Carbonating fruit

The following is almost a full year overdue. Sorry.

So, one of the crazy molecular gastronomy things is carbonating things that aren't normally carbonated. Like meat and fruits. After all, CO2 will dissolve into water whether or not it is sugar flavored and destined for a soda can. I had heard of this, and though it was neat. But then inaurolillium mentioned that it could be done (in small amounts) using a whipped cream dispenser with a CO2 cartridge. And that got me thinking. If it's that simple, why not do a whole bunch at once? You'd just need a supply of CO2, like dry ice. And a container that could stand high pressure, like the pressure cooker I bought for autoclave purposes. It seemed almost too easy...

( It wasn't )

And the results? Depended on the target It worked best on things with a lot of surface area, thin skins and high water content. Raspberries were probably the best, and pineapple chunks. You could feel them vibrating from the fizz as you ate them. Orange segments barely picked up any fizz at all. I guess their membranes are not very CO2 transmissive. Supremes probably would have worked better. Grapes cut in half were decent. Generally, it didn't come across as fizziness so much as an extra bite and intensity to the taste.

We didn't stick with traditionally desserty fruit, though. Cherry tomato slices were interesting. The balsamic vinegar and rum ended up far too intense and overpowering. But my absolute favorite was the green olives. They were like green olives but... more. (Not everyone was quite as impressed with them as I was.)

ETA: Terribly rude of me not to say: Pictures courtesy of avhn.