Air and Water fundamental elements in ice cream

The fundamental ingredients involved in making ice cream are air, water, fat, skimmed milk powder, neutrals and sugars.  There is no single balance for all ice creams, since it is necessary to take into account the differences of each type or family and all the external and internal factors​.

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Air

It is one of the basic elements of ice cream. Without the air there is no ice cream, or it would not have its characteristic texture. Air is weightless, it is unfreezable, and it is also insulating. In the maturation phase, a small amount of air is incorporated into the mix, but the largest amount arrives, naturally, during freezing through agitation at the time of cooling. The air incorporation temperature is between 4ºC and -4ºC. At lower temperatures the cold retains the air and the agitator breaks it up into tiny bubbles and distributes them throughout the ice cream.

The correct amount of air in the ice cream is favored by an adequate balance of the mixture, by the amount and type of fat used, by the presence of egg yolks, by the amount of protein and lean milk (milk powder skimmed), for the quality and dosage of the stabilizers and emulsifiers used, and for a correct production process in all its phases.

The air, which is an insulating element, makes the ice cream lighter, less cold, creamier and more ductile

On the other hand, an incorrect balance, the presence of alcohols or vegetable fats, the excess of fat from milk or sugars and a bad manufacturing process are some of the factors that can make it difficult to incorporate air into the ice cream.

The air, which is an insulating element, makes the ice cream lighter, less cold, creamier and more ductile. The increase in volume of the ice cream due to the incorporated air is what we know as overrun, whose ideal parameter we place at 35%.

Therefore, the weight of a liter of ice cream will be 740 grams.

We will try to balance all our ice creams so that, regardless of the family they belong to, they incorporate the same amount of air. With this we will ensure that they all have the same weight, the same structure and the same insulation capacity.

Water

Quantitatively it is the most important ingredient in ice cream. The total amount of water in the mix is ​​the sum of that contained in each of the ingredients that make it up. Thus, apart from the water that we add directly to a sorbet, in ice cream we find water in the milk (88%), in the cream (60%), or in the fruit (80-90%) among others. Water is the only ingredient in the mixture that freezes from 0ºC.

In a mix, the water-solid mixture must be as homogeneous as possible, avoiding that water remains in a pure state, that is, free.

At the outlet of the batch freezer, the ice cream has a temperature of between -10 and -12ºC. Through rapid cooling (blast chiller or cabinet with low temperature), we will have to reach Ð18¼C in the heart of the ice cream as quickly as possible and thus stabilize the activity of the water.

Knowing the temperature at which we are going to serve the ice cream, we will balance, through the sugars, the antifreeze power (PAC) of the mix, so that at the temperature at which we serve the ice cream there is no more than 75% frozen water, an essential condition for an adequate texture of the product.

As far as the quality of the water is concerned, it is important to use purified water, with the absence of odor and color, drinkable and without excessive hardness.

AussieBlends® offers a wide variety of Ice Cream Mixes to cover the requirements of ice cream makers.  Our Ice Cream Mix product range is divided in Dairy Mixes and Vegan Mixes (no dairy added)