heavy cream and light cream?

Question

hi...first,i would like to know the difference between heavy cream and light cream...second, i don't live in the US, and where i live..they just sell "cream"....they don't write whether it's light or heavy...so how can i know that the cream i'm buying is heavy? or light?...and is there any way that i can turn heavy cream to light...or vise versa?!

Answer 1

First I'd like to say, wish you were here in the good old USA, it is the absolute best country there is in the world! FREEDOM!

Lowest on the scale of fat content is half-and-half, a milk-and-cream blend with between 10.5 percent and 18 percent fat. This cannot be whipped, and it breaks (divides into curds and whey) when heated. Next is light cream, also called coffee cream or table cream, which has between 18 percent and 30 percent milk fat. Light cream cannot be whipped and it breaks when heated. Light whipping cream has more fat (between 30 percent and 36 percent) and it can be whipped into a semi-stable foam (it will droop after too long), and it will reduce, becoming thicker, when heated and left to boil. Heavy whipping cream has more than 36 percent fat, and it creates a stable foam and reduces to a creamy thickness when heated.

So with that information I'd say it would depend on what you are doing with the 'light cream', so percentage wise you'd have to measure and test.
I'd try to whip your 'cream' to see if the butterfat is over 36%, then go from there. Good luck.

Answer 2

I not sure. Heavy Cream is Cream, here it give a fat content, but, it say on the Carton "Heavy Cream" or "Heavy Whipping Cream". I never seen a light cream, but, we have something called "Half and Half" it like 1/2 cream and 1/2 milk. Maybe that be a Light Cream. Some Countries have a % on the Carton. 30% is a Heavy Cream. 15% be Half and Half. 3.2% Whole Milk. 0% be Skim Milk. I guess.

Answer 3

The only differance between the two is the fat content. Light cream has less fat than heavy cream. Most likley what yoiu have available to you is heavy cream. There isn't a way for you to turn heavy into light, light into heavy because they are altered during the packaging and cooking processes at the dairy.

Answer 4

In Canada we have 5% cream, cereal cream (10%), coffee cream 18% and whipping cream (35%). It makes it confusing when you get a recipe that just says cream, or for a long time I didn't know what half and half was. Now I know its 12.5% so I usually substitute either cereal cream or coffee cream and a bit of milk. I often dilute heavier cream with skim milk instead of a lighter cream, say for soup or sauces . You can't really increase the fat content, maybe add more butter to the recipe??? or thicken with cornstarch or flour. It depends on what you are making. The flavour could be different too.

Answer 5

the difference is the fat contents.