Whey protein ice cream?
Posted May 25th, 2008 at 02:18 PM by Anthony Ellis
Ok, for the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with creating a healthy ice cream.
The problem with ice cream as I see it is really that it's just got too much sugar and not enough protein. Sure there's a lot of fat, BUT fat is really not our enemy as long as the sugar is in check.
So, I began testing out a way to add more protein to ice cream and eliminate the sugar.
MY FIRST TEST
In theory I should just have to to use a different sweetener instead of sugar and then add some whey protein isolate.
THE RESULT
Not too good. It was basically a mushy concoction that was extremely sweet. When I tried to freeze it a bit more, it just turned to a hard ice block. Oh well...
Back to the drawing board.
I read a bit more on ice cream and how the ingredients all work together to create the unique texture and freezing properties... so this will be a bit tougher.
The problems as I see it were:
1. I totally removed the sugar.
Well sugar is needed not only for sweetness but for texture. If I remove it, it turns into a bad milkshake. Sugar also helps reduce ice crystals when you freeze it so you still keep the milky texture of the ice cream but it doesn't turn into a frozen block of ice.
2. I did not consider that when I added the sugar substitute (stevia), it is such a small amount that it substantially reduces the bulk of the dry ingredients. So there was far more liquid than dry ingredients.
3. Whey protein isolate doesn't mix well when cold and it has hardly no mass. So it did not contribute enough to the dry ingredients to give the mixture any body when frozen.
So now I'm looking at a few changes:
1. I will try a more dense type of protein like casein. It may mix better when cold and it will also add more bulk to the dry ingredients.
2. I will also try using eggs. Eggs are used in traditional french ice cream so If I can get them to work here that's more protein for this baby.
3. I will add some gelatin to bring back the properties lost when we eliminated the sugar (adds more body and keeps ice crystals tiny).
Stay tuned for the results...
The problem with ice cream as I see it is really that it's just got too much sugar and not enough protein. Sure there's a lot of fat, BUT fat is really not our enemy as long as the sugar is in check.
So, I began testing out a way to add more protein to ice cream and eliminate the sugar.
MY FIRST TEST
In theory I should just have to to use a different sweetener instead of sugar and then add some whey protein isolate.
THE RESULT
Not too good. It was basically a mushy concoction that was extremely sweet. When I tried to freeze it a bit more, it just turned to a hard ice block. Oh well...
Back to the drawing board.
I read a bit more on ice cream and how the ingredients all work together to create the unique texture and freezing properties... so this will be a bit tougher.
The problems as I see it were:
1. I totally removed the sugar.
Well sugar is needed not only for sweetness but for texture. If I remove it, it turns into a bad milkshake. Sugar also helps reduce ice crystals when you freeze it so you still keep the milky texture of the ice cream but it doesn't turn into a frozen block of ice.
2. I did not consider that when I added the sugar substitute (stevia), it is such a small amount that it substantially reduces the bulk of the dry ingredients. So there was far more liquid than dry ingredients.
3. Whey protein isolate doesn't mix well when cold and it has hardly no mass. So it did not contribute enough to the dry ingredients to give the mixture any body when frozen.
So now I'm looking at a few changes:
1. I will try a more dense type of protein like casein. It may mix better when cold and it will also add more bulk to the dry ingredients.
2. I will also try using eggs. Eggs are used in traditional french ice cream so If I can get them to work here that's more protein for this baby.
3. I will add some gelatin to bring back the properties lost when we eliminated the sugar (adds more body and keeps ice crystals tiny).
Stay tuned for the results...
Total Comments 7
Comments
 |  So you're making this the old-fashioned way, with a hand-crank mixer? If that's what you're doing, you gotta make a video of that with you in a straw hat and overalls  |
Posted May 25th, 2008 at 03:31 PM by rockdawg21  |
| |  Hey Anthony, being a chef I hae had a lot to do with Ice Creams and Sorbets. The sugar is the softening agent and as you have found you lose the ice cream texture when removing it (or using sythetic agents). Very interested to see how you go getting this one to work. Good luck. |
| Posted May 28th, 2008 at 08:03 AM by Dirk |
| |  No hand crank here. I used those as a kid and man did you have to work for your reward! I'm using this electric ice cream maker: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...hen/B00000JGRT |
Posted May 28th, 2008 at 09:28 AM by Anthony Ellis  |
| | My girlfriend just said you have very beautiful children - thought you'd like to know. Well done on the new site by the way. Great improvement. |
| Posted May 29th, 2008 at 03:03 PM by wknowland |
| | Thanks for the compliments. The kids are a handful. They swarm me everytime I appear so it's hard to get any work done if they are around! The new site is still a work in progress, but I hope to have everyone over this month. |
| Posted June 5th, 2008 at 12:50 PM by Anthony Ellis |
| |  How about just making an ice-cream post workout concoction instead - that way the sugar isn't a problem and you get 3 portions of ice-cream a week - and i reckon ice-cream would taste amazing straight after a workout! With protein of course... |
| Posted June 18th, 2008 at 06:09 AM by apmoir |
| | That's actually a better idea. I still would want to try and reduce the sugar content though as we don't want all sugar (sucrose & fructose) post workout. I've been trying less sugar and then adding in glucose powder. In theory it should work OK as it's a similar consistency but it's not mixing as well. I do like the post workout ice cream idea though. I will think on this some more. |
| Posted June 20th, 2008 at 10:47 AM by Anthony Ellis |
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