Wednesday, November 8, 2017
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All ice cream has air in it, although premium brands such as Ben & Jerry and Haagen-Dazs have less air. Since ice cream melts very easily, and since most supermarkets do not handle frozen foods carefully, shoppers face a 50-50 chance that the ice cream they buy has been partially thawed and then refrozen. (Actually, in my experience, about 75% of ice cream has been partially thawed.) There is a way to tell, however.
When you are buying ice cream in cardboard cartons with lids, or in square cartons, press both the top and bottom of the carton with your thumb. If there are any soft spots (which indicate pockets of air), then you know that the ice cream has been partially thawed and refrozen. When ice cream melts, the air escapes from it, and pockets of air form at the top of the carton. (If the ice cream melted while it was upside down, as it may when it is in a larger box, then the pocket of air will be on the bottom.) Don't, of course, press so hard that you push your thumb through the cardboard. Just press hard enough -- in several places, both top and bottom -- to ascertain that the ice cream hasn't shrunk within the carton.
Some cartons of ice cream will be packed in such a way that a small air pocket is left around the rim of the lid. If there is a thin pocket of air around the rim and no place else, it's likely that the ice cream hasn't thawed. Similarly, cartons are filled by machine, and occasionally an air pocket will form on the bottom of a carton when it's being filled. In such cases, there should be only one pocket of air, it should be small, and it will be along the edge. In such cases, the ice cream probably hasn't been thawed. It all depends on whether the air pockets are large or small.
Important: There are a few brands, such as Gifford ice cream, which do not fill their cartons all the way to the top. With those brands, the top of the carton will always be soft, and you can't really tell whether the ice cream has melted at any point.
Thawing and refreezing of ice cream can happen both when it is being shipped and when it is sitting in a freezer case. Many commercial freezer cases have aggressive defrost cycles, and the temperature inside a freezer can get so warm that all the frozen goods within it will become soft and partially thawed. That may not affect vegetables much, but it can ruin ice cream. Thus, a carton of ice cream which was fully frozen when it was put into a commercial freezer case may be partially thawed and refrozen a couple weeks later.
Modern ice creams are made to avoid the formation of ice crystals as they re-freeze. In decades past, the thawing-freezing cycle that freezers use to control frost had the potential to ruin the ice cream altogether. Now, it just makes it taste less fresh. Even so, I don't buy ice cream unless it passes my "press" test. If the entire top of a carton of ice cream is hollow, you should definitely not buy that carton.
When you are buying ice cream in cardboard cartons with lids, or in square cartons, press both the top and bottom of the carton with your thumb. If there are any soft spots (which indicate pockets of air), then you know that the ice cream has been partially thawed and refrozen. When ice cream melts, the air escapes from it, and pockets of air form at the top of the carton. (If the ice cream melted while it was upside down, as it may when it is in a larger box, then the pocket of air will be on the bottom.) Don't, of course, press so hard that you push your thumb through the cardboard. Just press hard enough -- in several places, both top and bottom -- to ascertain that the ice cream hasn't shrunk within the carton.
Some cartons of ice cream will be packed in such a way that a small air pocket is left around the rim of the lid. If there is a thin pocket of air around the rim and no place else, it's likely that the ice cream hasn't thawed. Similarly, cartons are filled by machine, and occasionally an air pocket will form on the bottom of a carton when it's being filled. In such cases, there should be only one pocket of air, it should be small, and it will be along the edge. In such cases, the ice cream probably hasn't been thawed. It all depends on whether the air pockets are large or small.
Important: There are a few brands, such as Gifford ice cream, which do not fill their cartons all the way to the top. With those brands, the top of the carton will always be soft, and you can't really tell whether the ice cream has melted at any point.
Thawing and refreezing of ice cream can happen both when it is being shipped and when it is sitting in a freezer case. Many commercial freezer cases have aggressive defrost cycles, and the temperature inside a freezer can get so warm that all the frozen goods within it will become soft and partially thawed. That may not affect vegetables much, but it can ruin ice cream. Thus, a carton of ice cream which was fully frozen when it was put into a commercial freezer case may be partially thawed and refrozen a couple weeks later.
Modern ice creams are made to avoid the formation of ice crystals as they re-freeze. In decades past, the thawing-freezing cycle that freezers use to control frost had the potential to ruin the ice cream altogether. Now, it just makes it taste less fresh. Even so, I don't buy ice cream unless it passes my "press" test. If the entire top of a carton of ice cream is hollow, you should definitely not buy that carton.
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