Understanding Ice CreamPosted on February 28th, 2009 by Jessie
Ice cream (originally iced cream) is a frozen dessert made from dairy products such as cream (or substituted ingredients), combined with flavourings and sweeteners such as sugar. This mixture is cooled while stirring to prevent large ice crystals from forming. Although the term “ice cream” is sometimes used to mean frozen desserts and snacks in general, it is usually reserved for frozen desserts and snacks made with a high percentage of milk fat. Frozen custard, ice milk, sorbet and other similar products are often also called ice cream. Composition 0-16% milk fat Ice-creams come in a wide variety of flavours, often with additives such as chocolate flakes or chips, nuts, fruit, and small candies/sweets. Some of the most popular ice cream flavours in supermarkets are vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and Neapolitan (a combination of the three). Many people also like ice cream sundaes, which often have ice cream, hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream, cherries and other toppings of their choice. Production Before the development of modern refrigeration ice cream was a luxury item reserved for special occasions. The making of ice cream was originally a laborious process. The temperature was reduced by placing the ice cream mixture into a container that was immersed in a mixture of crushed ice and salt. The dissolving of salt in water is endothermic and the salt allows liquid water to be below the freezing point of pure water, allowing the immersed container with cream to make better contact with the melted water/ice mixture. Ice was cut commercially from lakes and ponds during the winter and stored in large heaps in holes in the ground or in wood-frame ice houses, insulated by straw. Ice cream was made by hand in a large bowl surrounded by packed ice and salt. The hand-cranked churn, which still used ice and salt for cooling, was invented by an American named Nancy Johnson in 1846, making production simpler. The world’s first commercial ice-cream factory was opened in Baltimore, Maryland in 1851, by Jacob Fussell, a dairy farmer. An unstable demand for his milk led him to mass produce ice cream. This allowed the previously expensive concoction to be offered at prices everyone could afford. Fussell opened ice cream parlors as far west as Texas. Many were still around well into the 20th century. He sold his business to Borden. The development of industrial refrigeration by German engineer Carl von Linde during the 1870s obviated the cutting and storing of natural ice and then the continuous-process freezer was perfected in 1926, allowing commercial mass production of ice cream and the birth of the modern ice-cream industry. The most common method for producing ice-cream at home is to use an ice-cream machine, generally an electrical device that churns the ice cream while refrigerated inside a household freezer or using ice and salt for cooling. Commercial delivery Thanks to mass production, ice cream is widely available in most parts of the world. Ice cream can be purchased in large tubs and squrounds from supermarkets/grocery stores, in smaller quantities from ice cream shops, convenience stores, and milk bars, and in individual serves from small carts or vans at public events and places. Some ice-cream distributors who sell ice-cream products door-to-door from travelling refrigerated vans or carts, often equipped with speakers playing a children’s music tune.
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