Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng.

Aspects 263 (2005) 390399

Air cell microstructuring in a high viscous ice cream matrix
Matthias D. Eisner
a,
, Hans Wildmoser
a,b
, Erich J. Windhab
a
a
Food Process Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, ETH Z urich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9, 8092 Z urich, Switzerland
b
Nestl PTC Konolngen, Nestl-Strasse 3, 3510 Konolngen, Switzerland
Received 4 October 2004; accepted 10 December 2004
Available online 11 January 2005
Abstract
Ice creamis a complex multiphase systemconsisting of ice crystals, air cells and fat globules embedded in a high viscous freeze concentrated
matrix phase. The microstructure of these constituents has signicant impact on the consumer quality characteristics and its specic manipu-
lation is of great interest. While in the frozen state the structure is dominated by the ice crystals after thawing the foam characteristics become
important. Ice cream foam stability is correlated to the sensed creaminess and can be improved with smaller air cells and reduced coalescence.
In contrast to the common approach addressing this goal by changed recipes this contribution proposes an additional process step which allows
efcient dispersion of the air cells by high shear forces. Disruption of air cells by shear is efciently done at high matrix viscosities, which
are directly related to the amount of frozen water and therefore the temperature. Conventionally scraped surface heat exchangers (freezers)
are used for whipping and freezing of an ice cream premix. With outlet temperature of 5 to 8

C these devices operate at relatively low

ice cream viscosities. Here the ice cream is processed in a low temperature extruder (LTE) after a classic freezer which cools it further to
below 12

C. This way shear forces exceeding those in the conventional system by 23 orders of magnitude can be applied. The maximum
air cell diameter x
90,3
is reduced from 52 to 19 m. Beside the air structures the extrusion process induces also changes in the fat structures.
High shear forces are also able to form an optimized network of agglomerated fat globules, which further stabilizes the foam. These structural
changes have a signicant impact on the foam related quality characteristics of ice cream as is proven by measurements of the rheological
behaviour during thawing and melt down tests.
2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Food foam; Ice cream extrusion; Air cell dispersion; Rheology; Fat agglomeration
1. Introduction: ice cream composition, production
and structure
Ice cream can be considered as an aerated suspension of
crystallized fat and water in a highly concentrated sugar so-
lution containing hydrocolloids, casein micells and proteins.
During manufacture fat agglomeration occurs depending on
process conditions and used emulsier. This has an impact
on the stabilization of the ice cream foam, especially in the
molten state during consumption. For example smaller dis-
persed air cells lead to a more stable foam and a creamier
mouthfeel of the product.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +41 1 445 1235; fax: +41 1 632 1155.
E-mail address: matthias.eisner@ethz.ch (M.D. Eisner).
URL: http://www.ilw.agrl.ethz.ch/vt/.
Ice cream is produced in two main steps. In the rst a pre-
mix is prepared, which is aerated and frozen in the second one
as illustrated in Fig. 1. The premix contains mainly fat, pro-
teins, sweeteners and water. A typical recipe contains 10%
fat from milk, cream or vegetable sources, 10% nonfat milk
solids which are mainly proteins from milk or whey pow-
ders and 15% sweeteners. As source of the fat fraction milk,
cream or vegetable fats and oils are used. Depending on the
source the temperature range of crystallization and the hy-
drophobicity of the fats are different. A typical milk fat melts
between 15 and 35

C and therefore contains a liquid frac-

tion during most steps of the ice cream production process.
The proteins interact with both, the fat in the premix and the
air, which is whipped into the mix in a later stage. These in-
teractions can be inuences by the selection of proteins and
their degree of denaturation, since partly denaturated pro-
0927-7757/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2004.12.017
M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399 391
Fig. 1. Flowsheet of the main steps in ice cream production. First a premix of the ingredients is prepared, which is later aerated and frozen in a scraped surface
heat exchanger (freezer) and may be processed further in a low temperature ice cream extruder.
teins are more hydrophobic. As sweeteners sugars and corn
syrups are usuallyblendedtoobtainthe desiredsweetness and
adjust the freezing point of the ice cream premix. A lower
freezing point leads to a softer but more unstable product
when storing it in the freezer. Typical values are around 2
to 3

C.
Additionally adjuvants are added. An 0.10.3% stabiliz-
ers like galactomannans increase the viscosity of the pre-
mix which facilitates whipping and improves storage sta-
bility. Emulsiers adsorb to the fat interfaces, their special
role will be explained later on. Commonly 0.10.3% mono-
/diglycerides and/or around 0.02% polysorbates are used as
emulsier. Finally colorings, avors and inclusions like cook-
ies and fruits provide the full variety of consumer products
[25].
This premix is pasteurized and homogenized at temper-
atures around 7080

C where the entire fat is liquied and

subsequently cooled down to 4

C. In the emulsication pro-

cess the fat droplets are dispersed into smaller ones with a
mean diameter below 2 m. When starting from milk and
cream the fat droplets are initially covered by a relative ro-
bust primary protein membrane. During the emulsication
process the fat surface area increases, the primary fat globule
membrane ruptures and free fat surfaces are exposed. The
surfactants present in the premix start adsorbing to this sur-
faces. Since the added emulsiers usually are smaller and
have a higher afnity to the fat they adsorb preferential in
comparison to the proteins.
In the following ripening step the homogenized and cooled
premix is stored at 4

C for 416 h. During rst 4 h the (milk)

fat crystallizes. Simultaneously rearrangements of the pro-
teins and emulsiers on the fat globule surfaces occur and
partially the proteins are replaced [16].
During freezing of the ripened premix in an ice cream
freezer, a scraped surface heat exchanger, about 50%
(v/v) air are whipped into the mix, usually denoted as
overrun
overrun =

mix

ice cream

ice cream
(1)
Ice crystals form at the cooled barrel wall are cut off by the
dasher blades and mixed into the bulk, where they partially
remelt [21]. Along the freezer barrel the ice cream is frozen
to 4 to 8

C at the outlet and 3040% of the water are

frozen and the remaining liquid phase, usually denoted as
matrix, is being concentrated. The matrix phase is a highly
concentrated sugar solution and contains the hydrocolloids,
proteins and fat globules. It surrounds the ice crystals and air
cells in ice cream.
Fig. 2 illustrates the changing fat structures during freez-
ing. The fat globule membranes formed by the emulsiers are
thinner and more susceptible to shear than the protein mem-
branes. They can be displaced by the shear forces acting in
the freezer, usually denoted as dehulling. This leads to a more
unstable emulsion and partial coalescence of the semi-liquid
fat globules. With further fat crystallization during freezing
these loose aggregates grow together and are strengthened
[2].
The air whipped into the ice cream during freezing is dis-
persed by the shear forces in the freezer, increasing matrix
viscosity helps to prevent coalescence. Since both fat and
air are hydrophobic the fat partly adsorbs to the bubbles and
stabilizes the foamby building up a network between the sin-
gle air cells and covering the air cell interfaces as shown in
Fig. 3. But even at high levels of destabilization no air cells
fully covered with fat can be observed in ice cream systems
[18], as was reported e.g. by Brooker [6] for whipped cream
with much higher fat content. The network of the fat aggre-
gates improve foam stability, especially in the molten regime
[24] and can be inuenced the mechanical energy input and
processing temperature [4,23].
The frozen ice cream is usually lled in cups after the
freezer outlet, where the viscosity comparable to soft-serve
products ease handling. Afterwards a hardening step is per-
formed in which the ice cream is ushed with cold air and
statically cooled below 18

C within 23 h. During hard-

ening additional 40% water are incorporated into existing
crystals (see Fig. 4) which thereby grow signicant. During
storage of the ice cream below 24

C further ice crystal

growth occurs due to Ostwald ripening [1,5,1012,28]. Ost-
392 M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399
Fig. 2. Development of the fat structures in ice cream (from Prof. Douglas Goff, University of Guelph, Canada, with permission).
wald ripening describes the diffusion controlled vanishing of
small, thermodynamic instable entities in favor of larger ones.
This process limits storage life since after [3] ice crystals ex-
ceeding a critical size around 55 m are sensed as sandy and
icy in the mouth and are not accepted by the consumer.
In the nal product the air volume fraction [24,27] and
bubble sizes have a high impact on foam stability, its rhe-
ological properties and can be correlated to certain quality
aspects of ice cream [20]. Smaller air cells with a narrower
size distributions increase the viscosity of the ice creamfoam
once it is molten [20] and have a positive inuence on the
sensed creaminess during consumption.
To achieve microdispersed air cells in ice cream the con-
ventional freezer technology using scraped surface heat ex-
changers is not suitable, because the outlet temperatures of
5 to 8

Cimply a rather lowviscosity and therefore inef-

cient dispersing. Processing at lower temperatures is limited
by the energy dissipation by the fast rotating dasher (200
500 rpm). More efcient dispersion can only be achieved by
modied or different processes. One possibility is the decou-
pling of the aeration and freezing step by pre-aerating the
mix, mentioned by Windhab and Bolliger [33]. Another way
is to apply higher shear forces to the ice cream after the con-
ventional freezer process to disperse the air bubbles. This can
be achieved by cooling down the ice cream to below 12

C
in a corotating low temperature twin screw extruder (LTE),
which treats the product with shear forces exceeding those in
a conventional freezer by two to three orders of magnitude
M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399 393
Fig. 3. LT-SEM micrograph of an air cell in ice cream with fat globules at
its surface.
Fig. 4. Ice fraction of frozen standard vanilla ice cream mix as a function of
temperature.
[4,31,34,35]. Depending on the composition of the mix tem-
peratures as low as 15 to 18

C could be reached. Low

temperature processing was originally proposed to reduce the
ice crystal growth during the steady state hardening of the ice
cream[14,15] by increasing the amount of water frozen at the
outlet (see Fig. 4) and hindering crystal growth by mechanical
treatment.
Here the low temperature extrusion is proposed as a pro-
cess to efciently change the air cell microstructure in the
high viscous ice cream foam by applying high shear forces.
Due to the shearing of the structure the air also forms chan-
nel like structures rather than round bubbles and therefore the
term air cells is preferably used here. The main control pa-
rameter of this process is the draw temperature at the die exit
its inuence on the foam structure is investigated. Compared
to the conventional freezer process a rened microstructure
results, as depicted in Fig. 5. More insight in the structuring
process can be gained by observing at the transient air cell
development along the extruder screws.
Along with the air cell dispersion the higher shear forces
also improve dehulling of the fat globules and this way in-
duce a higher degree of fat aggregation than the conventional
process. As systematically shown by Bolliger et al. [4], this
process can lead to a maximum degree of fat globule desta-
bilization by dehulling independent from the emulsier type
and concentration if the processing parameters are adjusted
adequately. Due to the lower temperatures and the higher
fraction of crystalline fat very large aggregates with sizes
above 50 m become instable in this high shear process and
are dispersed into smaller ones.
The impact of these microstructural changes has signi-
cant inuence onthe mainfoamrelatedqualitycharacteristics
of ice cream, as will also be shown. Especially the melting
rate and rheological behaviour in the molten regime can be
correlated to the fat and air structures in ice cream.
Fig. 5. LT-SEM images of ice cream after a conventional freezer (a) and the low temperature extruder (b). Ice crystals (i) and air cells (a) are surrounded by a
high concentrated matrix phase.
394 M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Ice cream manufacture
A pasteurized, homogenized and ripened standard vanilla
ice cream mix (8% milkfat, 10% milk solids nonfat, 18%
sugar and glucose) is frozen in a two stage process. The rst
stage is a conventional continuous ice creamFreezer (Techno-
hoy MF-100, alpha laval group, DK) with outlet temperatures
of about 5

C, the second a corotating twin screw low tem-

perature extruder (VKBX65-1000-F, Schr oder GmbH&Co.
KG, D-L ubeck) or for special investigations a single screw
low temperature extruder (VKX-60-400-F, Schr oder GmbH
& Co. KG, D-L ubeck). For both extruders screws with chan-
nel heights of 7 and 14 mm are available. In all cases the
overrun (see Eq. (1)) is set to 100% corresponding to 50%
(v/v) air while the main process parameters like volume ow
rate, cooling temperature of the extruder, screw rotational
speed and screw geometry are varied. After lling into cups
the samples are and stored for 2 weeks at 25

C.
2.2. Temperature measurements and sampling in
extruder screw channel
The rst step to approach the transient development of ice
cream structure in the screw channel of the twin screw ex-
truder is to measure the local temperatures. To do a special-
ized technique has been developed to withdraw the extruder
screws from the system. With an array of 10 Pt-100 elements
the local temperature is measured along the screw length and
samples are taken. The measured temperature has to be cor-
rected according to Wildmoser et al. [29] since the ice cream
is further cooled in the channel after process shutdown until
the screws can be pulled out and measurement is started. Ice
cream samples are taken at dened positions and are imme-
diately frozen in liquid nitrogen for LT-SEM studies.
2.3. Fat globule sizes
Fat globule size distributions are measured by laser
diffraction (Malvern Mastersizer X, Malvern Instruments,
UK). Both samples of mix and ice cream tempered to 5

C
are dissolved in demineralized water, stirred at a rate of
1900 1/min for 5 min to degas and break loose aggregates
and measured afterwards with a lens focus of 45 mm.
2.4. Air cell sizes
Air cell sizes are measured both by light microscopy fol-
lowing a method similar to Chang and Hartel [9] and by low
temperature (cryo) scanning electron microscopy (LT-SEM).
For the light microscope (Leica DM-IRB) images of thin lay-
ers of molten ice creamfoamare taken at 100magnication
applying a quite high contrast with a CCD Camera. The sec-
ond technique uses small samples which are shock frozen in
liquid nitrogen, freeze fractured, sputtered with a thin plat-
inum layer and then scanned in a LT-SEM (Hitachi S-900
FEG). The used method is adapted from Goff et al. [18] and
Schmidt and Buchheim [26]. In both cases the diameters can
be measured by image analysis and the size distributions are
calculated.
2.5. Oscillation thermo rheometry
Using the method developed by Wildmoser et al. [30]
oscillation thermo rheometry of ice cream is performed us-
ing a rotational rheometer with proled plate-plate geometry
(MCR 300, Physica Metechnik GmbH, D-Ostldern). The
temperature of both plates can be adjusted by Peltier ele-
ments and a movable hood and low gradients between upper
and lower plate can be achieved.
Using a cylindrical cutting tool samples of approximately
25 mm and a thickness just above 2 mm are cut from the core
of the ice cream cups at an ambient temperature of 20

C.
These are measured in a controlled shear deformation (CSD)
rheometer within 6 h after preparation. To do so a linear tem-
perature sweep from20 to 10

C is applied at a heating rate

of 0.5

C/min. During this a oscillation test at 1.6 Hz is per-

formed with a gap width of 2 mm and a constant deformation
of 0.02%.
The results of the coupledthermal andmechanical analysis
available through oscillation thermo rheometry (OTR) can be
correlated to microstructural and sensorial information. Fig. 6
shows the storage and loss moduli (G

and G

) measured in
an oscillation test with an increase of the temperature from
20to10

C. AccordingtoWildmoser et al. [30], Windmoser

and Windhab [32] the graph can be divided in three zones as
follows:
Zone 1: At low temperature (20 to 10

C) the mi-
crostructure of ice crystals is dominating. The storage
modulus G

, which describes the solid body like be-

Fig. 6. Measured storage (G

) and loss (G

) moduli of an ice cream sample

during thawing as a function of temperature. The levels of the plateaus in
the frozen and molten regime can be correlates to the consumer quality
characteristics of scoopability and creaminess.
M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399 395
haviour, decreases with the ice fraction. Whereas the
loss modulus G

shows a plateau, which describes the

viscous or ow behaviour. It can be correlated to the
rigidity and scoopability of the ice cream.
Zone 2: In the range from 10 to 0

C the ice fraction

is decreasing strongly. The steepness of the slope is
an indicator for the speed of ice crystal melting and
can thus be correlated to the sensory impression of
coldness.
Zone 3: At temperatures above 0

C both G

and G

show
a lower plateau. Since there are no ice crystals left
at these temperatures the foam structure formed by
the air at fat phases is dominant. The level of the
plateau can be correlated to the sensory sensation of
creaminess.
The correlation between higher values in the high temper-
ature range for the more stable ice cream foam are also in
good agreement with those reported by Granger et al. [19],
where a well structured stiff product was indicated by high
values of G

, which follows G

at these temperatures.
2.6. Meltdown behaviour
For the meltdown tests cylindrical ice cream samples of
approximately 150 g are tempered to 25

Cand then placed

on wire meshes at an ambient temperature of 25

C. The ice
cream starts to melt and looses its shape. To record the melt-
down the weight of the serum dripped through the mesh is
recorded over time. The shape is captured by photographic
images in intervals of 15 min.
3. Results: structural changes and resulting product
properties
3.1. Air cell structure development
As a rst step to access the changes of the air cell struc-
tures samples drawn after the conventional freezer and the
twin screw extrusion process are analyzed. As has been ex-
pected the resulting air cell size distributions (see Fig. 7)
show a signicant decrease of the sizes when processing the
ice cream with higher shear forces. The maximum air cell
diameter x
90,3
is lowered from 52 to 19 m and a narrower
distributions results.
The air cell dispersion is controlled by the ratio between
the owgenerates viscous forces. Therefore an increased ma-
trix viscosity should result in smaller air cells when applying
comparable shear rates. Ice cream viscosity is dominated by
the temperature in the region relevant for processing. Looking
at the extrusion systems the outlet temperatures correspond
to a quasi equilibrium between mechanical energy input and
heat withdrawal. Both parameters can be inuenced, the rst
by changing the coolant temperature, the second by changing
the screw rotational speed or by switching between single
and twin screw extruders. The heat transfer can further be
Fig. 7. Cumulative air cell size distribution of ice cream processed with the
conventional freezer and the low temperature ice cream extruder. The air
cells are signicantly smaller.
optimized with a lowered screw channel height, but this also
increases the mechanical energy input. These settings allow
to adjust a wide range of ice creamoutlet temperatures, which
correspond to the viscosities and therefore the intensity of the
mechanical treatment. As characteristic values of the result-
ing air cell sizes the maximumx
90,0
and median x
50,0
air cell
diameters are plotted in Fig. 8. Both values increase with the
outlet temperature.
These results are in good agreement with those gained by
Chang and Hartel [8] in a batch freezer and by Caillet et al.
[7] in a continuous system operated at relatively high outlet
temperatures between 5 and 0

C.
To further investigate the structure development by the
temperature its transient development along the screw chan-
nel is investigated. Asteady decrease of the local temperature
fromthe inlet to the die was measured in Fig. 9. As a reference
the extruder inlet and outlet temperatures are also plotted. The
differences between the directly measured temperatures and
the ones corrected by the further cooling are in a range of
0.81.7

C.
Fig. 8. Maximum and median air bubble diameters measured by LT-SEM
as a function of extruder outlet temperature T
out
and the extrusion system
(single screw (SS) and corotating twin screw (TS) extruder).
396 M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399
Fig. 9. Measured temperature prole along the extruder screw channel. Due
to further cooling before start of the measurement the temperatures have to
be corrected. Temperatures at the extruder inlet and outlet are provided as a
reference.
Corresponding to the temperature measurements the air
cell sizes were measured by LT-SEMfor samples taken along
the extruder screws. The resulting maximum air cell diame-
ters x
90,0
are plotted against the local temperatures in Fig. 10.
As a reference the sizes at the freezer and extruder inlet are
also given. In the transfer pipe from freezer to extruder re-
calescence of air bubbles occurs. Along the extrusion channel
the ice cream is cooled and the air cells are dispersed. After
one third of the total length the maximum size present at the
freezer outlet is reached again. Between the last measured
point at 950 mm and the extruder outlet a slight increase in
temperature is coupled with a further decrease of the x
90,0
due to the die ow of the extruder. Overall the maximum air
cell diameter is reduced by 50% using the low temperature
extruder in this case.
When comparing these values with the ones plotted in
Fig. 8 the trend observed for the x
90,0
values at the out-
let of the different extrusion systems is extended to higher
Fig. 10. Maximum air cell diameter x
90,0
measured by LT-SEM at positions
along the low temperature extruder screw channel. Numbers near the data
point indicate the position on the extruder screws in mm measured from
the inlet. The maximum diameters at conventional freezer outlet and after
the extruder die are also provided. Recoalescence occurs in the transfer pipe
between freezer and extruder, while the extrusion die has a downsizing effect.
Fig. 11. Fat aggregate size distribution of ice creamprocessed in the conven-
tional freezer (open symbols) and lowtemperature extruder. The higher shear
forces in the extruder destabilize the emulsion and induce agglomeration of
primary fat globules into aggregates.
temperatures by the values gained along the screw channel.
This further proofs the local viscosity described by the lo-
cal temperature to be the main factor inuencing the air cell
dispersion in low temperature extrusion systems.
3.2. Fat agglomeration
The shear forces in the lowtemperature ice creamextruder
induces aggregation of primary fat globules by displacing the
emulsier membrane. A comparison of the fat structures re-
sulting from the conventional freezer process and the extru-
sion is shown in Fig. 11. The median fat aggregate size is
higher for the extruded sample (x
50,3
= 2.3 m) compared
to the conventional technique (x
50,3
= 1.1 m), as well as
the maximum size x
90,3
= 13.3 m compared to 11.0 m.
Aggregates exceeding a critical size of 3040 m are unde-
sirable, because they would result in a buttery mouthfeel.
Following Goff and Spagnuolo [17] the degree of aggre-
gation can more exactly be estimated by the volume fraction
of the primary particles, which is given by
V
primary
V
total
= Q
3
(x
limit
) =

x
limit
x
min
q
3
(x) dx (2)
while the limit between primary particles and aggregates
can be set to x
limit
= 2.5 m corresponding to the maximum
globule diameter measured in the homogenized premix. The
amount of primary fat globules is reduced from 66 to 57%
when switching fromthe conventional freezer to the lowtem-
perature extrusion.
3.3. Consequences for product quality
The impact of the changes in foamstructure on the macro-
scopic properties, i.e. consumer quality, can best be observed
during thawing of the ice cream. With rising temperatures
ice crystals are melting, the high concentrated matrix phase
M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399 397
Fig. 12. Loss modulus of ice cream produced from standard vanilla premix
as a function of temperature. Samples processed in a conventional freezer
and the low temperature extruder are shown.
Fig. 13. Fat aggregate sizes in dripped serum and ice cream residue on the
mesh after a melt down test.
is locally diluted with water and its viscosity lowers. This
process can be observed regarding two different aspects. The
rheological properties are investigated by oscillation thermo
rheometry (OTR), while drainage and shape retention are
monitored by a meltdown test.
The rheological properties of freezered and low tempera-
ture extruded samples are depicted as values of the loss modu-
lus G

in Fig. 12, which indicates the viscous characteristics.

The curves show two distinct plateaus, one in the frozen re-
gion below 10

C and a second one in the molten regime

above 0

C. As shown by Wildmoser et al. [30] the level of

these plateaus can be correlated to the scoopability in the
frozen ice crystal dominated regime (20 to 10

C) and
creaminess in the molten foam dominated regime (010

C)
of the ice cream. The values at the low temperature plateau
indicating the stiffness of the product are higher by a fac-
tor of 4 for the conventional processed sample indicating a
worse scoopability. The molten ice creamfoamshows higher
plateau values by a factor of 2 for the low temperature ex-
truded ice cream indicating a signicant better creaminess,
which is mainly caused by the smaller dispersed air cells.
Since during storage of the ice cream Ostwald ripening
also occurs for the air bubbles and is faster when starting from
smaller particles with higher surface area the advantage of
the low temperature extrusion compared to the conventional
freezing process will shrink with storage time. But still the
time till a critical size is reached is longer, as was shown by
Frazeur and Harrington [14,15], Eisner et al. [13] and various
others at accelerated storage conditions.
A more phenomenologic orientated approach investigates
drainage and shape during thawing of an ice creamblock. The
local lowered viscosity of the matrix phase due to ice crystal
melting induces drainage effects. This liquid ows through
the fat network in the lamellas between the air cells and -
nally drips through the mesh on which the ice cream sample
is placed. Networking of the larger aggregates forms a steric
hindrance for serum drainage as reported by Koxholt et al.
[24], Hartel et al. [22]. Smaller dispersed air cells result in
thinner lamellas and therefore also slower draining. Since the
fat aggregates are bound within the ice cream structure the
drained serum contains only the small primary fat globules
which are able to owthrough the holes in the network, as de-
picted in Fig. 13. After longer times drainage rates slowdown
because once all the ice is molten the low viscous regions of
Fig. 14. Shape of ice cream samples during the melting test at start, after 10 and 20% weight loss.
398 M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399
the matrix phase have already drained while the rest is not
diluted any more. Additionally the surface starts drying and
thus prevents further serum loss by forming a skin. The long
term result is a relatively dry, viscous and quite stable foam.
Signicant lower drainage speeds by using low temper-
ature extrusion have been reported by Bolliger et al. [4]
for recipes containing very few or no emulsiers. Here the
fat content in the drained serum was reduced compared to
the conventional process indicating more fat globules being
bound in the networked aggregates. The same differences in
drainage speed were observed with the samples used here
(not shown).
Concluding from these considerations a foam with a well
pronounced fat aggregate network in the lamellas between
small air cells should also be stable even after a signicant
amount of serum has drained. An illustration proong this
is given in Fig. 14, where images of samples from the two
different processes at relative weight losses
m
m
0
of 0, 10 and
20%are plotted. Amuchbetter shape retentionis observedfor
the lowtemperature extruded samples. Of course these effects
cannot only be attributed to the smaller air cells, also the fat
structures play a mayor role, especially for the shape stability.
The fat aggregate size distributions of the two samples are
shown in Fig. 11.
4. Summary
The viscosity of the frozen ice cream is mainly inuenced
by its temperature. Since the air cell dispersion is controlled
by the ratio of disruption and coalescence a higher viscosity
leads to smaller air cells. As shown in this contribution, the
low temperature extruder outlet temperature can be used as a
control parameter for the maximumair bubble diameter x
90,0
mostly independent of the extrusion systemor screwchannel
height.
A specialized technique additionally allows measure-
ments on the ice cream in the extrusion channel and pro-
vides information on the transient microstructure develop-
ment. The air cell sizes measured in these cases extend the
trend observed for the outlet temperature and underline the
importance of the local viscosity for the air bubble breakup.
The air cell structure has proven to be one of the main
factors inuencing melting rate, shape retention during melt-
downandthe rheological properties inthe moltenstate, which
are correlated to creaminess. Smaller air cells improve the
product quality regarding these three indicators. These can
be efciently achieved by coupling a low temperature ex-
truder as a second stage after a conventional ice creamfreezer.
This system also improves fat agglomeration which further
enhances foam stability and reduced the ice crystal sizes.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the numerous students
involved in the experiments, Dr. Peter Fischer and Verena
Schadler for their fruitful input as well as Dr. Rok Gunde and
the Electron Microspy Center (EMEZ) of ETH Z urich who
made the LT-SEMstudies possible. This work was supported
by ETH Z urich, AiF, FEI, Midor AG, Danisco, Gerstenberg
Schr oder and Dreyers Inc.
References
[1] S. Adapa, K.A. Schmidt, I.J. Jeon, et al., Mechanisms of ice crystal-
lization and recrystallization in ice cream: a review, Food Rev. Int. 16
(3) (2000) 259271.
[2] K.G. Berger, B.K. Bullimor, G.W. White, W.B. Wright, The structure
of ice-cream Part 2, Dairy Ind. 37 (9) (1972) 493497.
[3] K.G. Berger, B.K. Bullimore, W.B. Wright, G.W. White, The structure
of ice-cream Part 1, Dairy Ind. 37 (8) (1972) 419425.
[4] S. Bolliger, B. Kornbrust, H.D. Goff, et al., Inuence of emulsiers
on ice cream produced by conventional freezing and low-temperature
extrusion processing, Int. Dairy J. 10 (7) (2000) 497504.
[5] S. Bolliger, H. Wildmoser, H.D. Goff, B.W. Tharp, Relationships be-
tween ice creammix viscoelasticity and ice crystal growth in ice cream,
Int. Dairy J. 10 (11) (2000) 791797.
[6] B.E. Brooker, The stabilization of air in foods containing fat a review,
Food Struct. 12 (1) (1993) 115122.
[7] A. Caillet, C. Cogne, J. Andrieu, et al., Characterization of ice cream
structure by direct optical microscopy. Inuence of freezing parame-
ters, Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft Und-TechnologieFood Sci. Technol.
36 (8) (2003) 743749.
[8] Y. Chang, R.W. Hartel, Development of air cells in a batch ice cream
freezer, J. Food Eng. 55 (1) (2002) 7178.
[9] Y. Chang, R.W. Hartel, Measurement of air cell distributions in dairy
foams, Int. Dairy J. 12 (5) (2002) 463472.
[10] Y. Chang, R.W. Hartel, Stability of air cells in ice cream during hard-
ening and storage, J. Food Eng. 55 (1) (2002) 5970.
[11] D.P. Donhowe, R.W. Hartel, Recrystallizationof ice duringbulkstorage
of ice cream, Int. Dairy J. 6 (11/12) (1996) 12091221.
[12] D.P. Donhowe, R.W. Hartel, Recrystallization of ice in ice creamduring
controlled accelerated storage, Int. Dairy J. 6 (11/12) (1996) 1191
1208.
[13] M.D. Eisner, H. Wildmoser, E.J. Windhab, Der Struktur auf der Spur,
S usswaren (1/2) (2004) 1013.
[14] D.R. Frazeur, R.B. Harrington, Low temperature and conventionally
frozen ice cream. 1. Effect of storage conditions and heat shocks on
body and texture, Food Technol. 22 (7) (1968) 910912.
[15] D.R. Frazeur, R.B. Harrington, Low temperature and conventionally
frozen ice cream. 2. Interrelationships associated with selected factors
affecting body and texture, Food Technol. 22 (7) (1968) 912914.
[16] H.D. Goff, Colloidal aspects of ice cream a review, Int. Dairy J. 7
(6/7) (1997) 363373.
[17] H.D. Goff, P. Spagnuolo, Effect of stabilizers on fat destabilization
measurements in ice cream, Milchwissenschaft-Milk Sci. Int. 56 (8)
(2001) 450453.
[18] H.D. Goff, E. Verespej, A.K. Smith, A study of fat and air structures
in ice cream, Int. Dairy J. 9 (11) (1999) 817829.
[19] C. Granger, V. Langendorff, N. Renouf, et al., Short communication:
impact of formulation on ice cream microstructures: an oscillation
thermo-rheometry study, J. Dairy Sci. 87 (4) (2004) 810812.
[20] W. Hanselmann, E. Windhab, Flow characteristics and modelling of
foam generation in a continuous rotor/stator mixer, J. Food Eng. 38 (4)
(1998) 393405.
[21] R.W. Hartel, Ice crystallization during the manufacture of ice cream,
Trends Food Sci. Technol. 7 (10) (1996) 315321.
[22] R.W. Hartel, M.R. Muse, R. Sofjan, Effects of structural attributes
on hardness and melting rate of ice cream, in: H.D. Goff, B. Tharp
(Eds.), Ice Cream II Second IDF International Symposium on Ice
M.D. Eisner / Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochem. Eng. Aspects 263 (2005) 390399 399
Cream, Special Issue 0401, International Dairy Federation, Brussels,
Thessaloniki, Greece, 2004, pp. 124139.
[23] S. Kokubo, K. Sakurai, S. Iwaki, et al., Agglomeration of fat
globules during the freezing process of ice cream manufacturing,
Milchwissenschaft-Milk Sci. Int. 53 (4) (1998) 206209.
[24] M.M.R. Koxholt, B. Eisenmann, J. Hinrichs, Effect of the fat globule
sizes on the meltdown of ice cream, J. Dairy Sci. 84 (1) (2001) 3137.
[25] R.T. Marshall, H.D. Goff, R.W. Hartel, Ice Cream, 6th ed., Kluwer
Academic Publishers/Plenum Press, New York, 2003.
[26] D.G. Schmidt, W. Buchheim, The application of electron-microscopy
in dairy research, J. Microscopy-Oxford 167 (1992) 105121.
[27] R.P. Sofjan, R.W. Hartel, Effects of overrun on structural and physical
characteristics of ice cream, Int. Dairy J. 14 (3) (2004) 255262.
[28] C. Trgo, M. Koxholt, H.G. Kessler, Effect of freezing point and texture
regulating parameters on the initial ice crystal growth in ice cream, J.
Dairy Sci. 82 (3) (1999) 460465.
[29] H. Wildmoser, M.D. Eisner, E.J. Windhab, Transient development of
ice creammicrostructure in lowtemperature extrusion, Eur. Dairy Mag.
14 (4) (2004) 2023.
[30] H. Wildmoser, J. Scheiwiller, E.J. Windhab, Impact of disperse
microstructure on rheology and quality aspects of ice cream,
Lebensmittel-Wissenschaft und-Technol. 37 (8) (2004) 881891.
[31] H. Wildmoser, E. Windhab, Impact of ow geometry and processing
parameters in ultra low temperature ice-cream extrusion (ULTICE) on
ice cream microstructure, Eur. Dairy Mag. 5 (2001) 2631.
[32] H. Wildmoser, E.J. Windhab, Impact of mechanical treatment of ice
cream at ultra low temperature on scoopability, melting behaviour and
creaminess, in: H.D. Goff, B. Tharp (Eds.), Ice Cream II Second
IDF International Symposiumon Ice Cream, Special Issue 0401, Inter-
national Dairy Federation, Brussels, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2004, pp.
159177.
[33] E. Windhab, S. Bolliger, Combined aerator/freezer for ice cream man-
ufacture, Eur. Dairy Mag. 1 (1995) 2834.
[34] E.J. Windhab, U. Fels, R. Hoffmann, et al., Einrichtung zum K uhlen
von Fluiden und essbaren Sch aumen, Patent EP 0 561 118 B1 (17
September 1997).
[35] E.J. Windhab, H. Wildmoser, Extrusion: a novel technology for the
manufacture of ice cream, Bull. IDF 374 (2002) 4349.