OUGD603 Ice Cream Parlour (Research Brief) - Research Science & Ice Cream

The innovation of Science and Ice Cream
In today’s day an age it is possible to make new advances in both technology and food. In particularly ice cream through research I have found that there is glow in the dark ice cream, ice cream without packaging and even liquid nitrogen made ice cream made in minutes - you cant get any fresher than that! Through my research it is evident just how much science is involved in the production of ice cream, I believe this is something everyone should know as it is both interesting and amazing!

Most ice creams consist of 5 basic components of emulsions.

– Ice crystals
Created when the water-content in the base starts to freeze; they put the “ice” in “ice cream”, giving solidity and body. This can determine the texture of the ice cream.

– Fat
Often in the form of butter (milk) fat; adds richness, stabilises the base mix, improves density and the

smoothness of texture and generally increase avours.

– Sweeteners
Generally different sugars, honey or syrups. Adds sweetness but also improves texture and body. It can also lower the freezing point of the ice cream!

– Air
The invisible (and cheapest) ingredient in ice cream. The tiny air cells whipped into the base mix are largely responsible for the general consistency of ice

cream, and greatly affect texture and volume.

 – Other solids
Usually so-called non-fat milk solids, such as proteins and mineral salts, and avourings such as cookie- crumbles. While adding avour and (possibly) sweetness, they also contribute to the body, texture and smoothness.
Making the ice cream is a mixture of emulsifiers and stabilisers that form together. 



Colour Changing Ice Cream

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/sciencetech/video-1108574/Physicist-invents-ice-cream-changes-colour-lick-it.html


The topic of color-changing ice cream heated up in July 2014 when Spanish physicist Manuel Linares and colleagues announced Xamaleon, a tutti-frutti-flavored ice cream that changes colors three times when licked. According to Linares, the trick to the treat involves temperature change and the acids in the human mouth. A quick spray of a mysterious substance he calls a "love elixir" speeds up the switch from periwinkle blue to pink and finally purple [source: Yirka].

Creating such a treat requires a keen understanding of what causes color and color changes in food, and a knack for molecular chemistry doesn't hurt, either.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/color-changing-ice-cream.htm

Edible Packaging

https://www.treehugger.com/green-food/edible-waste-free-food-packaging-does-exist-do-people-really-want-it.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/the-unpackeged-movement/489149/

https://soundcloud.com/gastropodcast/outside-the-boxthe-story-of-food-packaging

Glow In the Dark Ice Cream 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/10442158/Glow-in-the-dark-ice-cream-made-from-jellyfish-costs-140-a-scoop.html

'Glow-in-the-dark ice cream exists — but that's not even the weirdest part. Its main ingredient is jellyfish protein, which makes each lick brighter and more luminous.

Once the protein extracted from jellyfish reacts with the warm temperature of a tongue, the pH level of the tongue increases to a higher level, causing the ice cream to glow. British entrepreneur Charlie Francis, who founded ice-cream company Lick Me I'm Delicious, invented the fluorescent ice cream.'

http://mashable.com/2013/11/10/glow-in-the-dark-ice-cream-jellyfish/#uqN.y6ATwqqK

Freeze Dried Ice Cream

Freeze-dried ice cream is ice cream that has had most of the water removed from it by a freeze-drying process, sealed in a pouch, and requires no refrigeration.

It is also known as astronaut ice cream or space ice cream, typically a slab of ready-to-eat dehydrated ice cream. Compared to regular ice cream, it can be kept at room temperature without melting and is more brittle and rigid but still soft when bitten into. It was developed by Whirlpool Corporationunder contract to NASA for the Apollo missions.[1][2] However, it was never used on any Apollo mission. Freeze-dried foods were developed so that foods could be sent on long-duration spaceflights, as to the Moon, and to reduce the weight of the water and oxygen normally found in food.[1]

Freeze drying (or lyophilization) removes water from the ice cream by lowering the air pressure to a point where ice sublimates from a solid to a gas. The ice cream is placed in a vacuum chamber and frozen until the water crystallizes. The air pressure is lowered, creating a partial vacuum, forcing air out of the chamber; next heat is applied, sublimating the ice; finally a freezing coil traps the vaporized water. This process continues for hours, resulting in a freeze-dried ice cream slice.

Freeze-dried ice cream is sold by mail order and is common in science museums and NASA visitor center gift shops, sometimes accompanied by other freeze-dried foods.