Although it was originally an elite dessert reserved only for royalty and the very wealthy, ice cream is now a popular food. We all have memories of racing the heat to catch the sweet and sticky dribbles of melting ice cream, and we all know the heart-wrenching loss of a scoop that has fallen to the ground, never to be licked again. This creamy treat undeniably resides in the belly of America’s food culture, and ever since its commercialization around the turn of the 20th century, millions of Americans have turned to ice cream as the logical conclusion to a delicious meal.

Perhaps the greatest testament to our profound love for ice cream is the $20 billion industry behind it, powered by the average American who eats around 5 1/2 gallons of ice cream per year, and over 90% of US households that regularly pick up a pint.ⁱ

These days, most ice cream is produced in large factories, and is chock full of artificial flavors and sweeteners, emulsifiers, preservatives and extensively processed dairy products. Many industrially produced ice creams also come from cows injected with artificial growth hormones such as rBGH. These hormones make cows produce more milk, but have a detrimental affect on their health and possibly the health of the humans who consume their milk as well. In industrial ice cream production, milk is churned in massive vats that hold thousands of gallons of soupy liquid and whip it into its more recognizable fluffy and frozen state. At lightening speed, ice cream is pumped into cardboard or plastic containers, boxed, and shipped out across the US and abroad.

Even though most ice cream is mass-produced in the US, 40% of the ice cream we eat is purchased from regional and local producers.ⁱⁱ Americans tend to buy ice cream from supermarkets and convenience stores, but many of us live near farms, restaurants and shops that produce it on a small scale and with a personal touch.

One such ice cream outlet is Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook, Maine, listed on Sustainable Table’s Eat Well Guide. A rural oasis just outside of Portland, Smiling Hill is home to 50 Holsteins that supply milk to the farm’s on-site plant, which produces milk, cream, cheese, butter and, of course, ice cream.

Smiling Hill’s friendly staff invited us to witness the magic that goes on behind the scenes. This is the story of ice cream, from farm to freezer…

Step 1: Milk a cow
Smiling Hill’s 50 Holsteins are milked morning and night, 365 days a year.Each cow produces 10-14 gallons a day, and once the milk is collected it is brought down to the farm’s processing plant a few hundred yards away from the milking barn.Here the milk is separated into cream and skim milk and then sent along to Charlie, Smiling Hill’s resident ice cream expert.

Step 2: Ingredients
Ice cream is basically a time-tested combination of milk and sugar. The specific ingredients that make up ice cream are:

• Milk
• Cream
• Non-fat or skim milk
• Sweetener (Smiling Hill uses pure cane sugar)

These ingredients are mixed together, and the liquid mixture is pasteurized, homogenized and then stored in 2.5 gallon containers for 24 hours so the flavors can meld together. 

Step 3: Whipping
Ice cream’s extraordinary texture is created during the whipping process. This is where the liquid ice cream base is churned and frozen simultaneously and continuously in a Batch Freezer, whipping air into the mix so that the final product is light and voluminous.

During this process, ice cream can grow in volume by up to 100% because of the amount of air that has been whipped into the mix. Finer ice cream tends to be denser and contain less air, while less expensive brands can be up to 50% air. (So next time you buy ice cream based on the price – watch out! You may be getting half as much ice cream as you bargained for…)

Flavoring is also added during this phase of the process – one of Smiling Hill’s favorite ice cream flavors is Ginger.

Step 4: Packaging and hardening
The finished ice cream is emptied out of the batch freezer and packaged into pints and quart-sized cardboard containers for sale, and 3-gallon buckets for scooping. The packaged ice cream is then frozen at about 30 degrees below zero for 24 hours to freeze it solid and prevent ice crystals from forming in the containers.

Step 5: Dig in!
Use a cup, a cone, or just spoon it right out of the container – it doesn’t matter how you eat it, just make sure to finish before it melts!

- by Gwen Schantz

Sources

• Miller, Malinda, “Dairy Products Profile.” Iowa State University Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, 2005.
• Ibid.
• Food and Drug Administration, “Code of Federal Regulations: 21 CFR 135 Frozen Desserts.” FDA, 2003.
• Ibid.