Important and essential tips about creams
Another food that has many fans and is very enjoyable to eat, especially at breakfast, is called cream, but when consuming cream, you should keep in mind some points that we will explain to you in this article.
“Cream is one of the fatty dairy products, the fat percentage of which varies according to different classifications, but usually the fat of cream is at least 30% or higher. Based on the same percentage of fat, different names are given to the cream and in different countries, these names are different…
The cream production process is very simple; In the production line, with a device called a separator, the fat is separated from the whole milk and this collected fat is mixed with a certain volume of milk (skimmed milk or skimmed milk) in the required amount and cream is produced. In fact, the formula for making cream is not complicated at all. According to international standards, other additives may be added to the cream in some countries, such as dyes, flavors or stabilizers. These are part of what Dr. Sidamir Mohammad Mortazavian, a food industry expert and associate professor of the National Nutrition Research Institute and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, said about cream. You can get more information about this product by reading the rest of our conversation with him.
Dr! In Iran, are additives added to the raw materials of cream?
According to domestic standards, factories are not allowed to add such substances (coloring, flavoring and stabilizer) to creams, and usually in Iran, apart from plain cream, we have creams such as date cream, honey cream and cocoa cream.
Do they add sugar to breakfast creams?
No, sugar or sucrose is not added to plain creams, and sugar is only added to flavored creams.
So why does cream taste sweet?
Because of the sugar in milk, we feel the aftertaste of sweetness when we eat cream.
Are ingredients such as dates, honey, or cocoa really added to flavor the creams, or are flavored creams produced using permitted colors and flavorings?
There are two different ways to flavor creams; It is possible to produce flavored creams with natural ingredients such as date juice, honey and cocoa powder, as well as to take the help of permitted edible colors and flavorings for this purpose.
Which of these two production methods is more common in Iran?
The first method is the use of natural raw materials. The national standard and the Ministry of Health support the customer. For this reason, natural ingredients are used to produce flavored creams. Of course, the use of essential oils and food coloring is common in other countries. If a factory intends to use color and essential oil to produce flavored creams, it must obtain a production permit from the Ministry of Health. In this case, the Ministry of Health issues a health permit for the product after reviewing the health and hygiene features of the additives that are to be added to the cream.
How can people know if the additives in the cream are natural or not?
Very simple and by reading the ingredient label on the product. On the ingredients label of the cream, it must be written that natural raw materials are used for its production or additives such as coloring, flavoring and essential oil.
Why are some creams looser and some stiffer?
The textural characteristics of creams include looseness and firmness, mouth feel, greasy feeling in the mouth, stretching, flowing, spoonability and rubability on bread. The difference in these textural characteristics is due to dozens of different factors such as initial milk formulation, fat percentage (the more fat the creams have, the stiffer they become), the presence of possible stabilizers, pressure and temperature, and the type of production, how the pasteurization method is used, It depends on the speed of packaging, the speed and method of cooling after pasteurization, etc. All these factors can work hand in hand to make creams have special textural characteristics.
What is the difference between spray creams and regular creams?
Sometimes, inert gas can be trapped inside a capsule with high pressure and a product such as cream, oil, perfume, etc. can also be poured into that capsule. In this case, by pressing the button of the capsule and at the same time as the gas is released, the desired product will also be released. This work is a luxury work that increases the variety of sales and the customer’s shopping basket, and on the other hand, it can make it easier to do some tasks, such as using cream to decorate cakes and pastries. Creams that are available in the form of sprays in the market do not have any special advantages or disadvantages compared to normal creams; Because the final product is cream anyway.
Do you think that cream-like products made with egg white base in confectioneries can be considered cream?
No, as I said, cream is one of the products of milk, not egg white, of course, for confectionary use, you can buy confectionary cream and whip it pure and give it volume or mix it with other products like Egg whites were added to increase the volume, but this is not the right thing to do because mixing cream with such ingredients changes its texture and taste. This is not a health problem, but it definitely lowers the quality of the product.
How do you think cream should be stored?
It must be kept in the refrigerator. All dairy products, except sterile milk and highly heated or acidic products (such as buttermilk), should be kept at refrigerated temperatures. The maximum storage temperature for dairy products is 10 degrees Celsius.
How can you detect the corruption of cream?
There is a possibility of oxidizing the fat of the cream as a result of opening its package. Usually, changing the taste and smell of cream to become bitter and sour is one of the easiest ways to find out its corruption; Corruption that endangers the health of consumers. Cream also contains water, salts, vitamins and protein and can be highly spoiled by microbes, so it is better to buy creams in smaller packages and consume them quickly after opening.