Aging process in the production of ice cream

What is ice cream aging process? What's the function of aging process? How long does aging process take? What equipments are needed? What are aging tanks and aging equipment used for?

The aging process in the production of ice cream refers to rapidly cooling the sterilized and homogenized ice cream material liquid to 2-4°C (rapid cooling can avoid bacterial regeneration), keeping it at a low temperature for a certain period of time, and performing physical aging.  The purpose is to fully swell, hydrate, increase viscosity of materials such as protein, fat coagulum and stabilizers, and improve the tissue state of ice cream, thereby improving the texture and taste of ice cream. This process needs to go through the aging tank with the assistance of chiller water (generally 2°C), and it will keep for about 1.5 hours to several hours, usually calculated on the basis of 4 hours (the aging time is usually related to the product formula requirements, feed temperature, cooling time and other factors).

Through aging process, the viscosity and stability of the ice cream material liquid can be further improved, the precipitation of free water or the floating of fat in the material liquid can be prevented, and the freezing time can be shortened. Aging process can fully swell and hydrate materials such as protein, fat coagulum, and stabilizers, and increase viscosity, which is conducive to increasing the overrun when freezing and expanding, and improving the structural state of ice cream.