Tip to avoid soda eruptions

If you make soda with a fizz giz or carbonation cap where you shoot the co2 into the bottle and shake.. you probably noticed some recipes will fuzz up all over the place when you open the bottle..
try this..
Fill bottle with co2 normally until it gets hard and shake until bottle is soft.
repeat.
Usually you can repeat again, filling the bottle to the point that it is hard.
But for stuff like fruit juice, milk etc... you will be wearing the drink when you open the bottle.
So for the last step of filling the bottle with co2, dont fill it up to where the bottle is hard. The trick is to shake really good the last time you fill up with co2 so the bottle is a bit soft (not too soft or the pressure will pull out all the bubbles you just put in the liquid). It might take a few times to get the feel of the bottle softness down, but try it. You will be able to open the bottle without it fizzing all over the place, but still be good and carbonated.
This works good when carbonating milk to make coffee/chocolate etc.. milk float flavors..
kurt

Interesting. In the book Fix The Pumps, the author says the old timer trick to reduce over foaming due to protein such as in milk was to include a spoonful of alcohol which suppresses that. I forget the exact dose, but not having the recommended gin i tried adding a few drops of vanilla extract in alcohol to a mocha drink with a bit of milk... still foamed a lot.

Your approach of slightly lighter carbing is something i was forced to try in my yeasted cranberry juice. I shoved yeast into a standard cranberry bottle, then found the cap wouldnt screw on tight at all. I thought it would be a total disaster, but put it in the fridge so it didn't sour or blow off the cap. Surprisingly it did a very timid light carbing without inflating the bottle or pressuring at all, but still having a twist of flavor and a bit of suds. I think I will try this with a working cap screwed a bit tighter but still leaky in the future.

Now we are all trying different methods of carbing but they have common principles. My first example was using sodastream carbed pure water, then adding alcohol then mocha. I have found when adding fruit concentrate that some foam more than others due to pulp or other nucleation causing debris... therefore you have the possibility of more straining.

The book I mentioned above had another radical idea along the lines of light carbing which I havent tried yet due to buying baking powder rather than baking soda. He says if you add baking soda to water before carbing, then light carb... the baking soda will be constantly reacting with the introduced acid to promote more carbing. So you can have lighter carbing, but it will self generate a bit even in the glass and be more fizzy. This is how naturally carbonated spring waters work when you add acidic flavor.

i have never tried this method while carbonating with yeast baking soda/powder etc.. only by forcing co2 from a tank into a PET bottle. So i cant say if it would in the method you are using to carbonate. but i think the idea is the same.. if the bottle is a bit soft before you open it, that means there is more pressure outside the bottle than inside the bottle.. Other than some chemical reaction, this should hold down the suds.. For me it works anyway. Grape juice carbonated and milk carbonated seem to be the worst for fizzing all over, no matter how long you wait before opening the bottle. but if the bottle is a bit soft before you open it, there should be no suds (or so little that a quick release with the cap, then tighten, then open it back up again is enough).. Its odd but with milk especially, you would think this is under carbonated, but it actually tastes carbonated just as much if not more than other recipes. Maybe some things just carbonate easier than others..? But i usually carbonate 3 times, shaking the bottle in between each time until it gets soft, then re-carbonate again... but the last time, put in a little less co2 and shake a bit more till the bottle is a little soft, then you should be able to open it right away without waiting..

kurt

Yeah, basically you are using the principle of backing off the carbonation a bit. That's what I mean by my cranberry accident, where just a bit of carbing is still enjoyable. Cranberry seems to be the opposite of high foaming grape or orange; it behaves well and preserved a thick mouthfeel with no foam.

But I also noticed that even the slightest bit of surviving carbonation in my mocha (with mostly nondairy creamer but a bit of milk) is very very enjoyable... maybe due to contrast with the velvet mouthfeel. I just compared it with totally flat version which is quite boring. BTW, I found the quality of the foam is greatly enhanced by a touch of actual corn syrup... more lasting and thick.