This is the question we get asked most, usually by someone who has been buying 640g for a year and has started to wonder. The honest answer has less to do with price than with how quickly you empty a tank.
The numbers first
| 640g cylinder | 2kg / 3.3L tank | |
|---|---|---|
| Equivalent 8g chargers | ~80 | ~250 |
| Cheapest in our range | $54.99 | $61.99 |
| Cost per 8g equivalent | $0.69 | $0.24 |
| Tanks to clear our $250 minimum | 5 | 4 |
So the 2kg format costs roughly a third as much per portion. Over a year in a busy kitchen that difference stops being academic.
When 640g is still right
If your gas use is spiky — weekends, events, a dessert menu that turns over slowly — a big tank is a liability rather than a saving. Gas sitting in an opened tank for a month is money doing nothing, and you lose the one real advantage of a small cylinder, which is that an unopened spare costs very little to keep on the shelf.
Small cylinders also suit kitchens running several stations at once, where one tank and a hose cannot be in two places.
When to move up
Move up when the handling starts to annoy you. That sounds unscientific, but it is the reliable signal: when someone is reloading bulbs mid-service, or the recycling bin fills with spent steel every week, the format has outgrown the kitchen. Steady, predictable service is what makes a 2kg tank pay — it gets used while the gas is fresh, you take fewer deliveries, and pressure stays even from the first plate to the last.
What changes in practice
One thing surprises people moving up from 8g bulbs: a tank does not screw into the dispenser. It feeds through a pressure regulator and hose into the same inlet the bulb holder uses. You buy the regulator once and it works with every tank and every brand we carry — but if nobody tells you, your first delivery arrives and you cannot use it.
Nothing else changes. Same gas, same dispenser, same cream. Only the plumbing in front of it is different.
Where to start
On 640g, the two Smartwhip cylinders are the obvious entry: Smartwhip Silver 640g Cylinder and Smartwhip Silver Midnight 640g Cylinder. On 2kg, King Whip 3.3L (2kg) Cream Charger Tank is both the cheapest tank we sell and the cheapest per serving, which does not usually happen; if you would rather a premium finish, Cream Deluxe 2000g Cream Charger Tank and GreatWhip 2000G (3.3L) Cream Charger Tank sit at the other end.
Everything here is food-grade nitrous oxide, sold for culinary use and nothing else. Store tanks upright, below 50 °C, out of direct sun and out of reach of children. You need to be the age of majority in your province to buy.