What are Cream Chargers?
Cream chargers are small canisters of pressurised gas (nitrous oxide, or N2O). When injected into cream, the N2O reacts with the fats, gelatines and other stabilising agents in the cream to create a foam, resulting in whipped cream. Since N2O exists naturally in our atmosphere, this process occurs when whipping cream manually, but the use of cream chargers makes the process much easier.
How many Cream Chargers do you need?
The number of whipped cream chargers you need will depend on the size of dispenser you own and the volume of cream (or other ingredient) you wish to whip. A standard 8g charger will service the needs of either 0.25 litre or 0.5 litre dispensers and you can expect to produce between two times and six times the amount of liquid initially entered into the dispenser as whipped cream.
Misuse of Cream chargers
Overfilling the dispenser with too much N2O can result in escape of liquid from the dispenser and even damage to the dispenser itself. What’s more, cream chargers are unfortunately used by some people to inflate balloons and inhale the gas, which is highly dangerous (see effects here) and can result in throat spasms, severe coughing or, in the most extreme cases, asphyxiation.