Earlier this year, Cargill introduced a range of stabilizers for aerated water-ice formulas “to give products with a texture described as creamier and more candy-like,” says Klemaszewski. Products developed with this ingredient “have been described as having a texture similar to frozen marshmallows,” he says. “Other formulas with this same stabilizer are creamy and, when combined with cocoa, produce a product with a dairy taste and texture, but can be made without dairy ingredients.” Cargill also has a range of stabilizers for reduced-fat ice creams that utilize traditional equipment. These “still deliver a creamy texture,” he says.
Tate and Lyle Custom Ingredients “uses ingredient technology—combining hydrocolloids, food starches and emulsifiers—to produce body and texture on standard pasteurization and freezing equipment, eliminating the need for the heavy capital investment that national brands experience,” says Shazer.
According to Michelle Ludtke, senior food technologist, Grande Custom Ingredients Group, Lomira, WI, the company’s functional whey protein concentrate “can be used to add a full-bodied mouthfeel and texture to ice cream. It can also be used to reduce or replace skim milk, reduce the milkfat and, therefore, cost. The level depends on the percent of other ingredients replaced and the mouthfeel desired.
Ludtke recommends a starting use level of 2% if the functional whey protein concentrate is replacing skim-milk solids. If both skim-milk solids and milkfat are being replaced, she suggests a 5% level. Higher percentages can help develop a product with a thicker mouthfeel with mild, milky flavor. Ice cream samples containing this ingredient “have seen reduced incidences of ice-crystal formation, especially on the surface over a period of time,” she says.
Although ice cream manufacture is not new, there are always new developments. “Since manufacturers are always looking to create a new frozen item, they are constantly challenging us to create new textures or to develop a system that will allow an inclusion that was not possible before. The development of new machinery also allows creations that were not possible before, and therefore creates new stabilization challenges,” says Freed.
Cindy Hazen, a 20-year veteran of the food industry, is a freelance writer based in Memphis, TN. She can be reached at
cindyhazen@cs.com.