I decided to purchase store bought ice cream after years of just buying from places like Cold Stone. It seems to me most ice cream manufacturers have very soft ice cream now despite storing it in a freezer for a week straight. I could easily drop a spoon in the tub and watch it cut straight through to the bottom. The consistency is now kind of disgusting because it feels like I’m eating whipped cream instead of something that should be semi solid. So far I’ve tried Tillamook, Dryer’s, and Target’s in house brand and they all have that same mushy texture.
Before anyone suggests it’s my freezer, I’ve kept it relatively uncluttered and everything else stays frozen just fine. I also make sure not to purchase those tubs of “Frozen Dairy Dessert”. What happened? Is this some cost cutting measure or are customer’s preferences really going to extremely soft textures?
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“Is my freezer the problem? No, it’s every ice cream manufacturer that’s wrong.”
I’ve bought Target’s store brand ice cream fairly recently and it was a perfectly normal consistency, for what it’s worth. Maybe it’s regional?
i could easily drop a spoon in the tub and watch it cut straight through to the bottom.
Dude, if this is true, your freezer is not cold enough.
I will second this, please buy a thermometer or two. I like the ones that tell you the min/max temp its recorded. (Random example, never bought this particular one, check reviews etc.
I looked at multiple sources to double check the correct temperature, many agree that the freezer should be at 0°F (-18°C)). Water freezes (and by extention most everything else) at 32°F (0°C), siginficatly higher than the recommended 0. Here’s the sceinific Wikipedia article about why, TLDR: not every food freezes at 0°C, so set freezer low enough everything will freeze.
I found this article that goes over all kinds of food storage info (fridge and how the produce drawers work, freezer temp, pantry etc.)
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/refrigerator-freezer-use-and-temperature-tips
While you wait for your thermometer, ensure
nothing is blocking the freezer vents(you said you did that) and turn that thing up.The non-scientific, not recommended check; Your icecream should roughly be something in between a rock and butter. If its a rock, its too cold, and its its butter/soup its too warm.
I can buy some ice cream and put it in my freezer, and it’s extremely soft, I can just put a spoon in it with no resistance. I put that exact same ice cream in my parents freezer and it gets so hard that I can’t even scoop it with an ice cream scoop unless I let it thaw out for a few minutes. The temperature it’s stored at absolutely plays a huge difference.
Assuming 1) you want things to be colder, 2) your budget can accommodate a bit of extra electricity usage and 3) the following actually exists on your appliance, many freezers have a dial somewhere that can be used to set the temperature.
Sometimes it’s coupled to the setting for an attached refrigerator section. Sometimes, yes, it’s an unchangeable setting whether there are other settings elsewhere or not. Might still be worth double-checking.
All ice cream (and related desserts) will get harder as they get colder. This is because more water freezes and the fat viscosity increases. If your ice cream isn’t hard enough, your freezer isn’t cold enough.
Take a reliable thermometer and check the temp of your ice cream tub. Is be willing to bet it’s a lot warmer than the USDA recommended 0°F (253 K).
All ice cream (and related desserts) will get harder as they get colder.
It feels like you’re comparing ice cream/desserts that are completely frozen to ice cream/desserts that are partially frozen, which is not what this post is about…
Although if the ice cream does get slightly liquidy before re-freezing, it will be much harder than it was before. This is why one of the most important factors when making ice cream is to continually mix up the ice cream while it freezes.
It’s your freezer. I’ve also been buying Tillamook lately because it is softer and creamier: I can scoop it with an ice cream scoop. I certainly can’t drop a spoon in it, nor can I usually scoop it without destroying a normal spoon. I have to assume that you’re either using hyperbole or your freezer is not working correctly
Copious amounts of gums and max overruns (adding air) together result in softer texture when frozen, which the average consumer likes, and higher yields, which the producer likes.
Essentially you’re buying 40% air with most brands, and the other 60% is not entirely cream & sugar & flavors. Try gelato or a local producer.
Sounds like your freezer isn’t actually getting cold enough for the ice cream. Semi-melted Tilamook will get whipped-esque if not cold enough. Put a digital thermometer in there for a while and see what temp it’s holding! No ice cream is “drop metal into it and it slides to the bottom” unless it’s not cold enough
As for ice cream consistency, afaik more cream content (which is better ice cream) will be softer at the same temperature compared to ice cream with more water content (shit ice cream). Breyers regular (I think they have a fancy attempt with more cream) is pretty watery, Tilamook is creamed up
(Do you notice a lot of frost on stuff? That is a sign of a bad seal and (humid) air is getting in)
Of course store-bought ice cream is soft. Have you noticed that they sell ice cream by volume and not by weight? They just add some more stabilizers, and basically “blow up” the mass with Nitrogen. Every liter of Nitrogen is a liter of ice cream more sold. Basically profit from the air. It is hard to get a cheaper ingredient except maybe water. And that is a bit harder to conceal.
Before anyone suggests it’s my freezer, I’ve kept it relatively uncluttered and everything else stays frozen just fine. I also make sure not to purchase those tubs of “Frozen Dairy Dessert”. What happened? Is this some cost cutting measure or are customer’s preferences really going to extremely soft textures?
It’s both. Commercial ice cream is either overchurned to add more air, making it lighter and softer, or uses a lot of additives. You have to buy “premium” brands to get real ice cream, or get it from a local ice cream place.
It also sounds like your freezer is not cold enough. I know because I’m dealing with a similar issue. My freezer is cold enough to keep everything frozen, except ice cream. My freezer was only getting down to 20°F which is cold enough for most things, but ice cream needs 0°F to stay frozen/hard. It’s time to buy a new freezer.
The ice cream I buy is always either so hard your spoon bends or so soft I have to check if the freezer is working. Idk if it’s a brand thing or what.
Could be your freezer cycling up and down. Mine gets real warm right after I load in a week of groceries. I also should probably store more stuff in the freezer for thermal mass.
Several years ago when I lived in PA I frequented an independent ice cream shop that made their own in house. He complained about all the air added to commercial ice cream lately. He had a conversion rate for how many pounds a gallon should weigh and would weigh his containers to ensure he sold the correct amount. Some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had, and had exotic flavors too such as Kulfi (cardamom) and ginger. Search Nutz about Ice Cream in Bethlehem PA. I was just thinking about him the other day and his ginger ice cream. The eggnog at the end of the year is amazing too. The “regular” flavors year round are good as well. I know he ships across the country, I’ve never looked into it yet.
There was a minor scandal a few years ago where brands like Bryers were injecting air into their ice cream so they could do shinkflation without changing the size of the packaging. But I haven’t noticed anything like that with Tillamook, which we almost always have in the house.
Cold Stone is soft because they slap it around on that cold slab of stone before they put it in a cup or cone.
IDK what could be wrong with your store bought. Or maybe what’s right… The last few times I’ve gotten some ice cream, shits rock hard and full of ice crystals from having been melted and refrozen god knows how many times. Maybe your freezer is set too high for the ice cream but not the other things you keep?
I do know a trick to find what ice cream has better ingredients though. Find two or more brands in the same size container, and then see which one actually weighs more. They’ll all be in ounces or some fluid measurement, and the weight will be heavier in the ones with fewer fillers like if it was only made using cream, eggs and sugar.
Experimenting with the freezer’s settings didn’t cause too much of a change with the ice cream’s texture. Max and minimum temperatures had pretty much no impact. I’ve even opened the tub right after purchasing and it still had the same issue. If the store’s freezers couldn’t keep it somewhat solid, then I can only assume it’s deliberately been made this way now.
Sorry you’re having this issue. It doesn’t line up with my recent experiences with ice cream. I’d recommend trying a different freezer (or multiple different freezers) with the same brand and see if the hardness is different. My bet is it’s not cold enough.
If you really want it harder, you can just turn your freezer’s temperature lower.
Ice cream can’t take a joke these days. Just starts melting down and turning into a puddle at the slightest provocation. Soft.
Varies a lot by brand. Some brands started whipping more air into the chemical slurry they call ice cream in order it to rip us off. You can tell by the weight. Try the heavier pints.
