Stabilizers in frozen desserts like ice cream contribute to a better product
The typical stabilizers you see on a label include guar gum, carob bean gum or cellulose gum. The purpose to include a gum in frozen products, is to reduce the degree of ice crystal growth and limiting the activity of water in the unfrozen state.
Gums have a direct influence on the viscosity (thickness) of the product and can improve the overall texture and smoothness or mouth feel.
What are stabilizers?
A group of compounds, usually polysaccharide food gums, that are responsible for adding viscosity to the mix and the unfrozen phase of the ice cream. This results in many functional benefits, listed below, and also extends the shelf life by limiting ice recrystallization during storage. Without the stabilizers, the ice cream would become coarse and icy very quickly due to the migration of free water and the growth of existing ice crystals.
What is the difference between an Emulsifier and Stabilizer as explained in Foodreactions.org.
- Emulsifiers allow water and oils (fats) to remain mixed together in an emulsion as in ice cream.
- Stabilizers are thickeners and gelling agents to give food a firm texture, they are not a true emulsifier, simply help to stabilize emulsions.
Frozen products that use a stabilizer to improve overall body and texture and can be used for both hard pack and soft serve products.
- Ice Cream
- Gelato
- Frozen Custard (which also requires a percentage of egg yolk to be included)
- French Style Ice Cream (see frozen custard)
- Sherbet (dairy and water based)
- Sorbet (water based)
- Frozen Yogurt
- Lite Ice Cream
- No Fat Ice Cream
- Plant Based Desserts
How do stabilizers control ice crystals from forming?
This is more scientific and requires further explanation from food scientists, so checked in with Tharp & Young. They wrote an article in Dairy Foods Magazine stating the control of ice crystal growth by stabilizers is related to influencing the mechanism of recrystallization during heat shock.
Stabilizer functionality also controls ice crystal growth by managing ripening that occurs during early stages of hardening and situations during storage and distribution, when early stages of hardening and situations during storage and distribution, when the product is exposed to relatively high temperatures (e.g. +10 to +18 F). In this range, the degree of freeze concentration is low, producing relatively low viscosity in the unfrozen portion. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Here are some of the types of stabilizers as defined by the Food Science Department at the University of Guelph in Canada.
Locust Bean Gum:
Soluble fibre of plant material derived from the endosperm of beans of exotic trees grown mostly in Africa (Note: locust bean gum is a synonym for carob bean gum, the beans of which were used centuries ago for weighing precious metals, a system still in use today, the word carob and Karat having similar derivation)
Guar Gum:
From the endosperm of the bean of the guar bush, a member of the legume family grown in India for centuries and now grown to a limited extent in Texas
?Clean Label Ingredient
Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC):
Derived from the bulky components, or pulp cellulose, of plant material, and chemically derivatized to make it water soluble
Xanthan Gum:
Produced in culture broth media by the microorganism Xanthaomonas campestris as an exopolysaccharide, used to a lesser extent.
?Clean Label Ingredient
Sodium Alginate:
An extract of seaweed, brown kelp, also used to a lesser extent
Carrageenan:
An extract of Irish Moss or other red algae, originally harvested from the coast of Ireland, near the village of Carragheen but now most frequently obtained from Chile and the Philippines
Each of the stabilizers has its own characteristics and often, two or more of these stabilizers are used in combination to lend synergistic properties to each other and improve their overall effectiveness.
Guar, for example, is more soluble than locust bean gum at cold temperatures, thus it finds more application in HTST (High Temperature Short Time) pasteurization systems.
Carrageenan is not used by itself but rather is used as a secondary colloid to prevent the wheying off of mix which is usually promoted by one of the other stabilizers.
?Clean Label Ingredient
Gelatin:
A protein of animal origin, was used almost exclusively in the ice cream industry as a stabilizer but has gradually been replaced with polysaccharides of plant origin due to their increased effectiveness and reduced cost.
Common blends of stabilizer seen on a ingredient statement and can vary depending if the base is dairy, water or plant.
Guar & Locust Bean / Carrageenan & Guar / Locust Bean / Xanthan Gum
How do you determine the best stabilizer to use?
You don’t, however the food scientist working on your formula will plus keep in mind, you can and should make requirements such as natural if important or the total number of stabilizers you wish to be listed on your label.
Contact Darryl and schedule time to discuss your product requirements and the stabilizer(s) right for your product. Your customer will thank you.
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