The insidiousness of cream lies in their fat content. It’s good if the recipe indicates which product is needed, but if you omit this item, doubts immediately arise. And if in some dishes it is permissible to use cream with different fat content, then in others the lack of interest can play a cruel joke. For example, a lush cream will not whip or the sauce will not be thick enough.
To prevent embarrassing mistakes in the kitchen, let’s look at the cream issue. What does fat mean and how to choose a product, we will tell in this article.
How cream is classified by fat content
Percentages in cream show the ratio of fats to the specific gravity of the product. That is, fats can be, for example, 10% of the total volume and mass, 20, 30%, and so on. The higher the percentage, the more stable the cream is when heated and whipped.
Conventionally, according to the fat content, cream is divided into drinking and culinary. Drinkable, 10–20% with a liquid consistency, mainly used for adding to hot and cold drinks, making soups and cocktails. Culinary cream has a fat content of 23% or more, they are used in cooking mainly for sauces and whipping.
What is cream 10-11% for?
This is the most common minimum for drinking cream. Such a product is also called half-and-half cream or a mixture of milk and cream. It is somewhat thicker than regular milk in consistency, but not thick enough to whip cream or mousse. Most often, such cream is added to coffee to make the drink sound richer than usual. Hence the second name of the product – coffee cream (literally “coffee cream”). However, its scope is much wider.
On cream with a fat content of 11%, you can cook porridge or use them while stewing chicken or meat. They can also be diluted with sour cream filling for quiche or other pie, but by themselves they are not fat enough to set during baking. In addition, the product can replace 20% cream in creamy soups or sauces. True, the consistency of the dishes will turn out to be less thick.
As for whipped cream, their use is highly undesirable if you are on a diet. The thing is that the calorie content of whipped cream is too high.
It is due not only to the fat content of the product, but also to the content of a significant amount of sugar in it. As you know, the combination of sugar and fat is the most detrimental to the figure.
Contraindications
Cream can harm people with individual intolerance to the product. Due to the high fat content, this product is not recommended for people who have digestive problems. Contraindications to the use of cream are in people with high levels of cholesterol in the blood.
You can not eat them also with obesity, hypertension. It is worth refusing cream if there are problems with metabolism and with the cardiovascular system. You can’t eat this product with atherosclerosis and liver pathologies yet.
The fat-containing part of the settled milk, which can be drained. Hence the name of this product. In dairies, cream is separated from pasteurized milk using centrifuges. The content of emulsified fat in cream from cow’s milk reaches 35 g%. On natural raw milk, already in half an hour or an hour after milking, a noticeable layer of cream is formed: the process of settling them is in progress.
The appearance of stratification of milk is created. But this is only an apparent separation, since the emulsion does not break down and the shells of the fat globules are still completely unharmed. Larger fat globules rise faster than smaller ones.
The process is slow, since the high viscosity is directly dependent on the temperature of the milk. Scientists have calculated that for individual fat globules, with the most common diameter of 3-6 microns, it takes several hours to rise to a height of 1 cm. The settling process occurs only when the milk is at rest.
According to the method of processing, milk cream is divided into pasteurized and sterilized. Thus, the bacterial purity of the product is achieved. Pasteurized ones have a more pronounced taste of boiling, as they are processed at a lower temperature than sterilized ones. They also differ in terms of storage time. Pasteurized can be stored for no more than three days, sterilized – up to four months.
Cream of all types should have a uniform consistency: no lumps of fat or protein flakes. The color should be white, a cream shade is possible. The taste is sweet, but not cloying. A bitter aftertaste is a sure sign of a spoiled product. Most often, sterilized cream with an expired shelf life is bitter. This is due to the fact that the sterilized product does not undergo souring, but immediately begins to rot. Pasteurized cream will simply turn into very fatty, fatty kefir.
Cream 20–23%: what to cook
Cream with a fat content of 20% is still unstable for the formation of a lush butter cream, but it is perfect for cream soups, juliennes, independent fillings for pies or making pâtés.
Cream of 23% fat and above is culinary. They have a thick texture and are suitable for making thick sauces, dressings, gravies.
Such cream can be used as a thickener. They already contain a sufficient amount of fats that will prevent the active movement of water molecules and thicken the liquid. However, it is worth remembering the rules for working with cooking cream:
