Ice cream is an emulsion-a combination of two liquids that don't normally mix together. Instead, one of the liquids is dispersed throughout the other. In ice cream, liquid particles of fat-called fat globules-are spread throughout a mixture of water, sugar, and ice, along with air bubbles (Fig. If you examine ice cream closely, you can see that the structure is porous. ![]() A typical air pocket in ice cream will be about one-tenth of a millimeter across. The presence of air means that ice cream is also a foam. Other examples of foams are whipped cream, marshmallows, and meringue (as in lemon meringue pie). Milk naturally contains lactose, or milk sugar, which is not very sweet. Ice cream makers need to add a lot more sugar than you probably realize-usually sucrose or glucose. Cold tends to numb the taste buds, making them less sensitive. So more sugar needs to be added to produce the desired effect at the low temperatures in which ice cream is usually served. If you taste ice cream at room temperature it will taste overly sweet. You may have noticed this same effect with carbonated soft drinks. ![]() If consumed warm, they taste sickly sweet. In parts of the world where soft drinks are normally consumed warm, there is less added sugar. If these same soft drinks were served cold, they would not taste sweet enough.Ī big reason why ice cream tastes so good is because of its high fat content. Unless it is labeled as light, low-fat or non-fat, ice cream must contain at least 10% fat, and this fat must come from milk. (You cannot use lard when making ice cream!) Before milk is homogenized, a thick layer of cream rises to the top. This cream has a high fat concentration-up to 50%-and supplies most of the fat in ice cream. Premium ice creams may have up to 20% fat, which gives it a velvety, rich texture. Reduced fat ice cream does not taste as good as the real thing, and tends to lack the creamy texture. Although fat is frequently vilified, it has its purpose. ![]() Most foods that taste delicious probably contain fat. Fat fills you up, so you don’t have to eat as much to feel full. The problem with using fat as an ingredient in any food is that it doesn’t mix well with a lot of other substances. Fat is nonpolar, meaning positive and negative charges within the fat molecule are equally dispersed. A polar substance, such as water, has separate regions of positive and negative charge-one end of a polar molecule has a partial positive charge, and the other end has a partial negative charge. Polar and nonpolar substances do not mix.
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