Reviews you can trust.
See why.The Best Cream Whippers
A perfect swirl of whipped cream can be the crowning gem atop your dessert—if you have a good cream whipper.
Published Dec. 1, 2016. Appears in Cook's Illustrated January/February 2010
Top Picks
See Everything We Tested
What You Need To Know
There are few desserts that aren’t improved by a swirl of fresh whipped cream. But if you want to make your own, you have to haul out a mixer or, worse, whisk until your arm goes numb. Luckily, there is an easier way to make homemade whipped cream: Use a cream whipper, a pressurized canister powered by nitrous oxide. You simply fill the canister with heavy cream, twist on a single-use nitrous oxide charger (sold separately for about $0.50 a pop), shake to distribute the gas, and press a lever to pipe out swirls and rosettes. Beauty doesn’t come cheap, however—many cream whippers retail for upwards of $100.00. Are cream whippers worth the expense?
Eager to find out, we rounded up nine cream whippers, priced from about $30.00 to about $115.00, and used each to pipe a pint’s worth of 2-inch whipped cream rosettes using every included decorating tip. We also had five testers—men and women, lefties and righties, pros and novices—use and evaluate each whipper. We used branded chargers if a product’s manual specified to do so; otherwise, we stuck with generic chargers.
Testers immediately zeroed in on the appearance of the whipped cream. Only a few whippers made swirls that were uniform, fluffy, and detailed; most produced misshapen, gloppy rosettes that looked jagged, uneven, and almost curdled. At first we suspected that the decorating tips were the culprit. Each whipper came with between one and three (most had three) tips of varying widths for producing swirls of different designs. While a few models had tips with narrow openings that clogged and sputtered when we used them, most had tips that appeared so similar in shape and size that they could almost be interchangeable.
Instead, we found that the unattractive, blobby rosettes were a result of testers having trouble gripping the canisters and using the dispensing mechanisms. Testers of all sizes preferred shorter canisters, which were easier to move and angle when dispensing the cream. Our favorite whippers were 7.5 and 8.3 inches from top to bottom—as much as 2 inches shorter than some of the more unwieldy canisters.
Testers also disliked whippers with levers that were difficult to push or hard to reach. One model with a button instead of a lever was immediately singled out as hard to control. To use the rest of the whippers, you wrap your hand around the head of the canister and press a lever with your fingers to dispense the cream. The distance of this grip ranged from 3.6 to 4.2 inches, depending on the whipper. And while ½ inch might seem insignificant, for some testers it made the difference between complete control and grasping by their fingertips. Testers struggled to...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Control: 3 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 3 stars out of 3.
Testers thought this whipper’s shorter stature, rubber grip, and responsive lever made for effortless control, and both novices and pros easily piped fluffy, uniform rosettes. Grips on the handle and neck made refilling and cleaning speedy.
Recommended
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Control: 3 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 3 stars out of 3.
This whipper’s lever was easy to grasp, and testers praised its steady flow and attractive piping. Its canister was smaller, with a secure rubber grip, making it simple to maneuver. Its wider decorating tips made rosettes that were perfectly fluffy. Our one gripe was that its narrowest tip produced a skinny, shaggy stream of cream.
Recommended with reservations
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Control: 2 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 3 stars out of 3.
This taller whipper felt unwieldy in smaller hands, but its lever was responsive and light, allowing us to make detailed, attractive rosettes. Its plastic handle screwed off easily for recharging, and cleanup was effortless in the dishwasher. The smallest of its three decorating tips was a bit too narrow, resulting in splattered, misshapen rosettes.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Control: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 3 stars out of 3.
Unlike the tapered shape of other products, this whipper was curved like a cocktail shaker. Though large-handed testers easily gripped its wide, bulb-shaped top, smaller testers struggled to reach and often used two hands. We piped nearly perfect rosettes when we used its wider decorating tip, but its narrower tip occasionally clogged.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Control: 2 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 2.5 stars out of 3.
Whipped cream looked attractive and fluffy when piped from this whipper’s two wider tips, but cream clogged and sputtered through its smallest tip. While larger testers could comfortably grip its tall canister, smaller hands struggled to press its stiff lever (some had to use both hands). We liked its grippy plastic handle.
Not Recommended
- Comfort: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Control: 2 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 2 stars out of 3.
This whipper looked like a clone of the Mosa Culinary Whipper, with the exception of its hexagonal metal handle, which was painful to twist. It had many of the same issues as the Mosa: a sticky lever, a sputtering narrow tip, and a slippery grip. An added gripe: Only its canister is dishwasher-safe; other parts have to be washed by hand.
- Comfort: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Control: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 1 stars out of 3.
While we liked this whipper’s short stature and rubber grip, testers were frustrated by the flimsy design of the nozzle, which had to be held in place whenever we changed tips so it wouldn’t fall into the cream. Its sticky lever was intermittently responsive, and testers struggled to control the cream, which emerged gloppy and misshapen.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Control: 2 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 1 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 1 stars out of 3.
Though we liked this whipper’s grippy rubber exterior, users with smaller hands still struggled to hold this tall canister. Cream repeatedly clogged and sputtered around the nozzle, and we frequently had to clean frozen cream from the inner gaskets. The canister was scratched down to the metal after just three trips through the dishwasher.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Control: 1 stars out of 3.
- Dispensing: 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Setup: 1 stars out of 3.
Once assembled, this whipper’s upright decorating tip and skinny frame resembled a Reddi-wip container. It has a button instead of a lever, which afforded almost no control, so cream squirted wildly and rosettes looked jagged and uneven. Testers lamented its solitary decorating tip, which often fell off if not pushed solidly into place. It’s also not dishwasher-safe.
Reviews you can trust
Reviews you can trust
The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing. We stand behind our winners so much that we even put our seal of approval on them.
0 Comments
