Soft serve
Encyclopedia
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
and that has been sold commecially since the late 1930s.
History
Over Memorial Day weekend of 1934, Tom Carvel, the founder of the Carvel brand and franchise, suffered a flat tire in his ice cream truck in Hartsdale, New York--so he pulled into a parking lot next to a pottery store and began selling his melting ice cream to vacationers driving by. When (within two days) he had sold his entire supply of ice cream, he concluded that both a fixed location and soft (as opposed to hard) frozen desserts were potentially good business ideas. In 1936, Carvel opens first store on same site as broken down truck and develops a secret soft serve ice cream formula as well as patented super low temperature ice cream machines. .Dairy Queen also claims to have invented soft serve. In 1938, near Moline, Illinois, J.F. McCullough and his son, Alex, developed their soft serve formula. Their first sales experiment was August 4, 1938, in Kankakee, Illinois at the store of their friend Herb Noble. They sold 1,600 servings in two hours.
Characteristics
Soft serve is generally lower in milk-fat (3% to 6%) than ice creamIce cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
(10% to 18%) and is produced at a temperature of about −4 °C compared to ice cream, which is stored
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
at −15 °C. Soft serve contains air, introduced at the time of freezing. The air content, called overrun, can vary from 0% to 60% of the total volume of finished product. The amount of air alters the taste of the finished product. Product with low quantities of air has a heavy, icy taste and appears more yellow. Product with higher air content tastes creamier, smoother and lighter and appears whiter. The optimum quantity of air is determined by the other ingredients and individual taste. It is generally accepted that the ideal air content should be between 33% and 45% of volume. More than this and the product loses taste, tends to shrink as it loses air and melts more quickly than that with less air.
All ice cream including soft serve must be frozen quickly to avoid crystallization. With soft serve, this is accomplished by a special machine at the point of sale
Point of sale
Point of sale or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs...
. Pre-mixed product is introduced to the storage chamber of the machine where it is kept at 3 °C. When product is drawn from the draw valve, fresh mix combined with the targeted quantity of air is introduced to the freezing chamber either by gravity or pump. It is then churned and quick frozen and stored until required. It is usually served by being pumped out of a soft serve machine in circular swirls rather than served in scoops.
Terminology
- American Ice cream ( glida america'it) is the term used for soft-serve in Israel.
- Creemee: A term used in Vermont. Has a much creamier consistency than the common soft serve.
- Pick Light (Pagoto Mechanis) is the term used for soft-serve in GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. - Soft ice cream is the term used for soft-serve in China. & are also existing terms in Chinese. is used to describe an analogous product in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, that can be either savory or sweet, with uniquely AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n flavors such as powdered tea, wasabiWasabi, also known as Japanese horseradish, is a member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish, and mustard. Its root is used as a condiment and has an extremely strong flavor. Its hotness is more akin to that of a hot mustard rather than the capsaicin in a chili pepper,...
, sesameSesameSesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods....
, umeUmePrunus mume, with the common names including Chinese plum and Japanese apricot, is an Asian tree species classified in the Armeniaca section of the genus Prunus. The flower, long a beloved subject in the traditional painting of East Asia, is usually translated as plum blossom. This distinct tree...
or plumPlumA plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and solitary side buds , the flowers in groups of one to five together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one...
, roseRoseA rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
, kabochaKabochaKabocha is a Japanese variety of winter squash. The word kabocha has come to mean a general type of winter squash to many English-speaking growers and buyers. In some cultures it is revered as an aphrodisiac....
or Japanese pumpkin, peachPeachThe peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...
, and grapeGrapeA grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
, among others. - Soft ice (Softis(Norway) Softeis(germany)) is the term used for soft-serve in NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and other places in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. - Soft Ice Cream is used by Canada's Twirlees ice cream to describe their product line. Due to Twirlees producing a real 10% milkfat soft ice cream, they use "ice cream" rather than "soft serve". In Canada, you can't legally use the term "ice cream" if there's less than 10% milkfat in the product.
- Soft ice cream (Mjukglass) is the term used for soft-serve in SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Vendors
- Carvel
- Dairy QueenDairy QueenDairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...
- Fosters FreezeFosters FreezeFosters Freeze is a chain of fast-food restaurants in California. It was founded by George Foster in 1946 on La Brea Avenue in Inglewood, California, a location that still remains, and claims to have been the first fast-food chain in the state.George Foster later sold the Foster's Freeze franchise...
- Mister SofteeMister SofteeMister Softee is a United States-based ice cream truck franchisor popular in the Northeast. It was founded by William and James Conway in 1956 in Philadelphia. It is one of the largest franchisors of soft ice cream in the United States. It has about 350 franchisees operating 600 trucks in 15...
- Twirlees Ice Cream
See also
- Frozen custardFrozen custardFrozen custard is a cold dessert similar to ice cream, made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar.In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration requires products marketed as frozen custard to contain at least 10 percent milkfat and 1.4 percent egg yolk solids. If it has fewer egg yolk...
- Frozen yogurtFrozen yogurtFrozen yogurt is a frozen dessert containing yogurt or other dairy products. It is slightly more tart than ice cream, as well as lower in fat...
- Ice cream vanIce cream vanAn ice cream van or ice cream truck is a commercial vehicle which serves as a travelling retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near parks, beaches, or other areas where people congregate...
- Ice milkIce milkIce milk or iced milk is a frozen dessert with less than 10 percent milkfat and the same sweetener content as ice cream. Ice milk is typically priced lower than ice cream, which is unusual because it actually is ice cream, and is typically sold as a generic product.A 1994 change in United States...
- Tasti D-LiteTasti D-LiteTasti D-Lite started as a New York-based company best known for its signature product, a frozen dessert comparable to, but marketed as a healthier alternative to soft serve ice cream. The company operates a system of franchise chain stores from which its products are sold in trademark blue paper cups...