■lB-Lancastw Farming, Saturday, July 5,1986
The University Creemeiy: THE Piece To
BY SALLY BAIR
Lancaster Co. Correspondent
UNIVERSITY PARK - The
University Creamery is a fixture
on the campus of The Penn
sylvania State University. It has a
reputation for having the finest ice
cream around, and is THE place to
go when visiting Penn State.
Ray Binkley, manager for The
Creamery, says it is second only to
the football team in popularity
among alumni and students.
It is fitting that July Ice Cream
Month finds The Creamery in
stituting two new features real,
old-fashioned milkshakes and ice
cream sundaes.
Binkley says the new items are
oeing offered in an attempt to
increase the volume sold through
the retail store. Store hours have
also been expanded until 10 p.m., a
change that has already had an
impact on the amount of ice cream
sold.
One of the reasons which
necessitates adding longer hours
and other innovations is a drop in
milk consumption within the
University. Binkley says, “Kids
are drinking less milk because
they are offered more choices by
the Food Services Department.”
For instance, he said they now
consume 5,000 gallons of orange
juice a week, a drink with free
flowing dispensers available at
each meal, right next to the milk
and soft drink dispensers.
But it is ice cream that one
thinks of when the word Creamery
is mentioned. What makes the ice
cream so special? Binkley doesn’t
even need to think about it.
“Everything is fresh, and it takes
Ray Binkley, manager of the University Creamery, holds a
basket of ice cream ready to be frozen and held in the freezer
before moving on to the retail store.
These three 4-H'ers took advantage of their visit to Penn State and stopped at the
Creamery to enjoy ice cream cones. From left they are: Heather Leiby, Schuylkill County;
Cheryl Ferguson, .Mercer County; and Kathi Smith, Huntingdon County.
just four days from the cow to the
store.” Furthermore, 99 percent of
the ingredients are real, including
flavorings, adding up to a real
treat. The ice cream tests 14.1
percent fat, 10.5 percent solids not
fat, 16.7 percent sugar, 0.25 percent
stabilizer and 41.55 percent total
solids.
Binkley says that the creamery
is one of the “largest ice cream
dipping stores in the country,” and
notes that on a football weekend,
they will dip 6,000 cones in one day.
The next largest time of the year,
according to a tour guide, is during
the summer Arts Festival in July,
when they dip 30,000 ice cream
cones in a three-day period.
On a big weekend, it is not just
dipping ice cream that keeps
Creamery personnel busy. Binkley
says they use two tons of dry ice
when there is a home game to pack
ice cream and other products to be
taken home by alumni eager to
keep that good taste as long as
possible.
He noted, however, that buying
patterns have changed in the last
five years. Before interest rates
climbed, loyal alumni would buy
several hundred dollars worth of
ice cream and cheeses to take
home to friends and neighbors.
Now, he says, the largest orders
may be for just $lOO worth of
products.
On football weekends, Binkley
says, “We have unbelievable
crowds and they have a lot a
patience.”
To prepare for these big
weekends, Binkley tries to have a
week’s supply of ice cream ready.
He laughs, “Ours never gets a
*
chance to get old.”
Ice cream is not processed every
day. The first step in the process is
to make condensed milk to be used
in the ice cream mix. On the
second day the mix itself is
prepared and allowed to set
overnight. On the third and fourth
day ice cream is processed, up to
ten flavors a day, and on the fifth
day the equipment is thoroughly
cleaned. Milk processing is done
one day a week in the summer, and
four days a week in the winter.
Visitors to campus may be
disappointed not to find their
favorite flavor among those being
offered on a given day. Without
apology Binkley states, “I decide
what to make. I try to listen to
customers. I try to keep to the
basics, but I get criticized.” The
most popular flavors are vanilla,
chocolate, strawberry, butter
pecan, bittersweet mint,
variegated chocolate, and
variegated peanut butter.
He mentions that there are
regional favorites around the
country, but one very popular
flavor at the University is butter
pecan. One reason may be that
they use large, fancy pecan halves
which are coated with real butter.
A second reason could be that he
puts in double weight, or 12 percent
pecans, much more than most
dairies. Butter Pecan happens to
be a favorite of football coach Joe
Paterno, who also favors peach.
New flavors appear from time to
time, according to flavors
available. “We use only the best,
and go basically on past ex
perience and on requests of
people,” Binkley says. Lemon
chiffon is “one of the best we’ve
ever made,” according to Binkley.
Another new flavor is brownie
fudge nut, which he calls
“delicious.”
Two recent additions which have
become classics are Cherry Quist,
named for retired professor John
Almquist, a world renowned
breeding expert, and Keeney
Beany, named for Phil Keeney,
when he retired as head of the
department.
Part of Binkley’s job is tasting
all these wonderful flavors. He
says, “I like ice cream, and I taste
it all.” Nevertheless, he says that
on his present eating pattern he
eats sweets just every fourth day,
so he has cut down his ice cream
consumption. He is hard pressed to
come up with-a favorite, pleading,
“I never thought about it. I really
can’t say.” Well, being surrounded
daily by gallons of delicious ice
cream must be somewhat over
whelming.
Although it is too soon to really
know what the response will be to
the new items, Binkley happily
noted that 130 milkshakes were
made on the first day. These
shakes were made the “old
fashioned way,” according to
Go For Fresh lee Cream
Filling the familiar blue and white boxes, this University
employee is skilled at adding just the right amount of ice
cream.
There is almost no resemblance
between a Creamery milkshake
and the fast food variety. “We
knew they would be popular,
Binkley says happily.
The sundaes will be carry out,
and Binkley says he already
foresees a shortage of tables for
those wishing to eat theirs on the
premises. A wide variety of sun
daes will be available.
The Creamery has always
maintained a policy of one size and
one flavor cones, but they now
have a half size cone for kin
dergarten through second graders.
Milk for this operation comes
from the University herd of 150
cows, which supplies about half the
need. Since the need for dairy
products increased dramatically
during the school year, milk is
purchased from another herd in
the area.
Just this year the University
herd became a member of In
terstate Milk Producers
Cooperative under an
arrangement which allows it to use
all its own milk. It will be easier,
however, to maintain a steady
supply, and now they will not need
to produce as much cheese just to
keep up with their milk supply.
Binkley said, “I’ll just order what I
need.”
Binkley notes, “When the
University was the Farmers High
School, they produced milk for the
whole town, an arrangement that
continued until 1958, when they got
out of the “town” business.
He adds that despite their
reputation for quality ice cream,
A 4-H'ers' I fat Of The Creamiy
Editor’s Note: The following news item was written by Karen
Myen, a 15-ycar-old 4-H’er from Washington Boro in Lancaster
County. It was published in the “Congress Times ‘86,” a newsletter
published by participants in Leadership Congress. For more on
Leadership Congress, turn to page 820.
“Hey! Do you want to go to the Creamery?” These words could
be heard all over the Penn State campus from 4-H’ers during the
1986 Leadership Congress.
From the no-fuss “vanilla” to the wild “watermelon sherbet,”
the Creamery offers a wide variety of ice cream flavors. The menu
also recently added milkshakes. With seven different flavors to
choose from, this is also a popular treat. Not only does the
Creamery offer ice cream, but they also sell various daily products
and snacks.
The first time I was invited to join a group at the Creamery, I
figured it would be just another chic college hangout for bored kids.
Once I was there, however, I discovered that this place was dif
ferent. I saw kids laughing, having fun and best of aU, making new
friends. The Creamery is the place to go when you are feeling up, or
down, or basically normal. The Creamery certainly is a part of
Penn State Proud.
milk is still the biggest product
processed by volume, followed by
cheese.
Binkley is himself a 1955
graduate of dairy science at Penn
State and has spent his career
working in the dairy industry as a
cheesemaker and ice cream
maker. When he attended Penn
State he worked in the processing
plant as part of his course work.
Over the years this was dropped,
and he said, “In the last 20 to 25
years there has been very little
interaction between students and
the Creamery. We are now
reversing that and it makes me
very happy. We will become a
teaching dairy and are bringing
back some courses in which
students will work here.”
He added, “The industry is
screaming for it. It will cause some
problems, but it makes us happy.”
The change in direction is being led
by the new department head. Dr.
Lowell Satterlee.
The Creamery is a self
sustaining enterprise and receives
no funds from taxpayers. It follows
all federal and state regulations
and uses money from the sale of its
products to pay salaries and ex
penses in operating the processing
plant.
Last year during the holiday
season, the University offered gift
boxes of cheese to University
personnel in another attempt to
increase its volume, the only
avenue for raising more money.
July may be Ice Cream Month,
but at The University Creamery,
ice cream is always Number One.