For most people the classic summer treat is ice cream. Around 7 billion gallons of ice cream and other related frozen desserts are produced every year worldwide, with production peaking (as you might expect) in the summer months, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. Yet, the moment you consume an ice cream, you will probably not wonder how this delicacy is being made. To get that perfect ice cream, a mass flow controller is often used.
What does ice cream have to do with mass flow meters?
Ice cream contains many different ingredients, such as fat, sugar, milk solids, an emulsifying agent, flavouring and sometimes colouring agents. But there is one main ingredient that you may not have thought about, probably because you can’t see it—air. Ice cream is made by freezing and simultaneously blending air into the ingredients. So why is air so important?