combination that makes a very smooth —
and initially very cold! — ice cream.
Hardening Hardening is the last stage in
making ice cream. When the mix becomes
thick and difficult to stir, only about half of
its water has frozen into ice crystals.
Agitation is then stopped, and the ice cream is
finished with a period of quiescent freezing,
during which another 40% of its water
migrates onto existing ice crystals, leaving the
various solid components less lubricated. If
hardening is slow, some ice crystals take up
more water than others and coarsen the
texture. Hardening can be accelerated by
dividing the newly frozen ice cream into
several small containers whose greater surface
area will release heat faster than one large
container.
Storing and Serving Ice Cream Ice cream is
best stored as cold as possible, at 0ºF/–18ºC or
below, to preserve its smoothness. The