How to Properly Store and Handle Ice Cream
Want to hear a little secret? Americans love ice cream, all year round. In fact, a whopping 87% of Americans have ice cream in their freezer at any given time. We eat ice cream on cones, in milkshakes, in disposable ice cream cups, and even spooned straight from the carton.
But despite the joys of eating ice cream, some people think that they cannot enjoy ice cream just because we’re in winter’s icy grip. Lucky for you, this is untrue! Unfortunately, you might still have some old ice cream expiring away in your freezer. That’s why it’s important to make sure your ice cream is handled and stored properly.
So whether you make your own frozen treats and store them in your own ice cream cups or keep bulk amounts of ice cream in your restaurant freezer, here are some tips to keep in mind for storing ice cream properly. Follow this advice, and you’ll always be ready to enjoy your favorite frozen treats.
How To Store Ice Cream:
Keep the ice cream at the right temperature
While it may seem obvious, it is important to keep your ice cream at the right temperature not just for it to stay creamy and delicious, but for it to stay safe for consumption. Ice cream contains a lot of milk, like all dairy products, it should be treated carefully. Make sure to never expose your ice cream for a long amount of time to temperatures higher than 10 degrees Fahrenheit, otherwise you will experience changes in flavor and/ or texture (not to mention safety).
Learn about your freezer
This goes with both buying and storing your ice cream! If you are buying it at the store, check the temperature of your grocer’s freezer case. The temperature should never be above 20 degrees Fahrenheit. If you can’t find the temperature, feel the ice cream; if it was stored properly, it will be frozen solid and hard to the touch.
But once you get home, the proper temperature for storage changes just a little bit. In general, shoot for setting your freezer at -5 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tips for Handling Ice Cream Like a Pro:
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To handle ice cream best, you have to make sure you have quality ingredients! It takes 5.8 gallons of whole milk and one pound of cream to make one gallon of ice cream.
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Need the perfect scoop? The perfect temperature for scooping ice cream is between 6 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit. But just make sure not to keep it at this temperature for too long or it will melt!
Now you know these important storage and handling details, go and enjoy your ice cream sundae!