Edible Antifreeze For Smoother Ice Cream

holy_calamity writes "Proteins extracted from gelatin can dramatically improve the quality of ice cream by preventing the growth of ice crystals that ruin its texture. Perfect smooth ice cream has ice crystals around 20 microns in size, but slight thawing and refreezing makes them grow and ruins the mouth feel, making it gritty. The new proteins are similar to those in the blood of the snow flea, an insect able to keep active in sub-zero temperatures." Here are the abstract and the full article as published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Bullshit.

[jez9999]

I *love* those little ice particles in ice cream, they give it a great texture. Game over.

I like the "gritty"...

[SanityInAnarchy]

I like the "gritty" feel of those larger ice crystals, especially in sherbet.

Maybe I'm weird, but completely smooth ice cream almost tastes like it's melting... Not that it's bad, but I like the variety.

New GMO Holstein "Freezian" Cows

[G4from128k]

Just genetically modify the cow to produce this protein in the milk and you have the perfect production process.

Re:!vegan tag

[Rinikusu]

Sorta, not really. Vegan "ice cream" has come a long way over the past few years, from being disgusting "Well, it's sorta like the real thing" to some very passable stuff, usually made from Soy Milk. So, a vegan tagging the article would be quite right in doing so, even though I think a !vegetarian tag would also be more appropriate as you stated. The argument you present, however, is mostly semantics and really "counter-productive" to anything unless you're just bored.

Leave the vegans alone. They get enough shit with their lives as it is. :)

(BTW, if you don't like gelatin, try working with agar agar. I've been messing around with some various recipes as I've got a ton of vegan friends and it's working out decently well. It sets up much firmer, so you have to be more careful with it, but once you understand that, it makes a pretty good substitute.)

Re:!vegan tag

[maxgraphic]

Gelatin is not (commonly) made from horse hooves. [wikipedia.org]

"... gelatin is made from by-products of the meat and leather industry, mainly pork skins, pork and cattle bones, or split cattle hides. ... Contrary to popular belief, horns and hooves are not commonly used."

Re:Mmm, Delicious

[pongo000]

Just curious, but have you ever tried making it at home NOW? These days they have some pretty spiffy ice cream makers in the $40 range.

We pass up the fancy-schmancy ice cream makers and make paint-can ice cream:

1) Fill paint can with ice water/salt
2) Fill ziplock bag with ice cream ingredients
3) Ziplock bag into paint can, pound on lid
4) Let kids play soccer with it
5) Eat and enjoy!

Re:!vegan tag

[halivar]

Feeding babies an exclusive diet of soy milk results in malnutrition. Recently, an Atlanta vegan couple were jailed for negligence when their 6-week-old child died of malnutrition. Anything you feed a baby needs to be heavily fortified, and only breast milk or specially prepared formulas are appropriate.

In general, a parent should never put their personal dietary preference ahead of the safety and health of their child.

Re:Mmm, Delicious

[Lumpy]

WHY???

The best ice cream ever made has always had Anti-freeze in it. this "discovery" is silly. MY Parents always made some fantastic anti freeze icecream and the best you can get at a 5 star resturant also has it in it.

It's called alcohol. The recipe I have that makes an icecream that makes friends claim it's better than even the best you can buy has a few ounces of Amaretto in it.

If you dont want to put a tiny bit of booze in your icecream, I think they need to get a life and quit being prudes. It's been known for as long as ice cream has been made that the best has liquor in it.

Re:Looks fine to me

[Starayo]

I was allergic to wheat, soy, rye, sulphides, nitrates, and probably a bunch of stuff I can't remember. Oh, right, cockroaches. Eating any of these things would result in migraines so painful that I'd throw up from the pain, and would go blind during the intitial stages of the migraine. I would have these migraines up to three times a week, and they could sometimes last days. I wasn't actually aware that I had allergies.

After a blood test, I went on a desensitisation program, wherein I didn't eat any of the above (very hard, seeing as sulphides+nitrates include everything with flavour. I basically lived on rice...) for about a year, while taking drops under my tongue. I'd go in for blood tests every three months or so, I think, and could slowly start eating these things again.

Now, I can eat what I want. The process was expensive, but I think well worth it. For a year of bland food, I got my life back.