{"id":42,"date":"2016-05-22T20:07:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-22T20:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/under-belly.org\/?p=42"},"modified":"2019-04-10T17:49:29","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T17:49:29","slug":"ice-cream-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/under-belly.org\/ice-cream-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Ice Cream Series"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Draft, Dr. Cesar Vega’s Ice Cream Knowledge Map<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Introduction<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Emperor of Ice Cream<\/b>
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Call the roller of big cigars,<\/span>
\nThe muscular one, and bid him whip<\/span>
\nIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.<\/span>
\nLet the wenches dawdle in such dress<\/span>
\nAs they are used to wear, and let the boys<\/span>
\nBring flowers in last month\u2019s newspapers.<\/span>
\nLet be be finale of seem.<\/span>
\nThe only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take from the dresser of deal,<\/span>
\nLacking the three glass knobs, that sheet<\/span>
\nOn which she embroidered fantails once<\/span>
\nAnd spread it so as to cover her face.<\/span>
\nIf her horny feet protrude, they come<\/span>
\nTo show how cold she is, and dumb.<\/span>
\nLet the lamp affix its beam.<\/span>
\nThe only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wallace Stevens<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Now to get a bit abstract.<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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I\u2019ve been putting off the ice cream topic, because there\u2019s too much to say. More than there is about meat. Or vegetables. Or grilling or sous-vide cookery or sauces or the whole of Escoffier\u2019s and Car\u00eame\u2019s contributions to culinaria.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I am maybe not exaggerating. The mysteries and convolutions of ice cream, while not obvious, lurk barely beneath an innocent surface. Recipes themselves are usually simple. Eating ice is cream is simple (once you learn to hold the cone upright). You can get it anywhere\u2014the corner deli, Costco, the Mr. Softee truck.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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You may be wondering, what, exactly, is the big deal? It may be nothing\u2014until the day comes when you decide to poke under the thin facade of that recipe and start tinkering. Like \u2026 if you want your ice cream less sweet. Or smoother. Or fimer. Or denser. Or if you want less fat. Less egg flavor. More fat. A fluffier texture. A more scoopable one. Better longevity in the freezer. More intense flavor. A creamier, meltier mouthfeel. A cleaner flavor. More body. Less body. Etc..\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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This is when you\u2019ll start to tweak. And when you\u2019ll discover the <\/span>exasperating<\/span> awe-inspiring interconnectedness of each and every variable. To adjust A, without ruining B through Z \u2026 therein lies the art.<\/span><\/div>\n
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To wit, Dr. Cesar Vega, a guru to many gurus, has been spending his nights constructing a \u201cknowledge map<\/a>\u201d of ice cream\u2014a flow chart that accurately models all the variables and their interconnections [see above]. At a lecture I attended in 2013, he showed a slide of the map, which he professed to be only a rough beginning. It looked like a map of the cosmos; maybe more useful for getting lost than getting found. It didn’t look like anything from Grandma\u2019s recipe box or epicurious.com.<\/span><\/div>\n
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In this post, the first in the Ice Cream series, we\u2019re just scratching the surface of the surface. I hope, eventually, to outline the basics, to deal in-depth with a few special topics, and to point you to some good books and web resources. I also plan to dig in to some topics that are beyond the scope of anything you\u2019ll find on the web or in culinary school\u2014ideas and techniques from food science researchers, and from some of my own experimentation.<\/span>
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Who is this series for?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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If you’re a beginner, or just looking for some new flavors try out, these posts will probably drive you crazy. I’m assuming you’ve at least made some ice cream, read a book or two, and probably a bunch of blogs and online discussions. Or maybe you’re a culinary student or pastry chef who wants to dig deeper and take more control over the process. I’m definitely assuming that your curiosity runs deep, and you like to know why things work\u2014which is to say, you think science is cool. In any case, if you’ve hit a wall, and haven’t been able to find answers to your more arcane questions, I’m hoping you’ll find this a helpful resource, and possibly a unique one.<\/p>\n

There are just a couple non-negotiable requirements:\u00a0<\/b>
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\n<\/b>1) You’ll have to have a couple of digital scales for measuring ingredients\u2014one that measures accurately to 1 gram, and can handle at least a few kilograms, and a small scale that can handle 100 grams or so and that measures accurately to 0.01 gram. Total investment can be under $60 US. If you’re unfamiliar with measuring by weight (and using the metric system) I hope you’re willing to learn. You’ll be ecstatic that you did, because it’s easy, and volume measurements are for suckers.<\/p>\n

2) You’ll have to be willing to buy and get familiar with some ingredients that aren’t common yet in home kitchens. I’ll tell you where to find them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some other gadgets are helpful, but not strictly required.\u00a0<\/b>
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\n<\/b>-A powerful blender, like a Vitamix, will make the process easier, but you can get by with a regular blender or even an immersion blender.
\n-A cooker that can hold a precise temperature, like an immersion circulator or laboratory hotplate, will make the process much, much easier. But you can get by with a saucepan and a stove.
\n-A freezer you can adjust colder than -18\u00b0C \/ 0\u00b0F will give you better result than a more anemic one.
\n-And of course a high end ice cream maker would make everyone’s life better, but if you’re not a pro, this is probably out of reach. I certainly don’t have one.
\n-If we’re going to add pie-in-the sky items to the wishlist, let’s include a homogenizer and a blast freezer. These are both in reach if you’re a pro. The blast freezer gets elevated from a nicety to a necessity if you’re making large quantities.
\n-If you’re making ice cream on the scale of a busy retail shop, you’re going to need a pasteurizer with an attached chiller. This will be the only way to meet health regulations and to not go crazy.<\/p>\n

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What is Ice Cream?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Let\u2019s skip the legal and conventional definitions, and head for the microscope. It will show that ice cream\u2019s most important defining quality is its structure, which involves three separate, interrelated systems;\u00a0<\/div>\n
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1.<\/b>\u00a0an emulsion<\/b>\u2014a stable physical mixture of water and oil (milk fat, egg fats, chocolate fats, etc..)<\/div>\n
2. a sol<\/b>\u2014a stable physical mixture of liquids and solids (ice crystals)\u00a0<\/div>\n
3. a foam<\/b>\u2014a stable physical mixture of gas (air) and liquids or solids.<\/div>\n
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By \u201cstable,\u201d we mean it must last long enough for you to eat it, whether this be minutes or days or weeks. Stability is just one of the variables we need to consider when crafting a recipe.<\/p>\n

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\nElectron Micrograph of Ice Cream Structure, from “The Igneous Petrology of Ice Cream<\/a>“<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tasting It<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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I\u2019m guessing you have some experience here. I\u2019ll just call your attention to some parts of a process that\u2019s probably quite familiar (although you can never have too much practice). A bite of ice cream unfolds in many steps, like a narrative, with a beginning, middle, and end.<\/p>\n

We first experience the ice cream in its frozen state, which may feel hard or soft, resistant or yielding, chewy, gummy, fluffy, or dense. It will then begin to melt, a process that may be protracted or quick, smooth or abrupt, yielding a texture that\u2019s smooth, icy, or sandy. After it melts we will have the liquid ice cream in our mouths, which may be thin and milky or unctuous and creamy. After we swallow, the finish may be quick and clean\u2014the ice cream gone without a trace, or it may be lingering and creamy, or we may feel an oily or pasty coating in our mouths.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If the ice cream fails us here, we need to ask where in the narrative the problem lies. And then we need to figure out what to do about it\u2014which is the harder part.<\/div>\n
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You\u2019ll notice I\u2019ve only mentioned texture so far. When making ice cream at home or in a pastry kitchen, texture is the hard part. While there are tricks to getting the best flavor infusions, they\u2019re not difficult to master. And the expense of ample, high quality flavor ingredients isn\u2019t such a burden when you\u2019re making a few pints or quarts at a time. In an industrial setting, the situation is reversed. Engineers are pretty good at dialing in texture. But there\u2019s no way to get great flavor without paying for it. Prices of high quality vanilla and coffee and fresh fruit and chocolate add up when you buy by the boxcar.<\/p>\n

This Series<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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In upcoming posts we\u2019ll look at the basic qualities of ice cream, with an emphasis understanding its underlying structure so that we can control it. We’ll look at basic templates and techniques for creating an ice cream recipe, including methods for controling texture, both traditional and contemporary. We\u2019ll illustrate the underlying ideas with a few different variations on a simple recipe.<\/div>\n
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We\u2019ll also look at strategies for infusing flavors, and for incorporating flavor ingredients like fruits and chocoates that tend wreak havoc with texture and sugar content.<\/p>\n

Finally, we’ll get into some topics that are not widely addressed outside the food science industry, like how to design your own stabilizer blends, and how to use time and heat to give special powers to milk proteins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0 Draft, Dr. Cesar Vega’s Ice Cream Knowledge Map Introduction The Emperor of Ice Cream Call the roller of big cigars, The muscular one, and bid him whip In kitchen cups concupiscent curds. Let the wenches dawdle in such dress As they are used to wear, and let the boys Bring flowers in last month\u2019s newspapers. Let be be finale … <\/p>\n

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