The Sensory Side of Ice Cream - Contract Testing (2024)

The sensory characteristics related to ice cream are unique and powerful in a billion dollar marketplace. What are some of the sensory characteristics of ice cream?

The Sensory Side of Ice Cream - Contract Testing (1)

Some of the flavor attributes include overall dairy, dairy fat, dairy cooked, eggy, fruity ripe, floral, green unripe, vanilla, alcohol like, chocolate, cocoa, nutty, caramelized, toasted, dark roast, fresh, fruity cooked, non-natural, overripe, citrus, peely, sweet, bitter, sour, salty, astringent, etc.

Some of the textural attributes include firmness, density, meltdown, viscosity, fat feel, chalkiness, iciness, seed awareness, fruit awareness, mouth coating, amplitude, longevity, bloom, etc.

Of course, not all ice creams are the same and they often have different sensory characteristics. For example, Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream. In English, this word commonly refers to varieties of ice cream made in a traditional Italian style. Gelato can be made with milk, cream, various sugars, and flavoring such as fresh fruit and nut purees. It is generally lower in calories, fat, and sugar than other styles of traditional ice cream.

Did you know that for many flavors, gelato often scores higher in most characteristics such as flavor bloom and fullness of flavor than traditional ice creams? Overall, testers typically find fruit flavored gelato to be less bitter, less sweet, more sour and more astringent than traditional fruit flavored ice creams. Vanilla and chocolate gelato is often found to be sweeter and is associated with higher density, lower firmness, and slower meltdown. Gelato and ice cream samples frequently have similar intensities for textural characteristics.

Gelato samples often test very closely to higher-end traditional ice cream samples, but differences exist even in those comparisons. When compared with traditional ice creams, gelatos are often characterized by flavors that generally are intense and considered to be typical of ripe fruit in that flavor category. Testers described fruit gelato as fresh, fruity and more sour than sweet, an eating experience that is similar to eating a piece of fruit. The traditional fruit ice creams, on the other hand, have more dairy notes. The chocolate and vanilla gelato and the more expensive traditional ice creams can also be characterized as having flavors that are associated with higher quality ingredients including natural flavorings and extracts (e.g., cocoa powder and pure vanilla). Some traditional ice cream samples have flavors associated with imitation flavorings.

Understanding the nuances of ice cream is possible with the use of sensory product testing. There are far more factors to consider than we have talked about today. In 2016, the global ice cream market is estimated to be worth about 54 billion U.S. dollars. In 2015, a single ice cream brand had reported sales of approximately 570 million dollars in a 52-week period. Clearly, we all scream for ice cream!

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This article is free information fromContract Testing Inc., an established leader insensory product researchandconsumer product researchfor thefood, beverage, and (QSR) quick service restaurant industriesthroughout the United States and Canada. To learn more about the complete scope of product research services, please call 1-905-456-0783 or visit us online at www.contracttesting.com.

The Sensory Side of Ice Cream - Contract Testing (2024)

FAQs

What are sensory details for ice cream? ›

The sensory properties of the ice cream such as aroma, melting, hardness, smoothness, iciness, pungency, and the overall properties were analyzed by 8 panelists.

What is ice cream test? ›

An ice cream taster assesses the quality of ice cream on a flavor, consistency, smell, texture and appearance level. Ice cream tasters start working early in the morning when their taste buds are in the best condition. Full-time tasters typically have a busy testing schedule and can taste as many as 30 flavors a day.

Are body and texture important properties of ice cream and good quality indicators? ›

Body and texture are important properties of ice cream and good quality indicators. The associated body and texture defects are evaluated by biting and chewing the product. As it relates to ice cream, body is best defined as the property or quality of the ice cream as a whole.

What causes large ice crystals in ice cream? ›

Freezer burn occurs as ice begins to evaporate over time in the freezer. As moisture leaves the ice cream and mixes with the air, it refreezes on the surface, creating those unappetizing crunchy crystals on top, according to Ben & Jerry's.

What are the 5 senses in sensory evaluation? ›

Sensory analysis measures how people react to products and items through the five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing.

What are 5 example of sensory details? ›

Sensory details use the five senses (sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell) to add depth of detail to writing. Although sensory details are most commonly used in narratives, they can be incorporated into many types of writing to help your work stand out.

How does the ice cream experiment work? ›

Why does ice cream in a bag work? Pure water freezes at 0°C. The addition of salt lowers the freezing point by a few degrees ( freezing point depression ). This means when salt is added to the ice in the outer bag, the ice (which is at 0°C) is above its freezing point, so starts to melt.

How do you test the quality of ice cream? ›

Texture and mouth-feel are the most obvious ways to test out the quality of ice cream. The texture of the ice cream based solely on the spoon scoop can give you an idea of the ice cream's quality. Ice cream's texture should be creamy.

How do you become a professional ice cream tester? ›

Bachelor science degree, food science degree, and/or dairy science degree. Certifications and licenses include: - Typically ice cream companies look for customers with the desired degrees to test their flavors.

What are the three quality factors of ice cream? ›

KEY THINGS TO KNOW FOR PERFECT TEXTURE

The difference in texture between sorbet, ice cream and dairy ice cream depends mainly on the following 3 factors: the amount of fat, the amount of air incorporated and its temperature when it is consumed.

What is high quality vs low quality ice cream? ›

Ice cream with less air has fewer ice crystals, which means the ice cream will melt in your mouth and not have a crunchy texture. Ice cream with less air also contains a higher proportion of cream, which makes it taste better. Premium ice cream usually has 11 to 15 percent butterfat and 60 to 90 percent overrun.

What are 5 features of ice cream? ›

Ice cream is comprised of a mixture of air, water, milkfat, nonfat milk solids (NMS) sweeteners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and flavors.

What stops ice cream from crystallizing? ›

To prevent ice crystals from forming on ice cream, place a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap directly on the surface. Press it firmly onto the ice cream so that it forms a tight seal. Cover with the lid and return to the freezer.

What keeps ice cream creamy? ›

Ice cream's creaminess depends on the size of the ice crystals that form during freezing-the smaller the crystals, the creamier the texture. Rapid chilling and constant churning encourage the water in the ice cream mixture to form lots of minuscule “seed” crystals; this process is known as propagation.

What stops ice cream from freezing solid? ›

Sugar, corn syrup or honey, as well as gelatin and commercial stabilizers, can all keep your ice cream at a softer consistency. Ice cream also stays softer when you store it in a shallow container, rather than a deep tub, and cover the surface of the ice cream with plastic wrap to keep ice crystals from forming.

What is sensory evaluation examples? ›

Sensory Evaluation Examples

Examples of sensory evaluation include the Flavor Profile Test and Texture Profile Test. The Flavor Profile Test will evaluate the characteristics, intensity, order of attribute appearance, aftertaste, and amplitude.

What are the 4 components of sensation sensory system? ›

The initialization of sensation stems from the response of a specific receptor to a physical stimulus. The receptors which react to the stimulus and initiate the process of sensation are commonly characterized in four distinct categories: chemoreceptors, photoreceptors, mechanoreceptors, and thermoreceptors.

How do you evaluate sensory information? ›

Sensory analysis can mainly be broken down into three sub-sections:
  1. Analytical testing (dealing with objective facts about products)
  2. Affective testing (dealing with subjective facts such as preferences)
  3. Perception (the biochemical and psychological aspects of sensation)

What are the 3 types of sensory information? ›

Here's an example of sensory integration while playing baseball:
  • The tactile (touch) sense helps this boy hold his bat correctly.
  • Proprioception (body position) helps him know his body is in the correct position.
  • Vestibular (balance and movement) information helps him stay upright while swinging the bat.

What are sensory examples? ›

Sensory details include sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.

What is a good sensory detail examples? ›

Sensory details are words that stir any of the five senses: touch, taste, sound, smell, and sight. For example, rather than saying “She drank the lemonade,” say: “She felt her tongue tingle as she sipped the frosty glass of tart, sugary lemonade.”

What is the independent variable in the ice cream experiment? ›

Analysing ice cream: answers

The independent variable was the amount of fat/parts milk fat. b. The dependent variable was the viscosity (determined from the rate of sag).

What happens to ice cream when exposed to heat explain your answer? ›

Ice cream contains tiny ice crystals that are surrounded by air cells and fat globules. As temperatures rise, these ice crystals melt and the structure is destabilized, which we call melting. The warmer the temperature, the more quickly the ice crystals melt, and the more melting we see.

What is the answer to the ice cream math problem? ›

Two strawberry scoops plus one vanilla scoop plus one cone can be calculated as 1 plus 1 plus 2 plus 3 (which comes out to 7). So together, one vanilla scoop (5) plus one cone (3) plus a triple scoop with two strawberries and one vanilla on a cone (7) equals 15. And there you have it.

How do you test Flavour? ›

The primary technique used in flavor analysis is gas chromatography, with and without mass spectrometry and olfactometry. Hall said that since most flavor and fragrance compounds are volatile, GC is the method of choice.

What is statistically the best ice cream flavor? ›

YouGov asked 1,000 U.S. adults about their favorite ice cream flavor, and many Americans ranked vanilla and chocolate at the top. Closely following America's most popular flavors were strawberry, cookies and cream, and chocolate chip.

What is the standard quality of ice cream? ›

According to the US standard for frozen desserts, regular ice cream must contain at least 10% milk fat and 20% total milk solids. Ice cream containing 10% milk fat and 10% milk solids-not-fat provides approximately 3.5–4% milk-derived protein.

How much do best testers make? ›

How Much Do Software Tester Jobs Pay per Hour?
Annual SalaryHourly Wage
Top Earners$117,000$56
75th Percentile$85,000$41
Average$72,121$35
25th Percentile$55,000$26

How much can I make being a product tester? ›

The average annual pay for all product testers in the US is $45,972 [1]. Of that, $43,175 is the base salary, and $2,797 is additional pay, such as bonuses or commissions. With 15 years of product testing experience, the national average salary is $62,915—$59,255 in base pay, plus $3,660 in additional compensation [1].

What makes a good taste tester? ›

Sensory Acuity

In addition to formal education, sensory acuity is perhaps the most important trait of professional food tasters. It's not enough that a product tastes “good” or “bad;” tasters must be able to distinguish specific characteristics of all of the items they taste.

What is the most important ingredient in ice cream? ›

Of course, the main ingredients in ice cream come from milk–and the most important part of that is milkfat, which gives ice cream its smoothness and creamy texture. In fact, in order to be called ice cream, the USDA requires it to contain at least 10 percent milkfat, which can come from milk or cream.

What is the 3 most popular ice cream flavor? ›

YouGov asked 1,000 U.S. adults about their favorite ice cream flavor, and many Americans ranked vanilla and chocolate at the top. Closely following America's most popular flavors were strawberry, cookies and cream, and chocolate chip.

What is the FDA approved ice cream? ›

(a) Ice cream shall contain at least 1.6 pounds of total solids to the gallon, weigh not less than 4.5 pounds to the gallon, and contain not less than 20 percent total milk solids, constituted of not less than 10 percent milkfat. In no case shall the content of milk solids not fat be less than 6 percent.

What makes premium ice cream better? ›

"Premium" ice cream tends to have low overrun and higher fat content than regular ice cream, and the manufacturer uses higher quality ingredients. "Regular" ice cream meets the overrun required for the federal ice cream standard.

What is the most expensive type of ice cream? ›

The ice cream, called “Byakuya,” is a combination of white truffles imported from Alba, Italy; Parmigiano Reggiano cheese; and sake lees, a byproduct of the sake production process. The resulting frozen dessert costs an absolutely eye-watering ¥873,400 ($6,696) for a single 130 mL (4.4 ounce) serving.

What is the most unhealthy type of ice cream? ›

In most cases, premium ice cream — which is processed to be richer and creamier than regular ice cream — is also higher in sugar, fat, and calories. Interestingly, while low-fat or no-sugar-added products are often promoted as healthier, these choices may contain around the same number of calories as regular ice cream.

What are the 4 phases of ice cream? ›

When looking at ice cream at a microscopic level it is found that ice cream is made up of four phases: ice, air, fat and a concentrated aqueous solution. It is the relative amount of these phases and the interactions between them that determines the properties of the ice cream – whether soft and 'whippy' or hard.

What ingredient thickens ice cream? ›

The common thickeners in non-dairy ice creams are guar gum, xanthan gum, acacia gum, carrageenan, and locust bean gum. These ingredients are added to enhance the texture of liquid to mimic the viscosity of a rich creamy ice cream. Guar, acacia, and xanthan gum can all be added to a recipe while cold.

How do you make ice cream more stable? ›

The most common ones used in ice creams are guar gum, cellulose gum and carob bean gum. They are used to reduce ice crystal growth, deliver flavour cleanly, increase smoothness, body and creaminess and slow down melting. They also help hold the air bubble structure together and give the ice cream a better texture.

How do you make ice cream more solid? ›

If your ice cream is soft-serve texture, place it in the freezer for 2-4 hours to fully firm up. If your mixture is not a soft-serve texture but still liquid and doesn't appear to be thickening up after 30-45 minutes, you may have a problem. Your mixture may not be have been cold enough, or the bowl not chilled fully.

What makes ice cream smoother? ›

Fat is one of the main components that provide smoothness to ice cream. The range of milk fat used in ice cream can go from around 10 percent to a maximum of about 16 percent. Most premium ice creams use 14 percent milk fat. The higher the fat content the richer the taste and creamier the texture.

What makes ice cream last longer? ›

Make ice cream last longer by storing it in the back of the freezer. The back of the freezer is the coldest part of the freezer, so that's where your ice cream will be happiest (or at least, last longer). It also helps to avoid unnecessary opening of the door!

What is added to ice cream to make it creamier? ›

Liquid sugars like invert sugar, corn syrup, honey, and glucose syrup all add body, creaminess, and stability to ice cream, and a little goes a long way.

What keeps ice cream soft in freezer? ›

During the freezing process, the ice crystals that build up are scraped from the cylinder walls. This stops the ice crystals from growing too big and giving the ice cream a sand-like texture.

How do you make ice cream more creamy? ›

As you churn ice cream, individual water molecules turn into ice-crystal seeds — which is what makes cream freeze. The higher the fat content, the more time you have to churn before these ice crystals congregate, resulting in creamier final texture.

How do you make ice cream more airy? ›

Whisk cream or eggs

Whisk some cream or eggs and within a few minutes you'll have a light and airy foam. Both ingredients are great at holding onto air if you force air in using a whisk or mixer.

What are sensory details for food? ›

A range of senses are used when eating food:
  • sight;
  • smell;
  • hearing;
  • taste;
  • touch.

What are some sensory details? ›

Sensory details include sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Writers employ the five senses to engage a reader's interest. If you want your writing to jump off the page, then bring your reader into the world you are creating.

What are sensory descriptions of food? ›

The nose detects volatile aromas released from food. An odour may be described by association with a particular food, eg herby, cheesy, fishy. The intensity can also be recorded. A product's size, shape, colour and surface texture can be described, eg large, small, oblong, square, yellow, pink, rough.

What are the 3 main sensory characteristics of food products? ›

Sensory properties of food are highly influenced by the sensational properties like taste, smell texture and appearance (Sorensen et al., 2003).

What are the five main sensory characteristics of food? ›

The five major sensory properties of food materials—appearance, texture, aroma,1 taste,1 and irritation—are perceived by the primary human senses—visual (sight), tactile (touch), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), auditory (hearing), and chemesthesis2 (common chemical sense).

What are the 4 sensory perceptions of food? ›

Taste, smell, texture and appearance-specific satieties have been identified, whereas studies on the role of macronutrients and the energy content of the food in sensory-specific satiety have given equivocal results.

Which is the best example of a sensory detail? ›

A great example of sensory detail is, "She inhaled deeply; the scent of lilac hitting her nostrils to deliver a euphoric aroma that gave her a heady delight.

What are the three main components of ice cream? ›

If you have ever made ice cream, you already know what goes into it, ingredients such as milk, cream, and sugar. But there is one main ingredient that you may not have thought about, probably because you can't see it—air.

What are the 4 sensory properties? ›

A sensory property is an intrinsic, physical characteristic of an ingredient that can be perceived by the human senses. There are 4 categories of sensory properties: aroma, taste, texture and appearance.

What is a sensory assessment of food quality? ›

Food sensory testing involves the use of the human senses in the objective evaluation of food products. Characteristics such as appearance, texture, odor and taste are analyzed by trained testers to assess product quality or derive opportunities for improvement.

What are the 4 basic requirements for effective sensory evaluation? ›

For effective sensory evaluation, the analyst should duly recognize the purpose of the study, select the appropriate experimental design, use panelists who fit the purpose, choose the proper method for preparing and presenting the samples, and analyze the data cor- rectly.

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