What is ice cream overrun?

What is ice cream overrun?

Overrun

Overrun is a fantastic way to increase the profitability of your mix. When you purchase ice cream in the store, you will sometimes be surprised at the lightness of a carton. That is because commercial ice cream is mixed with up to 100% overrun (air), doubling the liquid volume. Depending on which machine, type of product, and mix you decide to go with we can help you achieve up to those levels of overrun.

What is overrun?

Overrun is the process of adding air to your ice cream mix. Soft-serve is usually served at between 17°F - 19°F, with 0% overrun soft serve will look like pudding. It will be wet, not fully frozen and you will think there is a problem with your ice cream machine. On the other hand, if you have too much overrun for your mix, the machine might pop when you serve a cone, or the texture will be stiff and flat as a stiff marshmallow. When the overrun is too high, you will lose much of the flavor of your mix. Finding the perfect balance is the way to ensure optimal creaminess, texture, and flavor.

What has overrun?
Italian Ice, Sorbetto and the like will have 0% overrun. When you are making these products it might seem like you are getting more out of the machine than what you started with however, this is just due to expansion from the water freezing. Generally, and I say generally because different machines can vary however, the higher butterfat in your base, the higher overrun can be achieved. 5% - 10% Soft serve can run-up in the 50% range with the proper machine and traditional American ice cream can be 80% - 100% overrun.

Machines and overrun

On home machines and single speed batch freezers, you will have very little variability so however much air the machine inserts will be what the overrun is. You can run the augur for a minute or so before freezing to help insert and whip a little more air into the product. Just don't run it too long or you risk the chance of "buttering out" the product or actually churning butter flakes into your ice cream. Pump Machines, like the Electro Freeze GES-5400 are the best choice for controlling overrun in soft serve because the pump actually forces air into the mix and there is a wide variety of very affordable air meters to find the proper adjustment. Our newly introduced batch freezer the B12V has a variable speed beater to whip low overrun for products like gelato, or higher overrun for products like American ice cream.

 

 

B12V

 GES 5400
This large-capacity batch freezer produces the highest quality ice cream, gelato, sorbet, Italian ice, or sherbets. Mechanically simple and exceptionally dependable, this machine is perfect for gelato, custard, and water ice shops. This extreme-volume 2-flavor soft serve freezer is perfect for serving lots of product in a short amount of time! Features the GES-5400 Genesis Series with the Virtual Quality Management System to streamline your business. Includes a front-loading refrigerated cabinet with a high-speed pump.
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