Video: The test on supermarket ice cream tubs
2024 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 12:26
They are not all Taliban of the ice-cream. They are not all lovers of "real artisan ice cream", the pure one, for connoisseurs, bought in the most fashionable ice cream parlors (which are those present in the Dissapore ranking).
And not all are incorrigible fanatics of genuine ice cream, made "as it once was", only to discover that even the most acclaimed "artisan" ice cream parlor then resorted to shameful semi-finished products and we, fine connoisseurs, had never noticed?
There are also those who do not at all disdain gorging themselves on the sinister industrial ice cream, using directly from the kilo tub-bin for sale at supermarket, sinking the spoon into it and even finding an unhealthy enjoyment. In short, sometimes finding it even good.
A heresy? It could be, but a more widespread heresy than we imagine, given the considerable consumption of ice cream in tubs (although the trend is down) by us Italians.
And it is for this reason that the monthly Il Test (ex Salvagente) in the issue on newsstands has compared well 12 types of packs of ice cream in tubs among the most popular in the main Italian supermarkets, all with a chocolate flavor.
And he had them evaluated, as ingredients, taste to consistency, to a jury of experts composed of three master ice cream makers and a blogger of the sector, namely Simone De Feo of the Cremeria Terminus of Reggio Emilia, number 1 of our 2016 ranking, Dario Rossi from Gelateria Greed, now in Frascati, Marco Mattioli, a pastry shop in Rome, Pastafrolla, and another, Peppa and Nando, in Grottaferrata, finally Renato Romano, owner of the blog "Jo Pistacchio".
And it must be said that the verdict was positive, all have been promoted, both in terms of taste and ingredients. Promoted but certainly not with honors: few products have gone beyond sufficiency, and to determine the mediocre result undoubtedly, the quality of the ingredients, or rather their composition, influenced.
Starting with milk. Let's immediately chase away the tender image of smiling shepherdesses and green alpine pastures with their cows: the milk of industrial ice creams is in all cases in powder, and subsequently rehydrated; that is to say that the white liquid in its original state is completely absent, replaced by the cheaper semi-finished product based on milk.
An element that certainly makes the difference, especially for a country, like Italy, which boasts a long tradition of ice cream making, and which places us at a great distance from our German neighbors, who, while not boasting a tradition like ours, when they say ice cream to milk”mean that there is a law that provides that milk must be present with a percentage of not less than 70%.
Also cream and butter, too expensive to support the price with which the tub ice cream is sold, are practically absent, in favor of the cheapest vegetal fatsthe cheapest, the first to suffer are obviously taste and texture.
Even the egg yolk, a fundamental component of artisanal ice cream, has been replaced by the cheaper ones emulsifiers, giving a further push to the failure to achieve excellence.
In short, a babel of “alternative” ingredients to the traditional ones, which give rise to a sometimes pleasant product, of course, but far from the peaks of an excellent ice cream.
A timid step forward was taken thanks to an attempt at self-regulation prepared by the Italian ice cream institute, which drew up an Igi self-discipline code for industrial ice cream products. Although not all the trays on sale in its Italian markets are produced in our country.
A good sign certainly to be perfected, as, for example, speaking of the ingredient " milk", Refers to the percentages of milk fat (greater than or equal to 2, 5%) and proteins (6% of dry milk extract) but it does not indicate any minimum quantity: far from the mere 70% of the most essential Germans.
In short, a regulation that is still lacking for one of the most popular products, and which deserves greater attention.
Pending more rigorous rules and regulations, we can only rely on our taste or, even better, that of those who really know about ice cream. Based on the test, which involved the "blind" tasting of the twelve products, most of the structures and consistencies some ice cream they were not satisfactory, while the presence of unnatural flavors which distorted the bouquet of flavors, making it impossible even to detect the difference between cocoa and chocolate.
Also perceptible results are i vegetable fats, which left an unpleasant sensation of anointed ”.
The worst of all these ice creams was that of Lidl, "Gelatelli", with a too perceptible hint of low-quality whey and with the aroma of chocolate not perceptible to the taste. The product was also the cheapest of the whole group, with a price of 3.55 euros Per kilo.
Mention of merit for Haagen-Dasz, with a better structure than the competitors that left the mouth much "cleaner" and less greasy than the other products tested, but less appreciated as a taste due to the numerous pieces of chocolate inside it. they accentuated the pleasantness of the chocolate.
Paradoxically, the result was possible thanks to the greater use of fats in the composition of the ice cream: 20%, the highest ever. However, this value has made it possible not to use alternative emulsifiers, to the full advantage of taste and structure.
Golden palm instead as the best ice cream tested at Conad-cream and chocolate, with a good quantity of cocoa and chocolate and a taste considered "excellent". Moreover, for just over 5 € per kilo: goodness at a good price.
Here are summarized below the test results, in descending order from best to worst. And good (industrial) ice cream at all.
Or maybe it would be better to say "average" ice cream to everyone …
Brand | Price / Kg | quantity of cocoa / chocolate | saturated fat (gr per hectogram) | quality ingredients | taste |
CONAD cream and chocolate | 5, 60 | Great | 7, 8 | average | good / excellent |
CARTE D'OR cocoa and fiordilatte | 15, 33 | mediocre | 6, 7 | average | good |
LA CREMERIA cream and chocolate | 7, 30 | mediocre | 4, 1 | average | good |
PASSIONS AUCHAN triple chocolate | 4, 95 | good | 6, 9 | average | average / good |
LOVING -TODIS cream and cocoa | 3, 98 | average | 6, 1 | mediocre | good |
HAAGEN-DASZ Belgian chocolate | 9, 05 | excellent | 12, 2 | average | medium |
DOLCIANDO-EUROSPIN | 4, 58 | average | 8, 6 | average | medium |
COOP milk and chocolate flakes | 4, 40 | mediocre | 6, 7 | average | medium |
CARREFOUR vanilla and chocolate | 3, 98 | scarce | 6, 5 | average | medium |
GIAMPAOLI with cocoa | 12, 60 | good | 6, 5 | mediocre / average | medium |
SAMMONTANA TIN chocol. | 5, 40 | good | 8, 4 | mediocre / med | mediocre / average |
GELATELLI LIDL chocolate | 3, 55 | average | 9, 1 | average / good | mediocre |
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