Liquid nitrogen has been used during cooking for a long time now. But where to buy liquid nitrogen for cooking. Liquid nitrogen is not some common ingredient that you can find just lying there in your grocery store, but you can find them in many places like gas companies or supply stores. Usually, no one would have guessed that such a cold thing like liquid nitrogen would be used out of your chemistry classes and used straight in cooking.
You can easily buy liquid nitrogen, but the tough part is about storing it. First, you’ll need a dewar; it’s a double-walled vacuum flask that prevents the mixture from evaporating quickly by regulating it. Liquid nitrogen is not a child’s play, so you’ll need proper tools with you while handling liquid nitrogen. We’ll cover everything about liquid nitrogen, saving you from tough work.
Where to buy liquid nitrogen for cooking?
Liquid nitrogen can be found in many places, but unfortunately, it’s not your grocery store. Here is a list of places where you can easily purchase liquid nitrogen for cooking,
1. Industrial Gas Companies
We would recommend you go to Airgas and Praxair first because they’re the biggest suppliers. These two gas companies sell a range of gases, including liquid nitrogen. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find the price online, so you need to make some calls and find out if you can purchase it. You might even have to give your own dewar for this.
2. Welding supply stores
Welders commonly use nitrogen gas for working. Nitrogen gas is stored and transported with the help of liquid nitrogen so that you can find tons of it for sale. But there’s only one problem. Such stores take only bulk orders, so if you want only a small amount for your cooking process, you might not get it here. However, there’s no harm in asking.
3. Tire mechanics
Many mechanic stores use liquid nitrogen to fill tires instead of using air. It is used because nitrogen passes through the tire rubbers much slower than oxygen, so the tires stay inflated for a long time. So you might get lucky here as they have plenty of liquid nitrogen available, and they might have dewars. However, such places don’t believe in advertising such products, so give them a call.
4. Colleges
Yes, right, colleges use liquid nitrogen in their labs to teach students about various experiments. And the best part is that they can give you liquid nitrogen at a much lower price than you can get at other locations. So make some calls and ask if they want to sell it.
5. Costco
Costco has tire repairing departments, so you can expect liquid nitrogen available with them to fill the tires. So next time you visit them, you can ask them if they are selling liquid nitrogen, and you can get lucky this time.
Liquid nitrogen cannot be handled with bare hands or eyes or even your bare body because it can numb you. As we told you earlier, you’ll need a dewar to store liquid nitrogen, but you need some other things while using it. Dewars can be bought online but don’t expect them to be cheap. NEVER even think about storing liquid nitrogen in a sealed container. When you do this, the container can explode because liquid evaporates. Don’t even store for a short time.
Before buying liquid nitrogen, make sure you have your own dewar available with you for easy transportation. The liquid will keep evaporating, so it’s better that you use it as soon as you can. The fog effect is actually the liquid turning into gas when exposed to air.
Here are a few tools other than dewar for your safety while using liquid nitrogen.
Tongs
When you use liquid nitrogen for cooking, your ingredients get frozen, and you’ll need something to hold them. When you use tongs to hold them, you’ll save your fingers from frostbite.
Goggles
A small splash won’t make your eyes freeze, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. When things get frozen, they tend to break, and goggles can protect your eyes from getting that piece into them.
Ventilation
You have to be in a well-ventilated space while using liquid nitrogen. If you’re using it indoors, make sure you have opened all the windows or use a stove hood. When the liquid evaporates, nitrogen levels increase in the air and lower oxygen.
Conclusion
Buying liquid nitrogen has never been a tough job. You just have to make some calls here and there and see where you get lucky. Don’t go to the place without any asking in advance and just to be safe carry dewar with you as it makes transportation easy.