How come ice cream is soft when frozen but after you melt it and freeze it, it becomes ice.
In: 63
The term the others seem to have been unable to grasp so far is called *overrun*, the amount of air folded into the ice cream during the manufacturing process. The more overrun, the softer the ice cream is (e.g. soft serve ice cream). The ice cream you buy in stores also have some overrun, and when that ice cream melts and refreezes, that overrun is gone. That I would say is the main cause of refrozen ice cream being harder; the “longer ice crystals” thing may play a role, but not as much as the air.
Had a close friend work at Coldstone Creamery (a boutique ice cream shop at some shopping centers; customers can order ice cream and select the “mix-ins” like cookie dough or chocolate chips or whatnot, that the worker will then knead into the ice cream using tools on a, well, cold stone platform to keep the ice cream frozen). They would make the ice cream themselves. I’d usually pick her up after work and take her home, which often meant being around and in the back of the store shortly before and after closing time, if she was closing. I’d usually come home smelling like waffle cones.
Latest Answers