Volume 95 Issue 29 | p. 27
Issue Date: July 17, 2017 | Web Date: July 12, 2017

Periodic graphics: The chemistry of frozen desserts

Chemical educator and Compound Interest blogger Andy Brunning samples the science behind ice cream and other icy treats
By Andy Brunning
Department: Science & Technology
Keywords: food science, ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, soft serve, overrun
 

To download a pdf of this article, visit cenm.ag/frozentreats1.

References used to create this graphic:

Ice cream and frozen desserts

Ice cream ... and chemistry

The science of ice cream

Frozen desserts: What’s the difference?

The difference between sorbet and sherbet

To see more of Brunning’s work, go to compoundchem.com. To see all of C&EN’s Periodic Graphics, visit cenm.ag/periodicgraphics.

This article has been translated into Spanish by Divulgame.org and can be found here.

 
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © American Chemical Society
Comments
William Winter (Wed Jul 12 22:14:29 EDT 2017)
Years ago, in the 1970's, I had the good fortune to spend some time with , now Sir, Dai Rees, then a manager at Unilever Research, and his group in the Colworth lab outside of Bedford, UK. One of their foci was ice cream. In a conversation that I suspect he did not intend to be memorialized, Dai made the following comment. 'Processed foods have two main components. The firt is air, the second is water. Everything else is packaging!'
Reply »
William Winter (Wed Jul 12 22:16:40 EDT 2017)
Years ago, in the 1970's, I had the good fortune to spend some time with , now Sir, Dai Rees, then a manager at Unilever Research, and his group in the Colworth lab outside of Bedford, UK. One of their foci was ice cream. In a conversation that I suspect he did not intend to be memorialized, Dai made the following comment. 'Processed foods have two main components. The firt is air, the second is water. Everything else is packaging!'
Reply »
William Winter (Wed Jul 12 22:19:57 EDT 2017)

Years ago, in the 1970's, I had the good fortune to spend some time with , now Sir, Dai Rees, then a manager at Unilever Research, and his group in the Colworth lab outside of Bedford, UK. One of their foci was ice cream. In a conversation that I suspect he did not intend to be memorialized, Dai made the following comment. 'Processed foods have two main components. The first is air, the second is water. Everything else is packaging!'
Reply »
G (Fri Jul 14 18:39:51 EDT 2017)
Great graphic!

I look forward to an addendum with frozen custard / french style ice cream (cream + egg + sugar).
Reply »
thomas (Mon Jul 17 11:48:10 EDT 2017)
yeah how could they forget the original: custard
Reply »
Andy Brunning (Tue Jul 18 14:56:04 EDT 2017)
Since it's not included in the graphic, here's some more info on frozen custard: it contains around 10% milk fat, and has an overrun of 15-30%.
Reply »
Esmeralda Garcia (Mon Feb 19 20:59:26 EST 2018)
I find it so interesting that air bubbles are a great factor in ice cream making. I learned the difference between each frozen dessert scientifically and what makes each frozen dessert special. I also learned about bonding between hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen which are really important in the composition of ice cream.
Reply »

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