299455 Tue Dec 14 17:14:26 -0800 2004 3 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1659054 It has often been a puzzle to me that it is hard to find cream (heavy or whipping) that is not adulterated (as I see it) with carragean or guar gum or... In a general way I tend to not associate gum and thickeners with the best quality food products, and cream seems like a pretty basic item that might not need to be improved upon by the food sciences industry. So the question(s) is (are) - do we really need this stuff in our cream? Is there better cream available that does not have this stuff in it? I used to be able to get some at a local store but now it is gone away. Tue Dec 14 17:14:26 -0800 2004 0 steve 1 1659055 In Southern California we can buy both organic raw cream (unpasturized and unhomogenized) and organic gently pasturized and unhomogenized cream. Lovely stuff. Ultra-pasturization is widely used by both industrial milk producers and organic producers. Nasty. Tue Dec 14 17:29:41 -0800 2004 1659054 0 JudiAU 1 1659088 You're darn right it doesn't need to be improved upon. All those thickeners in heavy cream inhibit whipping. Get yourself some ultra-commercial heavy cream from the grocery store and some raw, unpasteurized heavy cream from a local organic foods shop. You'll notice that out of the bottles, the raw cream is much, much thinner... when you whip them, the raw cream whips up noticeably larger than the carrageenan-enhanced cream. Wed Dec 15 03:52:45 -0800 2004 1659054 0 JK Grence (the Cosmic Jester) 1 1659129 I just bought cream for my annual truffle making marathon and noticed two kinds on the shelf, the regular old stuff and "Old Fashioned". Being the same brand I perused the ingredients label. The Old Fashioned had Cream and I think a thickener. The regular had a whole list of chemicals after cream. The Old Fashioned was also cheaper. I find the concept of old fashioned to mean less processing mildly amusing myself. Wed Dec 15 14:30:51 -0800 2004 1659054 0 muD