When you talk about ice-cream you automatically start feeling a cold, creamy, and foam ball over your tongue. That’s what ice cream is. Ice creams are made with milk, cream, sugar, and added flavors. There are several thousand flavors of ice cream in the world and people love to treat their taste buds with ice cream.
Many people talk about having soft and creamy ice cream, but not everyone knows the secret ingredient behind it. To help you find out, here is a little guide on what ingredients keep the ice cream soft.
What Ingredients Keep the Ice Cream Soft?
If you ever get a chance to look at ice cream closely under the microscope. You find crystals of ice, fat, and air. Of course, there will be liquid too, since everything is dispersed in it. In reality, ice cream is made with liquid, solid, and air. All these ingredients when mixed in the right proportion give you a soft and foamy texture. Then other agents keep this texture bind together. Reading furthermore will help you learn what ingredient plays what role
Role of Fats
Fat is one of the major ingredients in ice cream. This is that one thing that brings smoothness to ice cream. Fats come from the milk we use in ice cream. The recommended ratio of fat in milk is between 10 to 16 percent. Most ice cream brands use milk with 14 percent of fat. The more the fat content is, the richer will be the taste of the ice cream. Fats are also responsible for giving a creamy texture to the ice cream. Many brands also use egg yolks as a source of fat in ice creams. Egg yolks help bind fat and water together to bring a creamy soft emulsion.
Role of Air
Another important ingredient of ice cream is air. Air is the one which is responsible for making an ice cream softer and creamier. The more the air bubbles in your mixture, the softer and creamier your ice cream will be. Air bubbles are incorporated in the ice cream through whipping. Commercial ice cream makers use a special type of ice cream whipping machine to whip the mixture.
Running your ice cream machine for longer periods will allow more air to get incorporated with the mixture. This will result in a smooth, soft, and creamy ice cream. To get the perfect blend of air you can search for a soft serve ice cream machine in The UK.
Role of Agents
There are certain emulsifying and thickening agents used in ice cream to keep it soft and smooth. Egg yolk is a type of emulsifier that aids in keep the ice cream smooth. Then there are stabilizing agents such as gelatin that keep the water intact in the mixture. Water particles tend to freeze and form large crystals upon freezing. Stabilizing agents hold the water in its original form that does not let it evaporate or form ice crystals. This is turn helps keep the complete texture of ice cream smooth, soft, and creamy.