Making culinary foams for cocktails

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on foams. I've made a couple before, successfully, but never anything like a lobster bisque foam. So I would advise any casual readers to do their own fact-checking and try this on a small scale - at least until somebody can verify it.

Now, onto the questions:

I have Lecithin and Mono/diglyceride from a set. It says they're both emulsifying agents. Which should I use? What's the difference?

First of all, what you want for a foam is a stabilizer, and emulsifiers and stabilizers are not the same thing. Personally, I have never heard of mono/diglyceride being used for a culinary foam. Some research suggests that it is actually an anti-foaming agent! Stick to the lecithin.

Note: For the sake of completeness, lecithin is also considered a foaming agent, which means it facilitates the foaming itself in addition to stabilizing it. This is especially important when making foams out of things that don't naturally foam, like teas or juices.

What's the appropriate ratio of emulsifying agent to liquid? How does changing the ratio affect the foam?

This page on culinary foam suggests starting with a 0.6% ratio, but most people (myself included) use a ratio of 1% - in other words, 1 g of lecithin for every 100 mL of liquid. See here, here, and here. The ratio is not quite as sensitive as some other hydrocolloids where you need to measure out sub-grams, but it is still important; too little and your foam won't hold at all (seems to be what happened to you), too much and you'll end up with soy-flavoured soap.

Note: When making a foam out of something that does not naturally foam, such as juice, you may need to up the ratio as high as 2%. Milk-based foams rely partially on the foaming ability of milk itself.

Does temperature effect how the foam forms?

Sort of. Actually, if you're making a milk-based foam then it's pretty much the same as just frothing the milk - i.e. for a cappuccino. The only difference is that you've added a stabilizing agent, so it will stay foamy. So basically you just need to keep it under 80° C or 175° F, otherwise it will burn. Lecithin can dissolve in cold water, so you really don't need to be very precise, but anecdotally, it's best if it's slightly warmed, say around 40° C (104° F).

What consistency should my bisque be to make a good foam? Does it need to be thin, or will it work thick?

You want a very thin consistency, close to the consistency of water, for the same reason that it's better to use skim milk for frothing and egg whites for meringue. Generally speaking, it's the proteins that are most active in creating culinary foams; large amounts of fat (such as in cream) can interfere with the foaming action and also add weight, which is not at all what you want in a foam.

I haven't made lobster bisque, but I believe it's very thick and made with cream - not a good candidate for foams. I looked at this Epicurious recipe which involves tomato paste, corn starch, and cream; if making a foam I think I would substitute a thin tomato sauce or juice, reduce or eliminate the corn starch, and use skim milk instead of cream. Remember that you're not trying to serve this bisque, you're using it in a foam.

What else should I know before trying to make this?

I don't have a Vitamix, and maybe it can do a lot of cool things that one can't do with an ordinary blender, but nevertheless, I've never heard of a culinary foam being made in an actual blender. A stick blender (AKA hand blender, immersion blender) is much more reliable for foaming.

A foam is just a liquid with plenty of air incorporated into it. You can incorporate air into any liquid; in order to be able to create an actual foam, however, you need to be able to incorporate the air faster than it escapes.

What makes a liquid able to hold the air you're incorporating (and hence form a foam) is a foam stabilizer, also commonly called an emulsifier¹. I know of no specific taxonomy of stabilizers, but the vast majority are hydrocolloids AKA gelling agents and belong to some family of protein.

• Agar, carrageenan, alginate, xanthan, and pectin are all types of polysaccharide;
• Lecithin is mostly a random collection of phospholipids;
• Gelatin is denatured collagen, i.e. animal protein;
• Whey protein is the prevalent protein in dairy products;

And so on. Really almost any emulsifier will do. Basically everything in your list either is, or contains, one of the the additives mentioned above:

• Chocolate is almost always emulsified with soy lecithin;
• Eggs contain high amounts of lecithin;
• Milk and cream contain whey protein;
• Most "supermarket cream" also has emulsifiers like carrageenan already in it.

...you get the picture, I hope. The most basic answer I can give to this is that if you want to make a foam, you need to either use something that's already an emulsion (milk, butter, chocolate, etc.) or use an emulsifier/stabilizer additive (such as gelatin, lecithin, etc.)

If you want a relatively complete list of all of the food additives that qualify, you'll want to look at the E number, and specifically E400-499 (thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers).

_{1. As commenter Erik very correctly points out, an emulsifier is not the same thing as a foam stabilizer. However, by convention, the terms seem to be used interchangeably all over the place, to the extent that I get blank looks when I refer to a "stabilizer" as opposed to "emulsifier". So, know the difference, but don't get too hung up on it.}