Engineering Investigation of Ice Cream Freezing Based on Agitation

Abstract

In ice cream manufacturing, freezing is an extremely important process in determining the internal structure of ice cream. The author considers that the fluid flow induced by agitation during freezing is a governing parameter for various phenomena that occur during freezing, and has investigated the effect of agitation speed on the internal structure of ice cream using a batch-type freezer. This paper presents the author’s investigation about fluid flow, the size change in bubbles/fat globules with time during freezing, and the melting characteristics of the samples. It was found that the agitation speed affects the kinetics of size changes of bubbles/fat globules and the melting characteristics of the samples. Thus, an advanced freezing process can be developed by optimizing the agitation operation.