If you are a chef or a baker, you have undoubtedly used whipped cream. And whipped cream usually means using a cream charger. But have you ever wondered what these cream chargers are made of? Here’s your answer. They contain a gas called nitrous oxide (N2O).
In recent times, however, there has been a lot of hue and cry over the safety of this gas. This is mainly because some people use these cream chargers to inhale large amounts of nitrous oxide for recreational purposes.
What do they get out of it? We’ll look at that shortly. But first, let’s talk a little bit more about this gas and its various applications.
What is Nitrous Oxide?
It was back in 1772 that Joseph Priestley, an English scientist, first made this gas. About 40 years later, the medical community adopted this gas a useful anesthetic. Soon, doctors all over the world were using it to relieve the pain of their patients during surgery.
But the recreational effects of this gas were also not hidden for long. And in a few years, across England, people began to host parties where they consumed this gas, also known as laughing gas, to get high.
This euphoric effect of nitrous oxide still makes some people wary of this drug. But its benefits in multiple fields are so much that nitrous oxide production is always on the rise.
Applications of Nitrous Oxide
Let’s now talk about some of the applications of nitrous oxide in various industries.
Cooking
The culinary arts are probably where nitrous oxide is most vividly used in present times. Most chefs and bartenders buy nitrous oxide tanks that are specially made food-grade.
This gas helps bakers and chefs create whipped cream, foams, and a variety of sauces. Bartenders use it to give that fluffy finishing touch to their popular cocktails.
It is easy to buy food-grade noz tanks in the form of cream chargers. As a leading supplier of nitrous oxide cream chargers, we have only seen its demand skyrocketing in recent years as the ones who dabble with the culinary arts continue to explore and create appetizing dishes and desserts.
What’s more, you can now buy tanks of nitrous oxide in a wide range of flavors, from strawberry to watermelon, to banana, and many more.
Medicine
Remember the last time you had tooth removal and how anxious you were before the minor surgery? “Relax!” said your dentist and gave you a sedative. And then there was no more pain and none of the anxiety.
That sedative right there had nitrous oxide in it. And no, it was not the same as the nitrous oxide that you used last week for a birthday cake.
Medical-grade nitrous oxide is different from the gas’s food-grade version. They differ in concentration and also how people use them.
When doctors give nitrous oxide as a sedative, they usually combine it with oxygen and make the patients inhale the mixed gas. For hundreds of years, this technique has been effective in reducing pain and anxiety associated with minor surgeries.
Space Engineering
Space technology is constantly evolving. Scientists are looking at making spacecraft engines more reliable, less toxic, and energy-efficient.
And the innocent gas that can make whipped cream can also double up as an oxidizer in a rocket engine. Of course, the spacecraft would need the gas to be stronger than the food-grade nitrous oxide that goes on top of a cupcake.
Nonetheless, nitrous oxide has shown a lot of potential in space engineering because of its high stability at room temperature. Astronauts can easily carry tanks of this gas on the spacecraft and use it to fuel hybrid rocket engines.
Automobile
If you’ve ever wondered why race cars are so much faster than ordinary cars, well, here’s the answer. Many race cars have an internal combustion engine that uses nitrous oxide.
The nitrous oxide produces a lot more oxygen than is available in an ordinary engine. This extra oxygen enables the engine to burn more fuel. And that’s what makes the engine more powerful. The extra power generates the monstrous speed that delights the spectators of the sport.
Additionally, nitrous oxide also produces a cooling effect on the air that goes into the engine. This type of engine is called the nitrous oxide system (NOS). They usually take up more space than the regular engine and so smaller race cars typically skip it.
Is Nitrous Oxide Safe?
Medical-grade nitrous oxide typically has no side-effect. Doctors who use it as a sedative are experts who are aware of the right dosage.
But if you go through surgeries frequently and take nitrous oxide to relieve pain, your doctor may prescribe some Vitamin B12 supplements. This is because long-term use of high-dose nitrous oxide may cause a deficiency of this essential vitamin. Supplementation should help prevent brain and nerve damage that a B12 deficiency can cause.
So, you are safe with nitrous oxide when a doctor is administering it to you. But what about food-grade nitrous oxide? Can it cause any ill effects?
As it turns out, frequently consumed high doses of food-grade nitrous oxide can have many side effects. One of them is euphoria or the feeling of getting high.
This is the reason some activists are working on preventing the use of nitrous oxide for recreational uses. But the main thing to understand is that you have to take this gas in higher doses and for a long time to experience side effects.
Other side effects of long-term use of nitrous oxide include low blood pressure, loss of oxygen, fainting, spasms in hands and feet, memory loss, and incontinence. None of these, however, happen if you use the noz tanks only to decorate your occasional baked goods and cocktails.
Is Nitrous Oxide Worth Buying?
Nitrous oxide is a highly versatile gas with applications ranging from culinary products to rockets. It often gets a bad rap because a lot of the youth have been using it for recreational purposes.
The gas can make you laugh hysterically, forget your worries, and experience euphoria when taken in higher amounts. But when used as intended, it can produce the most artistic dessert and a variety of exotic cocktails. It’s also one of the few sedatives that are low on side effects when doctors administer the right dosage.
So, is nitrous oxide safe? In regulated amounts, absolutely! Is it worth buying to use? If you want to revolutionize your kitchen with a smart cream charger, then yes, it’s worth every penny. You can buy nitrous oxide tanks online from Greatwhip and get the purest food-grade N2O to give your culinary creativity a distinct voice.