Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

vittlesmagazine.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 69 posts

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#21

Post by mrob »

British ice cream is generally terrible because our laws are too lax. Previously (from 1996 until 2015), "ice cream" required a minimum of 5% milk fat and 2.5% milk protein. This is still low compared the the USA's requirement of 10% milk fat and 6% milk solids-not-fat (proteins and carbohydrates combined), but it at least met the common-sense definition that an ice cream must contain cream.

In 2015, this requirement was abolished, and now you can sell anything sweet and frozen as "ice cream" even if it contains no dairy at all.

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#22

Post by danw1979 »

juleiie wrote: post #13

Those mass market ice cream are so tasteless and disgusting honestly. Do British even have any taste? As a French person it always astounds me what Britons can eat and proclaim they like it.

Please, just give us this one thing to enjoy, to have after our Roast Bif. We don’t have much. We need this.

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#23

Post by OJFord »

physicsguy wrote: post #20
hgomersall wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's been a real rennaisance of quality produce in the UK, including ice cream. There's some really good stuff to be bought, even in mainstream supermarkets.

They're all still shoving tons of emulsifiers and stabilisers and coconut and palm oil and xantham and locust bean gum and stuff in though. It's almost impossible to find ice cream without these. For e.g.: "100% All Natural Ingredients" still has locust bean gum: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/remeo-n-4-pis... Jude's Vanilla Ice Cream: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/jude-s-vanill... Lo…

Xanthan, guar, and locust bean gum are to control melt and improve texture – many people add them to homemade ice-cream even.

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#24

Post by lynx97 »

fsuts wrote: post #14
lynx97 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it really matter who influences parents? After all, they are grown ups, have the responsibility. Its their call. If they fall for marketing, its still their own stupidity which endangers their children. Lets calla spade a spade.

I would urge you to refrain from using the word stupid. All humans are not born equal, many are born with poor critical thinking which is not helped by regimented schooling and the isolated nuclear family pattern. It’s for the strong to protect the weak, but instead modern consumer capitalism is built on the strong exploiting the weak.

See, you dont like the word stupid, and I dont like the word strong/weak. It implies that people are not equal in their decision-making, which I strongly oppose. It also has a patronising touch to it, which I also oppose violently.

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#25

Post by galacticdessert »

physicsguy wrote: post #20
hgomersall wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's been a real rennaisance of quality produce in the UK, including ice cream. There's some really good stuff to be bought, even in mainstream supermarkets.

They're all still shoving tons of emulsifiers and stabilisers and coconut and palm oil and xantham and locust bean gum and stuff in though. It's almost impossible to find ice cream without these. For e.g.: "100% All Natural Ingredients" still has locust bean gum: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/remeo-n-4-pis... Jude's Vanilla Ice Cream: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/jude-s-vanill... Lo…

Just for my understanding, what is the issue with xanthan gum and locust bean gum? You need thickeners, stabilizers, and emulsifiers if you want high quality ice cream and that applies to both industrial as well as artisanal.

Xanthan or Agar Agar are commonly used even in household gelato (think a 1kg ice cream machine or something like a Ninja Creami - which is one of my own ever favorite and most recommended appliances) to reduce the formation of ice crystals. Locust Bean Gum and Guar Gum or is a thickener and can greatly improve the creaminess of the final product.

Historically people used a lot of egg yolks as emulsifiers in ice creams, but there are reasons to limit them or directly not have them in your gelato. Think even just fat content, or allergies, or personal preference. For that you will need some sort of natural gum and as far as I know there are no known health hazards associated with them (unless you consume crazy amount like 10-20g/day, which means you have to eat it from the jar with a spoon... I would not recommend)

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#26

Post by ymolodtsov »

fsuts wrote: post #4

For anyone not from Britain, majority of parents, taken in by advertising, feed kids highly processed ice cream sold at low prices, no different to most other countries. Ingredients are terrible for all the brands mentioned. And British children have high obesity rates and dental issues. The golden age was pre-big food when ice cream was made naturally. The celebration of targeted product design, branding and adverti…

However natural ice cream can be, it's still a buttload of fats and sugars. Fine in moderation but could be bad. Still, I highly doubt ice cream alone is the reason for high obesity.

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#27

Post by thorin »

I was at a graduate recruitment event in the UK for Unilever around 1998 when he speaker told us about the Magnum story. The premise was that someone might pay £1 for an ice cream to eat at home which seemed ridiculous at the time, given that people were probably expecting to pay 25-50p per choc ice/lolly, and that it might be something that would appeal more to adults than children. The Magnum was a big success and drove the way to flashier and more expensive ice creams!

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#29

Post by lrasinen »

OJFord wrote: post #23
physicsguy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're all still shoving tons of emulsifiers and stabilisers and coconut and palm oil and xantham and locust bean gum and stuff in though. It's almost impossible to find ice cream without these. For e.g.: "100% All Natural Ingredients" still has locust bean gum: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/remeo-n-4-pis... Jude's Vanilla Ice Cream: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/jude-s-vanill... Lo…

Xanthan, guar, and locust bean gum are to control melt and improve texture – many people add them to homemade ice-cream even.

Xanthan is the best if you need non-toxic slime for artistic purposes (e.g. Halloween decorations).

Just make a stiff gel and hit it with a stick blender for desired consistency and lumpiness. This does introduce a lot of small air bubbles in it, so if you need clear slime let it stand for a few hours.

Re: The Golden Age of British Ice Cream

#30

Post by basisword »

physicsguy wrote: post #20
hgomersall wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's been a real rennaisance of quality produce in the UK, including ice cream. There's some really good stuff to be bought, even in mainstream supermarkets.

They're all still shoving tons of emulsifiers and stabilisers and coconut and palm oil and xantham and locust bean gum and stuff in though. It's almost impossible to find ice cream without these. For e.g.: "100% All Natural Ingredients" still has locust bean gum: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/remeo-n-4-pis... Jude's Vanilla Ice Cream: https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/product/jude-s-vanill... Lo…

This one doesn't seem to have any of those things: https://www.marksandspencer.com/food/only-5-ingredients-heat...
Post reply on HN