Ice cream, ice and sorbet -Processes, operations, and equipment

Following on from the article [F 8 011] on the ice cream, gelato and sorbet series and the many ingredients used to make mixes, this article focuses exclusively on the manufacturing process for these products. The focus is on technology, covering the three unit operations required to transform mixes into frozen desserts. For each of them, the objectives, physical principles and mechanisms, as well as the various technological and material options available, are studied.

The first part of the process concerns the preparation of mixes, through homogenization, stabilization by heat treatment and physicochemical ripening of the mixture to be iced. The second part, the heart of the process, is represented by the mix expansion and freezing operations which, through various processes, enable the complex transformation of an emulsion into a solid, expanded frozen dessert. This central part of the process involves not only conventional technologies, but also numerous innovations. Future developments, in terms of continuous performance improvement, will involve the modeling of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in the freezer, which is currently being set up. The third part covers the final operations of shaping, curing for certain products, packaging, storage and transport of finished products.

A glossary of terms is provided at the end of the article.