Annual Ice Cream Short Course Serves Flavorful Instruction
Penn State ice cream maker Todd Gantt Christine Law, San Francisco, an execu
serves up a batch of ice cream for stu- tive pastry chef for Postrio Restaurant,
dents learning about different freezing evaluates a commercial brand of ice
processes. cream.
(Continued from Page A 1)
right,” said Osofsky. “People love
it (the farm’s ice cream), I just
want to know if I could do other
things to make it better.”
The dairy sells to area stores
and farmers markets but Osofsky
hopes to open an on-farm store in
the future.
Hands-on experiences were an
important part of the various labs
conducted throughout the course.
During one lab, students anal
yzed vanilla flavor from through
out the world. After they smelled
and described the beans, they
tasted vanilla extracts and
worked together to formulate
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their own best-tasting vanilla
combination.
At one sensory evaluation lab,
Bruce Tharp, ice cream consul
tant and adjunct Penn State pro
fessor, helped students assess sev
eral brands of commercial ice
cream, weighing several charac
teristics (does it break down
quickly in the mouth? Is it crum
bly? Does it have a custard,
soggy, or cooked flavor? Do the
ingredients taste old?).
At another similar lab, stu
dents evaluated ice cream made
at the Creamery.
Participants also did a melt
down evaluation, carefully put-
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ting small portion of ice cream on
a blue plate with a melon scoop
to avoid disturbing the ice creams
structure.
Students also learned about
differing freezing systems, from
homemade salt-and-ice methods
to a batch freezer and the novelty
system for popsicles and ice
cream bars.
Instructors froze popsicles in a
cold brine solution either with or
without agitation. Freezing with
out agitation allows crystals to
grow, easily seen in fruit-flavor
ed, but also visible in ice cream
popsicles.
During the lab students dis-
February 11-14
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cussed overrun, the measure of
air in ice cream. One gallon of ice
cream mix makes two gallons of
ice cream at 100 percent overrun,
according to Penn State ice
cream maker Todd Gantt.
The Creamery makes ice
cream with less overrun, so the
produce has a creamier texture,
according to Gantt.
One of the course’s lectures
was T. Websters discussion of va
nilla.
The old vanilla market, said
Webster, was dominated by Mad
agascar, which in the 1930 s put
together a cartel for price control.
In 1978 crop problems in Mada
gascar destroyed 20-30 percent of
the crop, sending prices higher
and grabbing the attention of
other countries.
“Indonesia
really came into
play, and they
started to take
over the mar
ket,” said Web
ster. Also in
1993 Madagas
car experienced
political prob
lems and the
cartel fell
Prices, how
ever, are now
high, as Mada
gacar experi
enced a ty-
Students analyzed vanilla flavor from
throughout the world. They tasted vanilla
extracts and worked together to formulate
their own best-tasting combination.
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phoon in 2000, destroying stores
of the 1999 crop and vines with
fruit of the 2000 crop and send
ing prices to $95-$llO a kilo.
Although bean prices have
continued to climb, he believes
that “prices will soften as we go
into 2003,” Webster said. India,
China, Uganda, and Mexico are
also now producing vanilla
beans.
Students were also given a tour
of Borland Lab, site of Penn
States Creamery. Tom Palchak,
manager of the Creamery since
1986, guided participants
through the operation.
Palchak explained the pas
teurization and homogenization
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(Turn to Page A 24)