Process Analysis:How ice cream is made - Essay Example

Process Analysis: How Ice Cream is Made Ice cream has always been an all-time favorite dessert. Today, there are a lot of ice cream concoctions that people all over the world enjoy. However, the secret to a successful ice cream involves a basic process that is easy to follow. First of which would be to prepare the main raw ingredients such as the dairy products composed of cream, condensed milk, & butterfat; sugar, flavorings such as egg, vanilla etc; and additives such as guar gum to achieve a smooth and creamy texture.

After everything is ready, one would need to mix all the ingredients until it is creamy. However, in this process, it is important to allow just the right amount of air to seep through your mixture so the ice cream is not soggy neither snowy (How Products Are Made, n.d.).Pasteurizing the ice cream is one of the most important element in the process. In this process, the blended mixture is piped into a pasteurization machine which is made of stainless steel plates where an estimate of 182°F (83°C) temperature of water heats the plate on one side to ensure the finished product is bacteria free and a cold mixture of water cools the mixture on the other side.

After which, regulating the desired texture of one’s ice cream is done by applying air pressure, as much as 2,000 pounds per square inch through placing the hot mixture of ice cream in a homogenizer which is responsible for breaking down the fat and avoiding it from forming lumps of solid. The mixture is then pumped back into the pasteurizer on the side where cold water with a temperature of at least 34°F cools it off to 36°F (2° C). To make sure all the ingredients’ flavor blends well, cooling the mixture should be done for four to eight hours (How Products Are Made, n.d.).

Flavoring the ice cream is the most interesting process in making one. After the ingredients are already cooled off and blended well, the desired flavor of ice cream is injected into vats to blend thoroughly. Freezing to a soft-serve is the next step to achieve a solid and yet creamy ice cream that would not easily turn into liquid and yet melts in the mouth. After freezing is done, the fun part begins where one could add fruits and sweetened chunks of chocolate or cookies to the ice cream through the help of a fruit feeder.

It makes sure that fruit chunks are evenly mixed in the ice cream as it passes the food chunks into a blender (How Products Are Made, n.d.).Packaging is the next step in the process which involves pushing the finished ice cream mixture towards filling machines that would take care of evenly distributing the ice cream into half gallon or one gallon sized containers. The machine is also the one responsible for putting a lid on each container then dropping them into a conveyer belt. Here, each container is inked to contain information such as production and expiration date.

Lastly, before storage or shipping, the ice cream is further hardened by a temperature of -10°F (-23°C). This is to ensure that the ice cream would not melt easily and will retain its texture even after how many hours of shipping (How Products Are Made, n.d.).Bibliography:"How ice cream is made - production process, making, history, used, product, industry, machine, History, Raw Materials, The Manufacturing Process, Quality Control, The Future." How Products Are Made. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2013. .