Friday, May 31
A Giant Unseen Planet is Hiding
Our Solar System is a pretty busy place. There are millions of objects moving around – everything from planets, to moons, to comets, and asteroids. And each year we're discovering more and more objects (usually small asteroids or speedy comets) that call the Solar System home.
Astronomers had found all eight of the main planets by 1846. But that doesn't stop us from looking for more. In the past 100 years, we've found smaller distant bodies we call dwarf planets, which is what we now classify Pluto as.
The discovery of some of these dwarf planets has given us reason to believe something else might be lurking in the outskirts of the Solar System. READ MORE...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> All charges dropped against world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, including felony assault of a police officer and three misdemeanors; Scheffler was arrested May 17 outside PGA Championship venue (More) | See footage of the arrest (More)
> Harvey Weinstein may face new indictment as prosecutors say more accusers may testify in Weinstein's retrial; a New York appeals court overturned his 2020 rape conviction last month (More)
> The 2024 Women's College World Series kicks off today from Oklahoma City; see previews for all eight teams in the field (More) | Minnesota beats Boston 3-0 to win Professional Women’s Hockey League's inaugural Walter Cup (More)
Science & Technology
> New "smart" antibiotic targets a group of gram-negative bacteria—those most likely to turn into drug-resistant superbugs—without affecting the microbiome (More) | Trillions of organisms live in your gut; learn about the gut microbiome (More, w/video)
> First menstrual cycles in US-born girls shifted from 12.5 years to 11.9 years in a comparison of those born from 1950-69 and 2000-05; childhood obesity may be a partial driver of overall trend, effect more pronounced in minority adolescents (More)
> Precision Neuroscience sets record for largest number of pins on a neural interface chip to be implanted in a human brain with 4,096 connections (More) | Researchers demonstrate transparent skull implant allowing direct imaging of patient's brain (More)
Business & Markets
> Markets close down (Dow -1.1%, S&P 500 -0.7%, Nasdaq -0.6%); Dow falls more than 400 points, with shares of UnitedHealth falling more than 3% (More) | Salesforce shares drop 17% after missing revenue estimates (More)
> Oil giant ConocoPhillips to acquire rival Marathon Oil in $17.1B all-stock deal; bid, the latest in a string of energy industry consolidations, must be approved by Marathon shareholders (More)
> Carmaker Stellantis says it plans to introduce a $25K fully electric jeep in the US market in the near future; current average sticker price of an electric vehicle is above $55K (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Jury to begin second day of deliberations as former President Donald Trump faces 34 counts related to allegations of hush-money payments (More) | Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito tells House Democrats he will not recuse himself from two Trump-related cases (More)
> Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signs laws barring people from helping minors get an abortion or receive gender-related medical care without parental consent; those who violate the laws face an almost one-year prison sentence (More)
> Israel expects war in Gaza to last until at least the end of 2024 (More) | Israeli military says it captured entirety of the buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, uncovering 20 previously unknown tunnels (More) | See updates on the war (More)
Born Liars
We may not like to hear this, but most Americans, if not all, are born liars...
Let that sink in for a minute... then think about this:
- What do we tell our children about Santa Claus?
- What do we tell our children about the Easter Bunny?
- What do we tell our children about the Tooth Fairy?
- We keep other secrets from our children because we do not think they are old enough to know the truth.
- We withhold information from our spouses for a variety of reasons but never really ask ourselves why we do this.
- We lie to our subordinates at work about future plans that the company may have.
- We lie to ourselves when we intentionally break the speed limit or keep data off our IRS taxes.
Legalizing Human Composting by 2027
California has already voted to legalize the composting of human remains in 2027, but some residents are not willing to wait that long.
The Los Angeles Times wrote about California resident Blaire Van Valkenburgh being one of a growing number of residents composting the remains of their loved ones, "But this kind of burial — natural organic reduction — won’t be legal in California until 2027, so Van Valkenburgh paid to fly her husband’s body to Washington, the first state to legalize human composting in 2020."
Until 2027, it appears that there will be a budding industry of collaboration to facilitate compost burials for those who live in California. "[I]n the first of what will probably be other such collaborations, the family-owned Clarity Funerals and Cremation in Anaheim has partnered with Return Home to offer a package deal for people in Southern California who want to compost their loved ones in Washington," the LA Times wrote. READ MORE...
Thursday, May 30
How to Make the Perfect Pancake
GEMMA'S BIGGER BOLDER BAKING
I have tried every recipe under the sun for American-style pancakes and hands down this is the best recipe I have. To say that it’s tried and tested is an understatement. I used to have a breakfast catering business in San Francisco where I would create elaborate, over-the-top breakfasts (sound familiar?).
The Road To The Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes From Scratch
I had never made buttermilk pancakes before, but I was determined to master the Perfect Buttermilk Pancake Recipe because I wanted to make those thick stacks of fluffy, light pancakes that you got in diners. I was convinced that everyone was using a boxed pancake mix and that’s how they got perfect pancakes every time. I am actually pretty sure most diners do use a box mix, however — that’s not for me.
God bless the poor guinea pigs I catered for because regardless of the result they ate them. But without my hungry audience and the demand for “bigger and bolder” breakfasts, I never would have created Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Churro Waffles, and Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.
Where it all started, though, was this basic, humble recipe for fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes.
Why You Need Buttermilk To Make Pancakes
The tangy flavor of buttermilk is not the only reason it’s important in creating the perfect buttermilk pancake. Buttermilk actually helps to activate the baking soda or raising agent in the pancake batter. This means before the pancake even hits the heat, it’s being made light and fluffy and bubbly from within the batter.
Buttermilk also acts as an acid, eating away at the flour or gluten in the pancakes. This is what makes these homemade pancakes so tender and soft.
How To Make Buttermilk Pancakes
Making good pancakes is an art, despite the simple ingredients. When making your batter, lumps are your friends. And when cooking your pancake, bubbles are your pals.
You don’t need a store-bought mix to make this best buttermilk pancake recipe. So get out your measuring cups, it’s time to start baking (and don’t forget to get the full recipe with measurements, down below):First, melt the butter and set it aside to cool.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Basically, you’re adding all of your dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, before combining them together.
Whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract in a jug.
Slowly add the liquid to the dry mix. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, but don’t overmix. While mixing the batter, spell out the word “pancake” in your head and then stop mixing. That should be enough time for mixing.
- Slowly drizzle in the melted butter and stir another. three times. Remember that lumps are your friends.
- Put in the fridge for 10 minutes. The cooling process allows the butter to chill and bubbles to form in your batter.
- Put a griddle on medium-low heat.
- Spoon a big spoonful of batter for each pancake onto the griddle.
- Cook for four minutes on one side. When you start to see bubbles forming on the top of the pancake, flip it.
- After you’ve flipped the pancake, cook for a bit longer than four minutes, until you’ve got yourself a golden pancake with hints of brown.
- Enjoy with butter. After taking your first bite, you will have loved this recipe.
There is a skill to making the Perfect Buttermilk Pancake Recipe. After making thousands of them, I have mastered it. It comes down to 2 very simple things: mixing the pancakes and mixing in your melted butter.
Tips And Tricks For Making Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes Don’t overmix your pancakes. The less you mix, the thicker and fluffier they will be. All of those lumps that you are worried about will disappear when the pancakes rest.
Let the dough rest in the fridge for 20 minutes before you use it. This allows the butter to set, so when they hit the hot griddle the butter will create steam, and steam evaporates and creates bubbles! Boom! Science lesson.
FAQs About Buttermilk Pancakes
- Why does my pancake batter look lumpy, did I do something wrong? Nope! If your batter is a little lumpy, then your pancake will come out nice and fluffy.
- How can I make my batter not be runny? I’d recommend slowly pouring in the liquids instead of adding more flour.
- Can I substitute the flour? Yes! You can substitute the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour and just adjust the amount of liquid that goes into it.
- How many calories in a pancake? In this recipe, there are 143 calories per pancake.
Make Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe
Prep Time15minutes mins
Cook Time10minutes mins
resting time10minutes mins
Total Time25minutes mins
Light, fluffy, and golden brown crisp edges, my best Buttermilk Pancakes are o amazing you might not even need syrup!
Author: Gemma Stafford
Servings: 8
Ingredients
4 tablespoons (2oz/57g) butter, melted
2 cups (10oz/280g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (16 fl oz/ 1/2 litre/480ml) Buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- First, melt the butter and set it aside to cool.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- In a jug, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Add the liquid to the dry mix and starting lightly mixing together. The secret to thick, fluffy pancakes is not to over mix. My trick is to stir it enough times to spell P.A.N.C.A.K.E, and then stop.
- Slowly drizzle in the cooled butter and stir another 3 times. Lumps are ok, resist the urge to mix more
- Put in the fridge for 10 minutes. This helps the butter to chill and bubbles to form in your batter.
- Put a heavy bottom frying pan or griddle on medium-low heat.
- Spoon one big spoon of the batter per pancake.
- Cook for roughly 4 minutes on one side. It is time to turn them over when you see bubbles forming on the top of the pancake and the edges turn color (forming bubbles on top is really important because they hold your pancake up and keep it thick, I call them pancake pillars :))
- Flip and cook for another on the other side a little longer, until brown. Enjoy with butter and maple syrup.
Calories 143Calories from Fat 54
Street Gangs in the USA
African-American
Almighty Black P. Stone Nation
Almighty Vice Lord NationFour Corner Hustlers
Black Disciples
Black Guerrilla Family
Black Mafia
Black Mafia Family
Black Spades
BloodsBlack P. Stones
Bounty Hunter Bloods
Nine Trey Gangsters
Pirus
Sex Money Murda
United Blood Nation
Chambers Brothers
Columbia Point Dawgs
The Council
CripsGrape Street Watts Crips
Rollin' 30s Harlem Crips
Rollin' 60s Neighborhood Crips
Venice Shoreline Crips
D.C. Blacks
Decepticons
Errol Flynns
The Family
Folk Nation
Gangster DisciplesOutLaw Gangster Disciples
Hidden Valley Kings
KUMI 415
Lucerne Street Doggz
Miami Boys
Mickey Cobras
Orchard Park Trailblazers
Savage Nomads
Savage Skulls
Somali Outlaws
Supreme Team
Westmob
Young Boys Inc.
Caucasian
311 Boyz
American Front (white supremacist)
Aryan Nations (white supremacist)
Aryan Republican Army (white supremacist)
Chicago Gaylords
Combat 18 (white supremacist)
Dead Man Incorporated
Dixie Mafia
Friends Stand United
Hammerskins (white supremacist)
Imperial Klans of America (white supremacist)
Keystone State Skinheads (white nationalist)
Ku Klux Klan (white supremacist)
The Order (white supremacist)
Peckerwood211 Crew (white supremacist)
Aryan Brotherhood (white supremacist)
Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (white supremacist)
Aryan Circle (white supremacist)
European Kindred (white supremacist)
Nazi Lowriders (white supremacist)
Public Enemy No.1 (white supremacist)
People Nation
Popes
Simon City Royals
State Line Mob
Volksfront (European nationalist)
White Aryan Resistance (white supremacist)
East Asian
Chung Ching Yee, Chinese
Fullerton Boys, Korean
Kkangpae, Korean
Snakehead, Chinese
Tong, ChineseBing Kong Tong
Hip Sing Association
Hop Sing Tong
On Leong Chinese Merchants Association
Suey Sing Association
Triad14K Triad, Chinese
Bamboo Union, Taiwanese
Big Circle Gang, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian
Black Dragons, Chinese and Vietnamese
Flying Dragons, Chinese and Vietnamese
Four Seas Gang, Taiwanese
Ghost Shadows, Chinese and Vietnamese
Jackson Street Boys, Cantonese
Ping On, Chinese
Sun Yee On, Chinese
Wah Ching, Chinese
Wo Hop To, Hong Kong
Wo Shing Wo, Hong Kong
Wah Kee, Chinese and Malaysian
Yakuza, JapaneseInagawa-kai
Yamaguchi-gumi
Eastern European
Albanian mafiaAlbanian Boys
Rudaj Organization
Bosnian mafia
Brothers' Circle
Greek mafiaPhiladelphia Greek Mob
Velentzas crime family
Polish mob
Romanian mafia
Russian mafiaSolntsevskaya Bratva
Serbian mafia
Ukrainian mafia
Hispanic
18th Street gang
Almighty Saints
Barrio Azteca
Cali Cartel
Dominicans Don't Play
Folk Nation
Fresno Bulldogs
Ghetto Brothers
Gulf Cartel
Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos
Imperial Gangsters
Jalisco New Generation Cartel
Jheri Curls
Juárez Cartel
La Familia Michoacana
La LÃnea
La Raza Nation
Latin Counts
Latin Eagles
Latin Kings
Lopers
Los Mexicles
Los Solidos
Los Zetas
Maniac Latin Disciples
Marielitos
MedellÃn Cartel
Mexican Mafia
Mexikanemi
MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha)
Ñetas
Norteños
Nuestra Familia
People Nation
Puro Tango Blast
Savage Nomads
Savage Skulls
Sinaloa CartelBeltrán-Leyva Cartel
Spanish Cobras
Spanish Gangster Disciples
Sureños38th Street gang
The Avenues
Azusa 13
Culver City Boys 13
El Monte Flores 13
Florencia 13
Logan Heights Gang
OVS
Playboys
Puente 13
Santa Monica 13
Temple Street
Toonerville Rifa 13
Varrio Nuevo Estrada
Venice 13
Westside Locos 13
White Fence
Texas Syndicate
Tijuana Cartel
Trinitario
Vatos Locos
Irish-American
Charlestown Mob
Gustin Gang
Hogan Gang
Irish Mob
K&A Gang
Killeen Gang
Mullen Gang
North Side Gang
Ragen's Colts
Valley Gang
Westies
White Hand Gang
Winter Hill Gang
Italian-American
10th and Oregon Crew
American MafiaThe Commission
Five FamiliesBonanno crime family
Colombo crime family
Gambino crime familyBaltimore Crew
Ozone Park Boys
Genovese crime family116th Street Crew
Greenwich Village Crew
Lucchese crime familyLucchese crime family New Jersey faction
The Tanglewood Boys
The Vario Crew
Bufalino crime family
Buffalo crime family
Chicago Outfit
Cleveland crime family
Dallas crime family
DeCavalcante crime family
Denver crime family
Detroit Partnership
East Harlem Purple Gang
Genna crime family
Houston crime family
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Magaddino crime family
Milwaukee crime family
Morello crime family
Murder, Inc.
New Orleans crime family
Patriarca crime family
Philadelphia crime family
Pittsburgh crime family
Rochester crime family
San Francisco crime family
San Jose crime family
Seattle crime family
St. Louis crime family
Trafficante crime family
Camorra
The Combined
Corsican mafiaUnione Corse
Forty-Two Gang
Jousters
National Crime Syndicate
'Ndrangheta
Sacra Corona Unita
Sicilian Mafia
South Brooklyn Boys
Jewish
Jewish mafiaThe Bugs and Meyer Mob
Mickey Cohen gang
Murder, Inc.
New York divorce coercion gang
The Purple Gang
Yiddish Black Hand
Indigenous American
Pacific Islander
The Company
Sons of Samoa
Tongan Crip Gang
Southeast Asian
Asian Boyz, Southeast Asian (mostly Cambodian)
Bahala Na Gang, Filipino
Born to Kill, Vietnamese
Menace of Destruction, Hmong
Satanas, Filipino
Tiny Rascal Gang, Southeast Asian (mostly Cambodian)
Outlaw motorcycle clubs
Bandidos
Boozefighters
Breed
Brother Speed
Chosen Few
Coffin Cheaters
Devils Diciples
Diablos
El Forastero
Free Souls
Galloping Goose
Gypsy Jokers
Hells Angels
Hell's Lovers
Highwaymen
Iron Horsemen
Market Street Commandos
Mongols
No Surrender
Outlaws
Pagans
Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington
Rock Machine
Sons of Satan
Sons of Silence
Vagos
Warlocks (Florida)
Warlocks (Pennsylvania)
A Paradox in Evolution
It may have fewer than many of the other sciences, but biology does have two dozen or so “rules”—broad generalizations about the behavior or nature and evolution.
Now, USC researchers want to add a new rule called “selectively advantageous instability (SAI),” which explores how instability can actually benefit a cell and a cellular organism.
The flipside of this “rule” is that SAI can also be a key factor to things like disease and aging, so understanding this process could aid in exploration of those biological processes.
Across the sciences, rules and laws help us make sense of the world around us, whether applied to cosmic scales or subatomic ones. However, in the biological world, things are a bit more complicated. That’s because nature is often full of biological exceptions, and so “rules of biology” are also considered broad generalizations rather than absolute facts that explain and govern all known life. READ MORE...
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Minnesota Timberwolves beat Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals; Game 5 is tomorrow in Minnesota (More) | Boston Celtics sweep the Indiana Pacers 4-0 to win the Eastern Conference Finals, advance to the NBA Finals (More)
> Albert Ruddy, two-time Oscar-winning film producer known for "The Godfather" and "Million Dollar Baby," dies at 94 (More) | "Beautiful Girls" singer Sean Kingston faces 10 charges in Florida related to fraud and theft (More)
> Two albums pass 300,000 units sold in a single week for first time in eight years as both Taylor Swift's and Billie Eilish's latest albums haul in more than 300,000 units sold (More)
Science & Technology
In partnership with New Sapience
> OpenAI begins training its next generation large language model to replace current GPT-4, may take up to a year before it is available; CEO Sam Altman to lead safety and security committee (More)
> New mRNA vaccine shown to be effective in preventing lab animal deaths from H5N1 avian flu currently spreading across the US (More) | See current status of the outbreak (More)
> Engineered CAR-T cells, typically used in cancer immunotherapy, shown to treat chronic asthma in mouse studies (More) | How CAR-T works, in pictures (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.02%, Dow -0.6%, Nasdaq +0.6%); Nasdaq closes above the 17,000 level for the first time ever, boosted by a 7% rise in shares of chipmaker Nvidia (More)
> Adam Neumann drops $500M bid to buy back WeWork; US judge overseeing WeWork's bankruptcy proceedings instead sign off on a restructuring deal approving $450M in funding from SoftBank (More)
> Former FTX executive Ryan Salame sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to make illegal political contributions and operate an unlicensed money-transmission business (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Storms in North Texas with baseball-sized hail leave almost 800,000 residents without power, including across Dallas and Fort Worth (More)
> Georgia's parliament overrules president's veto of the "foreign agents" bill that sparked weekslong protests; bill requires media and nonprofits to register as foreign agents if over 20% of funding comes from outside the country (More)
> Tens of thousands of people protest in Armenian capital of Yerevan after Armenia's prime minister agrees to hand over four border villages to Azerbaijan (More)
Going Against the Establishment
A few days ago, I decided to pay $6 and rent the movie Oppenheimer... it was 3 hours in length and except for the very beginning was well worth the time... There were no special effects of which to speak and no special cinematography, it was just pure acting and storyline.
What made me mad about the movie was not that we dropped the ATOMIC BOMB on Japan twice, but what a few powerful men did to Oppenheimer after the war when he was against developing a hydrogen bomb.
To put it bluntly, he was crucified because he went against power and therefore went against the establishment.
When one thinks about the USA, one perceives that the USA is above that sort of behavior - that behavior is reserved for countries like Russia, China, Iran, etc. But, when one sees these kinds of movies and confirms the storyline with their own research, we realize quite quickly that the GREAT USA is no different at all. AND... in some case is WORSE.
By doing things for other countries, the USA hides behind it goodness to conceal its EVIL INTENTIONS. The USA wants to CONTROL THE WORLD and control all the people in the world while at the same time pretending that it does not really want to do that.
I have no doubt that the rest of the world sees us as HYPOCRITS and rightly so... because that is exactly who we are.
Not only did we crucify Oppenheimer because he refused to go along, but we are trying to crucify Donald Trump as well. The difference is that Trump is fighting back, and the general public is catching on to the bullshit that is going on in this country.
Sometimes, I really think that the rest of the world needs to teach America a lesson...
Rewriting Molecular Rules
Since the discovery of quantum mechanics more than a hundred years ago, it has been known that electrons in molecules can be coupled to the motion of the atoms that make up the molecules. Often referred to as molecular vibrations, the motion of atoms act like tiny springs, undergoing periodic motion.
For electrons in these systems, being joined to the hip with these vibrations means they are constantly in motion too, dancing to the tune of the atoms, on timescales of a millionth of a billionth of a second. But all this dancing around leads to a loss of energy and limits the performance of organic molecules in applications like light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), infrared sensors, and fluorescent biomarkers used in the study of cells and for tagging diseases such as cancer cells. READ MORE...
Wednesday, May 29
Most Common Cancers
This list of common cancer types includes cancers that are diagnosed with the greatest frequency in the United States, excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers:
Bladder Cancer
Breast Cancer
Colon and Rectal Cancer
Endometrial Cancer
Kidney Cancer
Leukemia
Liver
Lung Cancer
Melanoma
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Pancreatic Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Thyroid Cancer
Cancer incidence and mortality statistics reported by the National Cancer Institute and other resources were used to create the list.1 To qualify as a common cancer for the list, the estimated annual incidence for 2024 had to be 40,000 cases or more.
The most common type of cancer on the list is breast cancer, with 313,510 new cases expected in the United States in 2024. The next most common cancers are prostate cancer and lung cancer.
Because colon and rectal cancers are often referred to as "colorectal cancers," these two cancer types are combined for the list. For 2024, the estimated number of new cases of colon cancer and rectal cancer are 106,590 and 46,220, respectively, adding to a total of 152,810 new cases of colorectal cancer.
SOURCE: National Cancer Institute
How is Ice Cream Made?
“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” The sentiment behind these well-known lyrics from the 1927 novelty song, “Ice Cream,” has stood the test of time in describing how people feel about the tasty frozen dairy treat. Whether we’re screaming about it or not, millions of us enjoy consuming it. According to Grand View Research, ice cream has an estimated market size value of $81.8 billion per year in the United States.
The ingredients and the processes used to make ice cream are essential to create a smooth and creamy texture worthy of the scream. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines ice cream as a food produced by freezing while stirring a pasteurized mix that consists of one or more optional dairy ingredients listed in part B of 21 CFR 135.110. Ice cream must contain 1.6 lb or greater of total solids and weigh 4.5 lb or greater, both per gallon, contain a minimum of 10% milkfat, with exceptions listed in 21 CFR 135.110, and contain less than 1.4% egg yolks by weight.
A Smooth Process
The process of making ice cream starts with dry ingredients (sugar, stabilizers, dried eggs, or milk), which are mixed into liquid ingredients (milk, cream) by one of two methods. In the first method, a powder horn contains a funnel to control the addition of dry ingredients to the liquid, passing the two through an impeller before cycling the mixture to allow the addition of optional dry ingredients. The second is to add all dry ingredients at the same time into a high shear mixing device. Flavorings like vanilla, chocolate, mint, or fruit extracts are common ingredients incorporated at this stage.
The ice cream mixture is then pasteurized, commonly at either 155°F for 30 min or 174°F for 25 sec, and homogenized. Batch and continuous pasteurization are employed in the industry. The latter, which is faster and more efficient, is most often used by commercial ice cream manufacturers. During pasteurization, bacterial cells are killed and the milk fat solids are melted within the mix in preparation for homogenization. In a separate chamber, the hot mix is forced through small openings at high pressure (2,000/500 psi) to reduce the liquid fat droplets to a small, uniform size.
Homogenization is integral to ice cream’s smooth texture and prevents fats from churning in the later freezing stage. The mixture is cooled to about 5°C (40°F) and aged for approximately 12 hr to allow the fat to partially crystallize. This step also allows the proteins and stabilizers to solubilize so that they can keep the fat particles small and entrap the air.
"Without air, ice cream would be too hard to eat."
Next, the ice cream is frozen quickly to maintain the smooth texture. The product is placed in a barrel freezer in which rotating blades continually agitate the mixture. The churning prevents large water crystal formation and incorporates significant volumes of air. In fact, the volume of the ice cream can increase by 60% to 100% simply because air is added.
The incorporation of air is crucial. It makes the ice cream softer and slows the melting process. Without air, ice cream would be too hard to eat. After incorporating air, sizeable flavorings such as candy pieces, nuts, or fruit chunks can be added, along with other flourishes like ripples and variegates. This step is completed in a line freezer immediately before packaging. These hardening rooms, which contain blast freezers set at temperatures below -30°C (-22°F), maintain product comprised of very small ice crystals, which leads to a desired smooth texture and flavor release.
Ingredient Functionality and Nondairy Inclusions
Ice cream mixes consist of milk, which contains >80% water, casein and whey proteins (>3% protein), lactose, minerals, and milk fat (>3%). Cream is used, which is >80% moisture, 11%–12% milk fat, and approximately 3% protein. The most predominant component in ice cream is water, at 55%–65%. The total solids are between 35%–42%, a percentage that increases as fat content increases. Fat content is commonly between 10%–16%. Cream, milk, buttermilk, whey, and skim milk are the main contributors of water, fat, and protein (approximately 3%) to the ice cream.
"The most predominant component in ice cream is water, at 55%–65%."
Milk supplies 4%–5% of the carbohydrates in ice cream in the form of lactose. Lactose helps with seeding, providing a nucleation site for small ice crystals to form, which is crucial for smooth texture. Milk proteins, most specifically casein, are strong emulsifiers because they contain both long sections of polar side chains and long sections of nonpolar side chains. The polar side chains orient to the large amount of water and other polar compounds in the ice cream. The nonpolar side chains orient to the small fat globules to form an emulsion and the air that has been incorporated in the ice cream to form a foam.
A closer look at three commercially available products provides a better understanding of the functionality and purpose of nondairy ingredients in ice cream. The first, Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Ice Cream with chunks of strawberries, is not sold in retail stores, but is only offered at Ben & Jerry’s “Scoop Shops” in various locations across the globe. The other two ice creams—Mayfield Signature Vanilla Ice Cream and Prairie Farms Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream—are sold in grocery stores.
Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Ice Cream (with chunks of strawberries) Ingredient Statement: CREAM, SKIM MILK, STRAWBERRIES, LIQUID SUGAR (SUGAR, WATER), SUGAR, EGG YOLKS, GUAR GUM, CARRAGEENAN
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream contains sugar dissolved in water, sugar, egg yolks, guar gum, and carrageenan. The sugar is sucrose, which provides the desired sweetness and also contributes to the ice cream’s smooth, creamy texture by contributing to seeding, which helps to prevent ice crystal formation. If a portion of the sugar is removed from the formulation, sweetness will decrease but the texture will be less creamy and smooth and the freezing point will increase, which will negatively impact texture.
Although many companies do not include egg yolks in their ice cream since it introduces an additional allergen, this Ben & Jerry’s product does include them. Egg yolks contain fat in the form of triglycerides that contribute to the creamy texture and protein and lecithin that help emulsify the fat and entrap air to stabilize the emulsion and foam. One main difference between custards and ice cream is that custards must contain 1.4% pasteurized egg yolk, increasing the product’s creaminess and smoothness. Guar gum and carrageenan are long chain polysaccharides that increase the glass transition temperature of the ice cream, which increases the temperature that is needed to freeze the ice cream and store the ice cream. Kappa carrageenan is commonly used in ice creams and other dairy products because the negative charges of sulfate on carrageenan interact with the positive charged amino acid side chains in casein, further stabilizing the product and maintaining solution homogeneity.
"Homogenization is integral to ice cream’s smooth texture and prevents fats from churning in the later freezing stage."
Mayfield Signature Vanilla Ice Cream Ingredient Statement: CREAM, BUTTERMILK, WHEY, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, SKIM MILK, NATURAL FLAVORS, PLANT BASED GUMS (GUAR, TARA), ANNATO (COLOR)
In addition to the dairy ingredients, the Mayfield brand natural vanilla ice cream also contains corn syrup, tara gum, and annatto. Corn syrup is a liquid that contains glucose and fructose, which are the monosaccharides that make up sucrose and increase sweetness and soluble solids. Tara gum functions like guar gum and carrageenan to stabilize the product by contributing to the smooth, creamy texture.
Prairie Farms Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream Ingredient Statement: MILK, CREAM, SUGAR, SKIM MILK, CORN SYRUP, COCOA (PROCESSED IN ALKALI), WHEY, STABILIZER (MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, GUAR GUM, CELLULOSE GUM, AND CARRAGEENAN)
As shown, Prairie Farms Belgian Chocolate ice cream contains similar ingredients to the Ben & Jerry’s and Mayfield ice creams, but this product also includes cocoa for the chocolate flavor and a stabilizer that contains guar gum, carrageenan, and mono- and diglycerides. The carrageenan helps keep the cocoa in solution. The mono- and diglycerides are emulsifiers that help reduce the strain on the milk proteins and polysaccharide gums to help emulsify the fat and stabilize the air in the foam.
Stay Frosty
Process and new ingredient solutions will help food scientists continue to make outstanding ice cream, alleviate supply chain challenges, and allow for labels with fewer ingredients. Such advances also will help improve the quality of plant-based dairy product dessert alternatives and ensure that ice cream continues to meet consumer expectations in a “scream”-worthy way.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Wes Schilling, PhD, is a professor in the Dept. of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion at Mississippi State University (schilling@foodscience.msstate.edu).
Sawyer Wyatt Smith is an MS student in the Dept. of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion at Mississippi State University (sws212@msstate.edu).
AnneMarie Coatney is an undergraduate researcher at Mississippi State Univ. (afc160@msstate.edu).