Ice Cream Methods

Appears in
The Elements of Dessert

By Francisco Migoya

Published 2012

  • About

The modern ice cream method is for ice creams that are not made by the stirred custard method. This method is for ice creams that contain ingredients such as stabilizers, milk powder, and glucose and/or invert sugar, among others. These types of ice creams have a much better shelf life during service. They are less susceptible to heat shock (melting and-re-freezing) than stirred custard bases, since they have stabilizers that help with their texture and structure. All stabilizers are hydrocolloids; come directly from natural sources such as plants, sea algae, and sometimes animals (gelatin); and are minimally processed. The trick is not to use too much. These recipes use between .3 percent and .4 percent of the total weight of the recipe in stabilizers.