One of the many reasons that ice cream is so delicious is that it has a great mouth feel when being eaten. This is achieved partly because of the air (also known as overrun) that’s taken up by the mix when the ice cream is being churned. The process is similar to whipping egg whites or cream. You can also see air in ice cream from the ridges when the ice cream is scooped. The more ridges, the more air. Also, the more air, the less calories for the same volume of ice cream – although this data isn’t provided on packs.
The amount of air in ice cream has six important impacts which are explained in detail in the table below. The table shows that the more air, the easier it is to scoop, slower to melt, less calories and less cost but often has less flavour. In contrast, the less air, the harder the ice cream may be to scoop, faster melting rate, more calories for the same volume, better flavour and higher cost.
So if it’s flavour you are looking for, you are more likely to find it in a product with less air. That is one of the reasons that Elato has great flavour – less air!