ice cream
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How the ice cream production process works: a simple algorithm

Ice cream production technology consists of several stages:

1. preparation of raw materials from which the product will be made later;
2. mixing of all necessary components, in accordance with the recipe and state regulations;
3. filtering the obtained mass;
4. pasteurization (heating) and homogenization (grinding) of the mass;
5. cooling;
6. mass freezing (saturation of ice cream with air);
7. hardening (the process of "freezing" excess moisture);
8. packing and packaging of the product;
9. storage until the moment of transfer to the point of sale.

Ultrafiltration

This moves milk across a membrane under moderate pressure, which holds back protein, fat globules, and a large amount of calcium complexes. Water and lactose (the sugar in milk) pass through, leaving behind a very protein and calcium-rich product. The fat content can be adjusted to suit consumer preference.

Homogenisation

Milk is put under pressure through fine nozzles, which evenly disperses fat globules. This stops the cream separating and rising to the top, allowing a more consistent texture and taste. Some manufacturers produce unhomogenised milk for people who prefer the cream to separate and rise to the top of the bottle. Today's farm technology, cattle management and factory methods allow for greater consistency of milk, and milk composition can be adjusted for year-round consistency. Milk composition is standardised so elements like fat content are made consistent no matter the season or breed of cow the milk comes from. The composition of milk is governed by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. These standards are consistent with international standards – milk consumed in nearly all developed countries will have very similar standards. The Code allows manufacturers to add or withdraw milk components to standardise the composition of milk sourced from dairy farms, as required, to produce nutritionally consistent and safe products. Under the Code, the standard for packaged full-fat milk requires that it contain at least 3.2% of fat and 3.0% of protein.

Permeate

In order to standardise milk year-round, some manufacturers use a process called ultrafiltration where a membrane filter separates certain elements from milk (just like in the descriptions above). Milk is passed through a very fine filter, and the lactose (milk sugar), vitamins and minerals that filter through are referred to as "permeate". Permeate is a technical term which applies to all membrane filtration processes used across food production and other industries. For example, when producing apple juice the fruit is put through a similar filtration process where permeate is the clear juice we end up buying and consuming. In milk processing, the word "permeate" does not refer to anything added which was not already part of milk. That filter helps milk producers make milk with consistent properties, which helps it conform to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.