Posted on 12/18/2016 6:23:46 AM PST by billorites
Just in time for the holidays, an industrywide shortage of canned whipped topping, such as Reddi-wip, appears to be looming after a fatal explosion at a Florida nitrous oxide plant in late August stunted the supply chain.
Conagra Brands, the Chicago-based food manufacturer that makes Reddi-wip, confirmed Monday that its supply of nitrous oxide — a propellant for aerosol toppings — was affected by the blast. Spokeswoman Lanie Friedman said stores still have the product in stock, but supplies may be limited in the peak holiday season, when consumers are indulging in pies, hot chocolate and other desserts that call for whipped cream.
"It's in stores now, but we're encouraging people to buy it early," Friedman said. "There will be a shortage if people buy at the typical levels during the holidays."
Whipped cream purists would suggest simply making your own, but the canned aerosol products, introduced in the 1940s, still do a brisk business in the U.S.
Reddi-wip is the leading aerosol whipped topping, according to sales data from IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. In the 12-month period ending Nov. 27, sales exceeded $278 million, which represented an increase of almost 9 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the IRI retail sales figures, which do not include Costco.
Friedman stressed the shortage isn't Conagra's problem alone, but extends to all food products that use nitrous oxide. That would include the spray-can versions of Cool Whip, made by Kraft Heinz, which is headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen declined to comment.
The explosion at the Airgas-owned Nitrous Oxide Corp. facility in Cantonment, Fla., had far more dire consequences than a whipped cream shortage. One Airgas employee was killed in the blast. A company investigation into the cause of the accident...
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
And so it begins.
Take heavy cream, add sugar and vanilla, and then follow the directions given my our canine chefs...
I prefer the whipped cream that I can scoop out anyway.
and nitrous oxide.
Proof that Trump’s presidency is already resulting in chaos and terror. (For baker’s)
/s
Cool Whip (or equivalent) in tubs. If you want to make swoopy-designs with it, you can use cake-decorating tools.
(Darling whippets! Makes me want another greyhound.)
Many people now assume that whipped cream is something new that only comes in cans with spouts or in plastic tubs—I amazed a young aquantance of my by showing how it’s actually made from cream and sugar in a bowl. Mind blowing.
Hmm, KHC (Kraft) has moved up nicely this month! Wonder if that’s a Cool Whip effect or just overall market gains.
This is no laughing matter!
Anybody know why they use nitrous oxide as a propellant and not just compressed air?
Maybe women are getting laid more.
Good grief. Whipped cream is ridiculously easy to make. And considerably better.
I won’t allow Cool Whip in my home.
You want to try something a little different and very tasty? Get a can of coconut cream, NOT coconut milk, might have to go to an Asian grocery store. If you search, there are instructions online on how to whip it. It won’t be a thick as dairy whipped cream, but ahhh, it is delicious. Plus it’s easy to keep a can in the frig all the time, ready to whip.
Tangentially related, this album cover had a tremendous influence on me around age 12-13.
Cream, vanilla, sugar
Whisk until the desired consistency is reached.
Put on food
Eat
Nitrous dissolves in the butterfat. When the pressure is released by dispensing the liquid cream, vanilla and sugar product, the trapped nitrous boils and fluffs up the ‘whipped’ cream.
Think of it as giving the mix the bends....
I'm guessing it would spoil too quickly with compressed air. N2O gives it shelf life.
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