The texture people perceive when they eat ice cream is the sensory manifestation of the microstructure.
Milk fat is the most expensive major ingredient of ice cream, and is the higher the fat content, generally the more expensive the product. It is the globules of milk fat in milk and cream that give ice cream its rich, creamy and smooth texture. Essentially, the greater the percentage of milk fats the creamier the end product will be.
Milk solids-nonfat contribute to the flavor and also give body and a desirable texture to ice cream.
Eggs help to improve the texture of ice cream by acting as an emulsifying agent, suspending the milk fat globules. It is a good emulsifier due to its content of lecithin. Emulsifier helps disperse the fat globules throughout the ice cream mix and prevent them from clumping together.
Most commercial ice creams contain one or more stabilizers, it forms gel with water which give the product a smoother creamier texture and more body, retard or reduce crystal grown during cold storage.
The number and size of ice crystal will influence the texture of ice cream. Larger ice crystals result in a coarser texture and finer crystals will a more desirable creamy texture.
A coarse, ice texture may be manifested by either the presence of localized, layer-like, ice crystals or by granny ice particles distributed throughout the product.
Texture of ice cream
