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Ice Cream Structure

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Ice Cream

Abstract

Ice cream has a very complex structure, with multiple phases that can influence product textural quality and physical attributes including shape retention and structural collapse during melting. The mix ingredients supply water, fat, milk solids-not-fat (casein micelles, whey proteins, lactose, and milk salts), sugars (sucrose and partially hydrolyzed starch, including glucose, maltose, and higher saccharides), stabilizers, and emulsifiers. Air is subsequently added prior to dynamic freezing. All of these contribute to the structural elements in ice cream. Fat either remains as globular, emulsified droplets, or is converted to a partially crystalline fat structure, a process that is enhanced by the action of the emulsifiers at the fat globule interface. Water is converted to ice crystals. Air is whipped into small bubbles. The sugars and stabilizers become freeze-concentrated in the unfrozen serum phase. The functionality of proteins contributes to the fat and air structures by adsorbing to interfaces and to the unfrozen phase by providing bulk and water-holding properties, both of which add viscosity. This chapter reviews the formation and significance of these structural elements. It also discusses the effect of these structures on physical properties of ice cream, including thermal diffusivity, meltdown properties, and rheological/mechanical properties.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The oft-used term “supercooled” to represent a temperature below the freezing point is often argued. Many prefer the terms “undercooled” or “subcooled” to signify that temperature is below freezing point. However, in the context that supercooled means “beyond” cooled, the term “supercooled” can be justified.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    H. Douglas Goff

  2. Department of Food Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Richard W. Hartel

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  1. H. Douglas Goff
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Goff, H.D., Hartel, R.W. (2013). Ice Cream Structure. In: Ice Cream. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6096-1_11

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