I scream you scream we all scream for ICE CREAM! Americans spend an average of 20 billion dollars on ice cream every year, about 1.6 billion gallons of ice cream or 48 pints per person (“Ice Cream,” n.d.)! Most of us indulge in this delectable treat, but where was this delicious treat invented and how is it made? Let’s find out!
II. Discovery
Despite the copious spending of Americans on ice cream, ice cream was not invented in the United States; it’s unknown where it originated. One of the first commonly known documented signs that there was such a thing as ice cream dates back to the Roman Emperor Nero (A.D. 37- 68) who ordered his servants to get ice from the mountains and add fruit toppings to it. Later, King Tang from China (A.D. 618-697) added milk to the ice (Bellis, n.d.).
III. Important Dates (“Ice Cream,” n.d. and Bellis, n.d.)
1660s: ‘Water ices” becomes a new treat in Europe.
1843: Nancy Johnson invented an ice cream machine where one was able to turn a crank to stir the ingredients rather than by hand.
1850s: Jacob Fussell opened the first ice cream store in America.
1880s: Sundaes came into play.
1904: Ernest Hamwi invented the first ice cream cone at World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.
1919: Christian Nelson a Danish immigrant invented the I-Scream Bar in Iowa.
1920: Harry Burt invented the Good Humor Ice Cream Bar.
1934: Thomas Carvelas invented a freezer that made soft “Carvel” ice cream.
1960: Reuben Mattus invented Haagen-Dazs.
III. Making of Ice Cream
Ice cream is made of: 55-64% water from milk, more than 10% milkfat, between 9-12% milk solids (not fat), 12-16% sweeteners, and .2-.5% stabilizers and emulsifiers. The fat makes the flavor rich and makes the texture of the ice cream. The structure of the fat in ice cream is shown in figure 1. The sugars make it sweet but they also make ice cream have a depressed freezing point (lower freezing point than just a pure solvent). This makes sure that the water isn’t completely frozen so you can scoop it (Goff, n.d.).
Figure 1: The Structure of Fat in Ice Cream
Freezing point depression has to do with the dissolving of molecules. The property of freezing point depression is that the lower the molecular weight, the more ability the molecule has to depress the freezing point. So, monosaccharides (A sugar that can’t be made simpler) like fructose or glucose make a softer ice cream than disaccharides (A sugar that is made of two monosaccharides) like sucrose.
Stabilizers (usually polysaccharides) prevent the breakdown of emulsions and add viscosity (thickness) to the unfrozen water making sure that the water doesn’t move to other parts of the ice cream.
Emulsifiers stabilize an emulsion (A small dispersion of a liquid in another liquid that is not soluble or miscible) and they help develop the fat structure and air distribution of ice cream. Ice cream is an emulsion and a foam, a gas dissolved in a liquid (Goff, n.d.).
Now, here is a video on how you can make your own ice cream at home!
Video 1: How to make Ice Cream at Home
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-OAwhIvU0
IV. Impact on the world
Ice cream has made a huge impact on the world today, most people can’t imagine living without it! The impact that it has made is shown in the statistics stated in the introduction.
V. Journal Article: Inhibition of Ice Crystal Growth in Ice Cream Mix by Gelatin Hydrolysate
This journal article talks about peptides molecular weight in comparison with the highest rate of growth of ice crystals. For example, in an experiment it was shown that hydrolysate (A substance produced by hydrolysis- when water is added to break a polymer apart) fraction with peptides of a molecular weight between 2000-5000 Da (Deca) had the highest activity of crystal growth. Whereas, the hydrolysate fraction with peptides that measured more than 7000 Da did not form ice crystals. It also does a similar experiment with gelatin and talks about energy given off (Damodaran, 2007).
VI. Fun Facts- (“Fun Facts,” n.d.)
12 pounds of milk are needed to produce only one gallon of ice cream.
It’s calculated that it takes about 50 licks to finish a single-scoop ice cream cone.
The largest ice cream sundae weighed more than 24 tons and was made in Alberta, Canada.
In the year 2003, the city Portland, Oregon bought more ice cream per person than any other city in the United States.
VII. Biography
Bellis, Mary. (n.d.). History of ice cream. Retrieved from http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/ice_cream.htm
Damodaran, S. (2007). Inhibition of ice crystal growth in ice cream mix by gelatin hydrolysate. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Retrieved from http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf0724670 doi: 10.1021/jf0724670
Fun facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.icecream.com/funfacts/index.asp?b=105
Goff, D. (n.d.). Finding science in ice cream - an experiment for secondary school classrooms. Retrieved from http://www.foodscience.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/findsci.html
Ice cream. (n.d.). Retrieved from National Geographic: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0304/articles/mainarticle.html
VIII. Image
Goff, D. (n.d.). Structure of ice cream. Retrieved from http://www.foodscience.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/icstructure.html
VIII. Video
Howcast, . (2009, June). How to make homemade ice cream in a plastic bag. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-OAwhIvU0
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