The big test of heavy creams

Since I’m on Optimal Diet (high fat, low carb, based on animal products) I find it difficult to buy good quality heavy cream. For those unfamiliar with my diet: the rules of Kwasniewski’s Optimal Diet dictate that 85% percent of daily calories intake should come from animal fats. Ideally, you should have a friendly farmer… Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want.
I’ve decided for a couple weeks to visit local stores and test their assortment. Other than my usual types (Jana, Mleczna Dolina) I’ve found some other interesting specimens 😉 I’ve tested all heavy creams available in retail in Poznan. I’ve been to Carrefour, Netto, Biedronka, Piotr i Pawel and a couple organic food stores. My main criterium was 30-36% fat content, known in Poland as “kremowka”. In order not to test the low-grade products I’ve chosen only the ones that were available in store refrigerators. This eliminates creams with long expiration dates and lower nutritional value.

Mleczna Dolina – 30%

They are available in Biedronka – it has a large container – a cup of 330 ml. It’s my favourite for making hot chocolate for two. 🙂

Osm Czarnków – 30%

The producer has added a lot of carrageenan which ruins the taste of this otherwise good heavy cream.

Piątnica – 30%

As the container suggests – it works great for soups 🙂 However it doesn’t taste as good with coffee.

Mlekovita – 30%

I’ve bought it once and once only. It just won’t do, even for soups :/ I’ve noticed that most of Mlekovita’s products have a lot of texture agents, like they don’t care about the taste at all. It’s one of the more important criteria, not only for heavy creams.

Strzałkowo – 30%

Very tasty. One of my top choices 🙂 Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to find this one in stores.

Jana – 30%

Also one of my favourites, I’ve been using this one for ten years and it was always a good quality heavy cream. You can find it in Piotr i Pawel and sometimes in Carrefour.

Klimeko – 36%

A hipster amongst the heavy creams. It has a perfect container for travelling. Available in some organic food stores and Piotr i Pawel. It’s usually available on a chosen day of the week. Because of its short expiration date, you can’t really buy a larger amount – even when it remains closed and refrigerated it will spoil after 2-3 days. Other than it’s price and availability this one is absolutely perfect.

Miletto – 30%

It’s tasty and it is also the cheapest one in this comparison. It’s only available in Netto.

Zott – 30%

It’s not very good. Taste like the non-refrigerated ones because of a large amount of carrageenan. Despite this, you can find it in the store refrigerators, be careful! 😉

Piątnica – 36%

The name “śmietana” (sour cream) can be misleading – it’s still a heavy cream. It’s good for deserts because of its mascarpone-like texture. Texture agents added to it disqualifies this cream as a coffee cream. Shame, because it is one of the few heavy creams with 36% fat content. It has a long expiration date.

Wieluń – 30%

I’ve recently stumbled upon this on in Carrefour. There is no information about its content, but it tastes like a cream with carrageenan. 🙁 I’ll test this one again since I might buy it at the wrong time.

This post will be updated if I find any new heavy creams worth of my attention, so be sure to visit again! 🙂