# Ice Cream ingredients **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296 "2009-07-26T04:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/1 "2009-07-26T04:48:03Z")
The first four ingredients of the (medium grade) ice cream I’m eating right now are Milk, Cream, Sugar, and Skim Milk. OK, they start with Milk (~3% fat)…seems to me the reason to add the Cream (~30% fat) would be to increase the overall fat % of the dairy content, sounds reasonable enough…why then add Skim Milk (~0% fat), which would seemingly counteract the effect of the Cream? Assuming they’re looking for some ultimate fat % higher than plain Milk I would think they could achieve it with a Milk/Cream mixture alone, in correct proportion…I can only guess the Milk/Cream/Skim Milk mixture of similar fat % is somehow cheaper? ---
**Author:** ![etgaw1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@etgaw1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etgaw1)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/2 "2009-07-26T11:35:47Z")
Ooooo I used to make ice cream. It was a long time ago so I can’t remember percentages and such You keep the milk as a base. You add Cream to increase the fat content making it well creamier. The Skim milk is usually dehydrated skim milk solids. They use this to make the mix thicker with out really adding expensive cream. Sugar is self explanatory. Then you add flavoring and such. You then freeze it while adding air to the mix. You will fine high quality ice cream has high cream content with little or no skim milk solids. It also has less air. Low quality ice cream generally has a lot of air in it because well air is free and the more air you have the more ice cream you can make with the same amount of mix. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/3 "2009-07-26T18:05:28Z")
Ah, “dehydrated skim milk solids”…thanks for the reply, makes sense - I think I’m going to get a machine and try making my own, even the expensive stuff seems to have lots of funny ingredients nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/4 "2009-07-26T18:17:22Z")
You can’t beat making your own ice cream. I don’t have the time for it often, but my wife has an awesome recipe. We basically use half and half, with extra eggs. I’m sure my arteries start hardening at just the thought of it, so it’s probably good that I don’t have much time for it. I just wish there was a good way to add the stabilizers that commercial ice creams have. It melts really quickly without them. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/5 "2009-07-26T20:58:33Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I just wish there was a good way to add the stabilizers that commercial ice creams have. It melts really quickly without them. One of the primary reasons to make your own ice cream is to _avoid_ having a product with stabilizers and gums. It used to be that Bryer’s ice cream contained only actual food products, but several years ago they started adding some of the same crap that other commercial ice creams have. It was a very, very sad day. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/6 "2009-07-26T20:59:51Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > You can’t beat making your own ice cream. I don’t have the time for it often, but my wife has an awesome recipe. We basically use half and half, with extra eggs. I’m sure my arteries start hardening at just the thought of it, so it’s probably good that I don’t have much time for it. > > I just wish there was a good way to add the stabilizers that commercial ice creams have. It melts really quickly without them. eat it faster? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/7 "2009-07-26T22:12:42Z")
There’s a product at my grocery store called Haagen Dasz 5. Their selling point is “five ingredients”. Milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and X. X is mint, passionfruit, vanilla, coconut, or whatever. My favorite is maple ice cream. Just take 1/2 and 1/2 and maple syrup, and pour into ice cream freezer. Top with toasted walnuts. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/8 "2009-07-27T00:26:23Z")
> [@etgaw1](#): > > The Skim milk is usually dehydrated skim milk solids. They use this to make the mix thicker with out really adding expensive cream. If it’s on an ingredients label it’s skim milk, not dehydrated skim milk solids. In the U.S. you can’t call a product anything other than it is. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/9 "2009-07-27T01:51:47Z")
Adding dried skim milk increases the dairy solids and improves texture. It helps it not be so “icy”. Doing this is not bad, even high quality Italian gelato typically has dried milk added. You can also use evaporated or sweetened condenesed milk. As to stabalizsers, having too much or the wrong stabalizer can make ice cream “gummy”, but adding stabalisers is not necessarily a sign of a bad product. Eggs are somtimes used in a recipe as a stabliliser, but carragean and guar gum are also used. Both are natural products. Home made ice cream that is served immediately after being made can get by without stabalisers, but if it is going to be frozen and held any length of time then stabalisers are useful. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/10 "2009-07-27T17:33:33Z")
[Alton Brown](http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=alton+brown+ice+cream&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=puRtSr6GDI7gNa3Z7fgG&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4#) has a bit to say about ice cream and it’s ingredients. I love him… he’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misery_Loves_Co)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/11 "2009-07-27T18:38:16Z")
So what’s the difference between average supermarket Ice Cream and the ultrapremiums, like Haagen Daz or Godiva - aside from the quality of their flavorings, of course. I always equate the ultrapremiums with a very dense, supercreamy texture, while average (Dreyers, Breyers, even Ben & Jerry’s) has a more open . . . crumb (?). ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/12 "2009-07-27T20:05:31Z")
> [@Misery\_Loves\_Co](#): > > So what’s the difference between average supermarket Ice Cream and the ultrapremiums, like Haagen Daz or Godiva - aside from the quality of their flavorings, of course. I always equate the ultrapremiums with a very dense, supercreamy texture, while average (Dreyers, Breyers, even Ben & Jerry’s) has a more open . . . crumb (?). One of the differences you’re noticing is air. All ice cream has some air whipped into it for the texture, but you can control how much. Ice cream is typically sold by volume (pints, gallons, etc.) If your ice cream is 50% air and the competitor’s is 25% air, you can sell your 1/2-gallon container much more cheaply. Because people rarely compare the weights, they may not be aware of how much they’re spending for the extra air. There are also differences in terms of fat content and stabilizers. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/13 "2009-07-27T20:23:51Z")
The absolute creamiest ice cream I’ve ever had was some that I made in a demonstration using liquid nitrogen to freeze & aerate it very quickly (ice cream for 40-50 people in about 10-15 minutes). The ingredients were half-and-half, sugar and vanilla. Extraordinarily yummy. And fun. ---
**Author:** ![Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fact_of_the_Matter)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ice-cream-ingredients/504296/14 "2009-07-27T20:30:30Z")
To be called ice cream in the US, it must contain a minimum of 10% milk fat and 20% total milk solids by weight. [Here is a link for more info on ice cream](http://www.eatwisconsincheese.com/wisconsin/other_dairy/ice_cream.aspx)