find it.

I'd be interested in knowing if the model I have could be used to make foams. It's quite a bit sturdier than the models I see in the stores now.

[laurenmilan]

Very good advice so far, thanks very much!

Also, what would you recommend for a non-cream foam? specifically I'm looking to create a brilliant jewel-tone foam, like basil or beet foam, as an accent for an entree....

[Schneier]

I've searched the site for technical information on how to make foam, but there doesn't seem to be much.

I have a whipped cream canister and charges. So far I've tried three foams: tomato foam, tamarind foam, and blue cheese foam. Results have been mixed.

For the first two, I mixed gelatin with the liquid and then cooled it. For the third, I mixed the cheese with heavy cream and didn't add gelatin.

Can anyone give me some advice on how much gelatin to mix in with the liquid?

Bruce