Ice cream, emulsions, and chemistry

As I was eating this delicious vegan matcha powder, peach jam, and coconut milk ice cream. I had a moment, where I thought to myself, this is a cool subject to write about. It would be interesting to research more about the science behind ice cream. By the way, if anyone lives in Seattle, and wants to try an ice cream shop. I would recommend Molly Moon. They have great flavors! I always get confused when I enter this ice cream shop.

On that note, let us delve into the chemistry behind all the ingredients in the ice cream. To learn more about the chemistry behind ice cream, we need to start to explain about dispersions first.

The Maillard Reaction

Image by Public Domain Pictures

“For British food scientists, toast color is no longer a matter of personal preference—it’s a matter of health.” 

The smell of fresh bread, or cooked crispy meat. Makes you wonder how does that happen? Each food product you cook with in the kitchen has two ingredients, proteins (amino acid) and sugars (reducing sugars) that lead to a reaction, which creates flavors and aroma. The most important in the reaction is heat. To start the reaction, the temperature needs to be above 300F to evaporate the protein on the surface of the product. This is an important first step because there are no enzymes that assist in the reaction. This process is called the Maillard reaction.