Last weekend I set out to show my kids a very valuable lesson in food preparation: The proper angle for spraying whipped cream onto ice cream.

I had a good feeling that the spraying a can of whipped cream would work best if used in a directly inverted position, and that deviating from that spray angle would result in significantly less whipped cream.

To test this theory, I printed out a protractor and created a large "spray angle" chart from a sheet of foam board.

Next, I instructed the kids to try spraying whipped cream at a 90, 60 and 45 degrees, and to keep an eye on the volume of whipped cream.

The first test was inconclusive.

The whipped cream volume petered out as the can approached horizontal, but when we examined the can, we realized that the can was actually empty by the time she was spraying at those lower angles.

A second test into seperate bowls revealed that spraying at 60°, not 90° produced the best, fluffiest whipped cream. It was surprising!

The gas in the can pushes the whipped cream out, and if the can isn't vertical, you use more gas than neccessary. But that gas isn't just for pushing out the cream, it is also frothing the cream.

Given the temptation to inhale the intoxicating gas, I had always used whipped cream in the most conservative way possible, pointing straight down. I thought I was conserving the gas, but it was suddenly clear that I wasn't getting the best results that way.

I was wrong! holding the can at 60° is better!