11 MINUTE READ Ice cream generally contains seven categories of ingredients: milk fat, milk solids-not-fat (the lactose, proteins, minerals, water-soluble vitamins, enzymes, and some minor constituents), sweeteners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, water, and flavours. In this post, we’ll be looking at the role of fat in ice cream. You might also like to read: Cuisinart ICE-70 Ice Cream Maker…
Science
Why is corn syrup used in ice cream?
18 MINUTE READ Sweeteners commonly used in ice cream formulations include cane and beet sucrose (‘table sugar’), maltodextrin, corn syrup, high maltose syrup, dextrose, fructose or high fructose corn syrup, maple syrup or maple sugar, invert sugar, honey, brown sugar, and lactose. Goff & Hartel (2013) note that the most common choice of sweetener in ice cream is…
Sugar in ice cream
12 MINUTE READ Ice cream generally contains seven categories of ingredients: fat (dairy or nondairy), milk solids-not-fat (MSNF) (the lactose, proteins, minerals, water-soluble vitamins, enzymes, and some minor constituents), sweeteners, stabilisers, emulsifiers, water, and flavours (Goff & Hartel, 2013). In this post, we’ll be looking at the role of sweeteners in ice cream. You might…
Locust Bean Gum in Ice Cream
12 MINUTE READ Stabilizers used in ice cream production fall into the following categories: seed gums; microbial gums; seaweed extracts; proteins; plant exudates; pectins; and cellulosics. In this post, we’ll be looking at locust bean gum, a seed gum. Along with guar gum, carboxymethyl cellulose (also known cellulose gum), and carrageenan, it is the most frequently used stabilizer for regular ice…
Why are stabilizers used in ice cream?
9 MINUTE READ Ice cream generally contains seven categories of ingredients: milk fat, milk solids-not-fat (the lactose, proteins, minerals, water-soluble vitamins, enzymes, and some minor constituents), sweeteners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, water, and flavours. In this post, we’ll be looking at why stabilizers are used in ice cream production. You might also like to read: Cuisinart ICE-100 Ice…
How to calculate an ice cream mix
Below is the Excel spreadsheet I created to calculate my ice cream mix. It’s based on the calculations in Ice Cream (7th Ed) by Professor Doug Goff and Professor Richard Hartel, which I highly recommend reading. There are no restrictions on the use of this spreadsheet so feel free to download and use it as you…
Ice crystals in ice cream
12 MINUTE READ The best ice creams in the world have a smooth and creamy texture. This creamy texture, primarily associated with a high fat content, is also determined by the average size of the ice crystals. Ice crystal size is governed by the mix formulation, as well as by factors relating to the freezing…
Stevia in ice cream
14 MINUTE READ In this post, I’ll be covering the use of stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) as a natural sweetener in ice cream. I’ll cover the sweetness potency, flavour profile, and the sweetness temporal profile of stevioside and rebaudioside A, the two main compounds providing sweetness in stevia. I’ll also cover the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), metabolism, stevia and diabetes,…
Artificial Sweeteners in Sugar-Free Ice Cream
25 MINUTE READ In this post, I’ll be looking at the artificial sweeteners that are used in sugar-free ice cream production. These will include aspartame, neotame, saccharin, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and, cyclamate. For each sweetener, I’ll cover the acceptable daily intake (ADI), sweetness relative to sucrose (table sugar), use in cooking, metabolism, and health concerns. This…
How long does homemade ice cream last in the freezer?
14 MINUTE READ The shelf life of food is dependent on changes in the microbial content, chemical nature (e.g., flavour), and the physical attributes of the product (Goff & Hartel, 2013). In ice cream, microbial growth does not occur to any significant extent during storage of either the mix or of the frozen product, so that physicochemical…