The emulsifier - the underestimated wonder weapon for your ice cream quality

Like everywhere, they also exist in the ice lab: devices whose importance and influence are often completely underestimated. Two of these "hidden champions" in the ice laboratory are the Blast freezer and the emulsifier. We admit it: neither of them is really "sexy". But both can make your work easier, significantly improve ice cream quality with little (time and financial) effort, and help you save money .

The Blast freezer we have already presented to you in the first part of our mini-series - so today we're looking at the emulsifier.

Aha - a blender... So what?

Let's tackle the subject head-on: basically , an emulsifier is a mixer - i.e. a device that chops up and mixes various ingredients. Exciting, isn't it? :)

But please don't stop reading right here: Because an emulsifier is not "just" a mixer, but can do much more - and also has much more influence on the quality and shelf life of the ice cream than you might think at first glance.

What does "emulsify" actually mean?

What is an emulsion and what is it used for in ice cream? We don't want to get too technical here, so we'll limit ourselves to the pictorial explanation: Basically, an ice cream mix consists of different components - roughly divided into water, sugar, fats and "fat-free" solids - which all perform different tasks: Water freezes into ice crystals and provides - correctly! - for the ice. Sugar makes the ice cream sweet and, as a "freeze inhibitor" , ensures that the ice cream is not a block of ice even at -18°, but is still soft . On the one hand, fat is an important flavour carrier, on the other hand it is important for the creamy structure of the ice cream. The fat-free solids provide stability and flavour in the ice cream.

And now comes the problem: Because actually water and fat do not "like" each other at all, but would prefer to divide themselves into two "groups": Water here - fat there. But we urgently want to avoid this for ice cream, after all we don't want a lump of fat and a frozen block of water, but a creamy, well-structured ice cream.

And this is where the emulsifier comes into play: "Emulsifying" means mixing two liquids that actually cannot be combined - in the case of ice cream, water and fat. This is achieved by so-called "homogenisation": the mix is pressed through small openings at high pressure, thereby reducing the size of the fat and solid particles to such an extent that they are distributed evenly (i.e. "homogeneously") in the water and are thus virtually emulsified into one unit. In other words, the various components of the ice cream mix are forced to combine with each other.

So, since you sometimes hear the term "homogeniser", sometimes "emulsifier": In this case, both are correct - by means of homogenisation, the mix is emulsified.

OK. And what good does that do now?!?

The physical process is clear, but what does this do for the ice cream mix or the ice cream maker? Quite simply - several extremely beneficial effects.

1. time saving

The simplest, practical advantage is that the powerful motors and homogenisation dissolve even solid, lumpy, greasy or other difficult-to-mix ingredients quickly, easily and completely: For example, cocoa, crystalline sugar, nut pastes or similar. Thanks to the homogeniser's safe stand and the fact that it works independently, the gelatiere does not have to hold the device during this time, but can do other work in the meantime. And do the math: If you mix each type of ice cream for 2 minutes with a hand mixer, then with 20 batches a day and 6 production days a week, that's around 40 minutes a day, 250 minutes (over 4 hours!) a week or 16 hours a month doing nothing but holding the mixer. In that time you can do many other things, and if you pay an ice cream maker, you pay - even with minimum wage - around € 200 a month just for "holding the mixer"...

2. longer shelf life

The second big advantage is the longer shelf life: because ice cream also ages, and in three ways. Firstly, microbiologically - bacteria multiply even when frozen, albeit very slowly. You can only influence this with hygiene and constant deep-freezing - so the emulsifier has no effect here. But it does have an effect on the other two "ageing processes". Because on the one hand, the ice crystals in the ice slowly grow due to the absorption of ambient moisture, and if they become too big , they make for an unpleasant, "crunchy" feeling. Emulsification makes the water particles particularly well "enclosed" and bound by the binders in the ice mix, thus slowing down crystal growth. Finally, the ice cream also ages due to a slow "settling" of the various mix ingredients - especially water and fat. Thus, you no longer have a homogeneous, creamy structure, but rather pebbly, frozen particles of fat and solids next to relatively large lumps of ice. The better the mix is emulsified, the longer this process can be prevented. Emulsifying does not make the ice cream hygienically longer lasting, but it remains creamy and velvety for much longer.

3. satisfied customers

And now comes the most important advantage, and the explanation why this "creaminess" is so important: Your customers perceive the consistency of the ice cream first, then the taste. So whether an ice cream is "creamy" and "velvety " instead of "chunky" and "sandy" is even more important to customers than the taste. And, by the way, it is also less subjective: one person likes his ice cream sweet and strong, the other natural and less sweet. On the other hand, everyone likes it nice and creamy. This means that the emulsifier improves the taste experience and the satisfaction of your customers - without any other changes to your recipe.

The worst mistake here, by the way, is frozen "pieces of fat" in the ice cream, because the customer perceives these as small, unpleasant, sandy and/or pebbly particles. And how do you effectively prevent these? Exactly - with the emulsifier...

Conclusion: Three important advantages

So let's summarise: Using a homogeniser saves time and money, makes your ice cream last longer and significantly improves the taste experience for your customers. And all this without having to change anything in your recipe .

Convinced! Which version is the right one for me?

One thing first: we strongly recommend that you buy a high-quality model! Why? Actually, it is quite easy to explain: To create the homogenisation effect necessary for emulsification, you need a very powerful motor that presses the particles through the smallest possible openings at high pressure. First of all, this requires a speed of up to 12,000 rpm - almost equivalent to the engine of a Ducati motorbike. At the same time, however, you need the torque - i.e. the power - to ensure that the emulsifier does not get bent out of shape even with heavy, tough elements such as nut paste. And all this with mixing rods that can cope with this force and speed safely, permanently and hygienically (i.e. with minimal material abrasion).

We recommend either the Carpigiani Turbomix or the Casagrande Micronizer. Both models are basically identical, reliable, proven and hygienic. The Casagrande Micronizer is a little cheaper, but it has to be started and stopped manually and has seven adjustable speeds. The Carpigiani Turbomix, on the other hand, is infinitely variable and can be programmed for a fixed time, so that it stops automatically after 2 minutes, for example. However, you certainly won't do anything wrong with either appliance.  

Have we aroused your interest? Contact us - we will be happy to make you an individual offer.

Your Alois Krä GmbH