Gee, I've only whipped cream a zillion times and for the first time the product isn't so great. It's the same old heavy cream we always have but lately it's not thickening up nicely. It's not out of date or soured. Do they make mistakes in it's production? I've never come across this before.

By Shawn (Shawn) on Monday, February 21, 2000 - 02:10 am: Edit

Is it ultra pasturized? I've recently found out that the ultra just doesn't cut the mustard.

By d. on Monday, February 21, 2000 - 05:33 pm: Edit

How long has it been like that? Could it be they changed stabilizers? Or maybe its just a funky batch? Call the dairy directly(or your sales rep)if the problem persists.

By W.DeBord on Monday, February 21, 2000 - 06:59 pm: Edit

It's been different since the last order only. It's not ultra pasturized.

I'll wait and see how the next order is before I mention something. I just thought it was weird and wondered if anyone else has ever had a bad batch.

By Panini (Panini) on Monday, February 21, 2000 - 07:36 pm: Edit

These problems present themselves often throughout the year. Call you dairy and ask to talk to the lab. Most have them. I'm having the same problem now in the south with the drought.The cows go to eating stored grains which alters the enzymes in the milk. My only solution is to go up a notch to 46%+. Let me know what you find out.
Panini

By Mikeh (Mikeh) on Monday, February 21, 2000 - 09:00 pm: Edit

While we are on the subject of cream, what is the real shelf life? When I'm at home I have two choices; I can buy half-pints of ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream (36%) at safeway for $1.30, or I can go to a local wholesale grocery and buy half-gallons of pasteurized manufacturing cream (40%) for $6.75. I'd love to only buy the 40% stuff, but I'm not sure how far past the 2-week dated shelf life I can go.

By W.DeBord on Tuesday, February 22, 2000 - 07:49 am: Edit

I use it until it doesn't smell sweet anymore. For home use, I always buy the ultra pasturized because it may take me a month (sometimes even longer)to use it all. I mainly buy it to cook with at home.

By tj on Tuesday, February 22, 2000 - 07:51 pm: Edit

i used some very old cream before in the usa.i think i used sunny medows brand .it lasted a month
plus.
as for the thickening problem.i have it myself right now .it happened before.when i checked in to it,i was told by the manufacturer that the dosage of staibalizers they use in the cream was a little too high for a specific production batch.thats why you can whip this cream for an hour and it will not thicken.there is not much that can be done.it will take probably a month or so befor your supplier run out of this batch and get a fresh new one.

By tj on Tuesday, February 22, 2000 - 07:56 pm: Edit

you can tell this by looking at the cream.what i have right now in stock has a strange gelatinous thick consistency.if you rub it between your fingers you will be able to tell there is something wrong with it.its not as smooth as regular cream.as i was told , its a problem with too much carageenan/guar gum or what ever stabelizers they put in it.i wonder if it can also be related to what the cows eat now, that effects what they put in the cream...

By Hans (Hans) on Tuesday, February 22, 2000 - 10:30 pm: Edit

Have you guys ever considered that your cream could have been too fresh?

Although it might sound kookie, it's a fact that heavy cream coming too fresh from the creamery doesn't whip well.
3-4 days old is best.

If you got a new batch, that could well have happened and happened to me before.

I'd rather consider that than old cream as the fault.

Also, why would anybody buy heavy cream with gum additives?
There are still enough quality creameries left in the US, sometimes independents, that nobody has to buy dairy products with IMHO garbage in them.

The quality varies, even so people say milk is milk.
That just is not so. You have to shop around for dairy product quality like for everything else.

Sincerely, HWK

For Chefs Only

By Yankee on Wednesday, February 23, 2000 - 12:33 pm: Edit

On a semi-related subject; our fresh eggs have been quite small over the past three weeks. I know they change in size throughout the year, but this is the worst I have seen it. Really small yolks. Same deal? Drought and feed problems? We buy them in state, and we did have a dry Fall season. Our cream has been normal. Also, anyone have a technical explination as to why eggs very in size throughout the year beyond the simple "mating seasons" explination I hear? Thanks.

By tj on Wednesday, February 23, 2000 - 02:47 pm: Edit

no supplier i know carries cream that does not have stabilizers in form of gum or carageenan (an additive that comes from coral reefs).i dont have a problem with those additives, the only problem is production consistensy.sometimes they have problems, and they cant tell why, but they do.i guess it has to do mainly with quality control.
geting fresh , all natural ,aditive free heavy cream is ,unfortunatly, not an option in my market area.

By Panini (Panini) on Wednesday, February 23, 2000 - 04:49 pm: Edit

I actually went beyond the lab and talked to some of the dairy workers. It seems to be computerized but the runs are not always correct. I asked one about the cream and he just laughed. He said on the switch over from cream to 1/2 and 1/2 etc. there could be 1-4 cases blended.
Hans brings out a very good point. If we open a case of cream that does not haVE to be scraped out, it is to fresh and we return it to the cooler for a day or two. I too am only able to get cream with carageenen.

By Yankee on Wednesday, February 23, 2000 - 11:21 pm: Edit

Hey kids,

Did anyone check out Chef Han's web site? Scroll all the way down to the bottom of his home page...

By W.DeBord on Thursday, February 24, 2000 - 08:10 am: Edit

tj you hit it exactly... I could whip it for hours and it will never be stiff.

Hans you must not have time to cook if you have the time to get crazy about exactly every ingredient in each ingredient you use. Get REAL!

If your a pro you deal with inconsistancy! You correct it when you can and you don't waste your time when you can't.

By momoreg on Thursday, February 24, 2000 - 11:36 am: Edit

Nice touch, Hans.

By Hans (Hans) on Thursday, February 24, 2000 - 03:12 pm: Edit

W. DeBord.

Youre right, they don't let me cook much anymore.
Too much Admin Garbage.

For the purchasing there is the purchasing dept., different buyers for different products.

I write the specs and they get the products, exactly as specified, after getting 3 bids from potential suppliers.
That is part of their job.

Then the storeroom personnel inspects it on delivery, as to compliance, quantity, quality.
That is part of their job.

If there are problems with the products, and that happens too, my cooks will tell the sous-chefs, chef de cuisines, thats their job.

Obviously in a small operation the chef will have to do much of that him/herself.

but when you are talking about $ 30 Million food purchases per annum, no, I can't do it all and still have time to occasionally cook if my shopsteward from the union doesn't file a grievance.

Sincerely,
HWK
For Chefs Only

By Yankee on Friday, February 25, 2000 - 02:34 pm: Edit

Chef Hans,

That's great that you have a naked woman on your web site! Nice to see that you are well grounded in the 21st Century.

Thing is, if you want to be a sexist pig, why not be a capitalistic sexist pig? Set up a link for "Vicotia's Secret" or "Fredrick's of Hollywood" and make a few bucks off of your fetishes.

Sorry chef, but IMO that kind of thing has no place here. You really should clean up your act. Cheers.

By d. on Friday, February 25, 2000 - 04:14 pm: Edit

Or just add a guy so we gals can enjoy it too.

By tj on Friday, February 25, 2000 - 10:09 pm: Edit

w.
i tried this once and it worked.but i never repeated the following experiment...
i added melted butter at room temperature to the unstable cream i had (but not cold cream strait from the cooler) and whipped it.this actualy helped and made a very rich stiff cream.try it and tell me what you think...

By Doucefrance (Doucefrance) on Saturday, February 26, 2000 - 07:10 am: Edit

Thank you d. you just expressed what I was about to write!...
Helene

By W.DeBord on Saturday, February 26, 2000 - 08:58 am: Edit

Thank-you tj but it's too late now, we used it all. Next batch has been normal, so far.

By tj on Saturday, February 26, 2000 - 05:09 pm: Edit

i must say, that this is a very strange fenomenom.
i only encountered it here in the usa, never abroad. and i tried getting answers from the manufacturers but had very little respons.just something about wrong dossage of stabalizers.
i am starting to wonder if they are diluting the batches sometimes with pour quality/out of date cream or with half and half.just like they do in some bars sometimes,watering down the liqueres...?

By Panini (Panini) on Sunday, February 27, 2000 - 05:46 pm: Edit

I'm working on getting the name of the enzyme lacking in the milk when the cows have to make an adjustment to change ie. lack of water, to much water, fresh food, stored food etc.I'll post it as soon as I get it. I'm finding that most of us here have more experience than the people working in the dairy labs.
tj, you might be right! there might be diluting going on, everyone I ask seems to be playing dumb.

By jeee on Wednesday, March 15, 2000 - 02:27 am: Edit

Back in the 60's I remember heavy cream being very intolerant of overwhipping, since then they have added gums to make it tolerant.
I notice the retail whipping cream has a lot of gum but can be finicky compared to the commercial cream we get. I'd try adding a blob of soft butter to up the fat content just out of curiosity but I wouldn't hold my breath thinking thats gonna fix it. I'd rather buy a larger quantity of better cream and use it up in other products, it makes good brioche.