Ingredients

Ingredients are used in recipes. An ingredient has a list of properties used in the calculator like the nutrient info and other ice cream specific data like Total Solids, MSNF, PAC and POD. The calculator has an online standard database of ingredients and the user can add as many user ingredients as needed, there are no restrictions on the number of ingredients you can add.

Recipes

Recipes consists of a list of ingredients and the weight of each ingredient. The calculator works with metric weights in grams but there are volume to weight tools that can be used to convert recipes using volume measurements. A recipe can also have add-ins, these are ingredients that you add after the ice cream is made and are a part of the recipe but they are not a part of the balancing of the recipe. All recipes are stored in a local database.

Charts

A chart is a set of data displayed in a chart. For a recipe a large number of data is calculated and this data can be used in the chart. Each data point can also have a minimum and maximum amount that is used in the balancing of the recipe. The chart is a key concept in the calculator and is used to balance a recipe. Different charts are used to create different types of ice creams. You can have one chart for ice cream and another chart for Gelato and yet another for sorbet. In a chart you typically setup valid ranges for Fat, Solids, Sugars etc… that should be met to create the type of ice cream the chart represents.

Panels

Panels are also a representation of the data calculated for a recipe and can also have minimum and maximum ranges and be used in the balancing. You add panels to show information about the recipe. Normally this is information that you do not like to have in the chart, it can be things like Mix volume, Ice cream volume or serving temp.

Balancing

A well balanced ice cream has a ratio of key functional properties like Fat, Solids, Water, MSNF etc… These ratios are different for different types of ice cream. To be able to create recipes with your preferred texture, consistency, sweetness etc. you need to balance the recipe. The calculator uses the chart and panels to balance a recipe. Given the restrictions set up with the charts and panels the calculator tries to find the correct amount of each ingredient to balance the recipe. Read more in this tutorial Balancing

Reports

Reports can be created for recipes and recipe groups. The reports use a template system with tags for data. When a report is generated the tags are replaced with data from the recipe. Report templates can be written as DOCX files or using the built in editor. This is a very flexible system to create reports.

Production

The production system uses a calendar based view where you can add recipes for production. The recipes can also be rearranged to create an optimal production order of flavors. After production there is a link to the inventory system to update the stock database.

Inventory

The calculator has an inventory and stocktaking module with barcode scanner support. Add products and have full control of your inventory. A product can be linked to an ingredient to make it possible to automatically update the inventory from the production module. Multiple products can link to the same ingredient. For example you buy sugar in 5Kg and 1Kg bags the 5Kg and 1Kg bags are two different products with different price but both are linked to the Ingredient Sucrose in the ingredient database. The inventory keeps track of the current stock inventory value. The stocktaking uses the FIFO method.

Use the Ice Cream Wizard to select the flavor and type of ice cream you like to make.
If the flavor is not in the list choose something similar and later replace the flavor.

Step 2

Select a Chart that fits the type of ice cream you are making.
If needed tweak the chart and panels to your liking.

Step 3

Balance the recipe to the chart and panels.

Step 4

Tweak the weights of the ingredients to fine tune the recipe until you are satisfied.
Make a test batch and adjust accordingly.

On the downloads page download the calculator.

The downloaded file is a ZIP file with the software. Unzip and run IceCreamCalculatorSetup.exe.
When starting the installation you might get a warning from Microsoft Defender SmartScreen that an unknown application is started. To start it anyway press “more information” and the Run anyway button to start the installation.
Depending on your Windows version and what virus software or other security setup you have you can get other warnings. The common solution is to modify your settings.

The reason this happens is that this is a free software and it does not have a trusted certificate. A certificate cost quite a lot of money each year.

Virus programs

As this is a free software and it does not have a trusted certificate it might be stopped by your virus program. I unfortunately have no control over this.
What you have to do is to check your virus program settings and allow ICC to be installed anyway. You can usually also report this to the virus program company as a false negative. Then you will be asked to send the file or link to the file and they will check it manually.

Updating

After the first time installation you will get an update message inside the calculator when a new version is released. You can also download and install manually from the Settings dialog.

MAC support

Check this page for how to install the calculator on MAC OS.

Reinstall

If you like to reinstall the software on a new computer and copy all your data you do like this.
– Install on the new computer
– Copy your database file to the new computer.
– In the Settings dialog select the copied database file.
How to select the database file and the name and location of the database file can be found in the Settings dialog.

System requirements

• Windows 10 or higher
• 64-bit
• .NET 8.0
• 1024×768 screen resolution

This text will try to summarize ice cream science in the context of using the calculator. I will try to keep this simple and not go into too much depth. Ice cream is a very complex product and to be able to create your own recipes with the desired texture, hardness, sweetness etc. some basic knowledge of ice cream science is needed.

As you can see below this text is not finished! And until I get the time to write about all this I will give you some great links that covers everything you need to know. So….
https://www.dreamscoops.com/ice-cream-science/
https://under-belly.org/category/blog/
https://icecreamscience.com/

Books

Hello My Name Is Ice Cream by Dana Cree. I like this book and she has a good chapter introducing ice cream science. So, if you are a beginner this is a great place to start. https://www.hellomynameisicecream.com/

Ice Cream, 7th edition. More advanced book where you will find almost everything you need to know.
https://www.amazon.com/Ice-Cream-H-Douglas-Goff/dp/1461460956

Glossary

To comprehend the science of ice cream, it is crucial to familiarize oneself with some significant properties and terminologies. A well balanced ice cream has a ratio of key functional properties like Fat, Solids, Water, MSNF etc… These ratios are different for different types of ice cream. When you understand how these work and affect the ice cream you will be able to create ice creams with your preferred texture, consistency, sweetness etc.

• MSNF
  Milk Solids Not Fat. This is the solids in dairy that is not fat, so it is basically the proteins from the milk and cream.
• TSNF
  Total Solids Not Fat. This is all the solids in the recipe that is not fat. So all proteins and fiber etc that is not fat or water.
• Total Solids
  Total Solids. This is everything in the recipe that is not water or alcohol.
• PAC
  PAC stands for ‘Potere Anti Congelante’ can also be called AFP-‘Anti Freezing Power’ or FDPF-‘Freezing Point Depression Factor’
  In the calculator PAC is used.
  This is a measure of how much the freezing point of the water is depressed. What it means is that the water freezes at a lower temperature. Different sugars affect the freezing point the most and salt and alcohol even more. The higher the PAC the softer the ice cream.
• POD
  POD ‘Potere Dolcificante’ is the relative sweetness of the ice cream. Another acronym is SP “Sweetening Power”.
  The POD tells you how sweet the ice cream is.

Components of ice cream

Ice cream consists of four basic components. Water, ice, solids and air.

Water

Ice

Solids

Fats

Sugars

Protein

Flavors

Air

How is ice cream made

Pasteurization

Ageing

Freezing

Hardening

Hardness

Sweetness

Stabilizers

Emulsifiers

When you start ICC (Ice Cream Calculator) the first time it will look like this.

A basic custard ice cream recipe is loaded. To create your own recipe start by pressing the Wizard button at the top of the window.

This is the easiest way to create a recipe that you later can tweak to your liking. Select the flavor and the type of ice cream you like to make.
– Gelato, lower fat compared to ice cream
– Ice cream, higher fat compared to gelato
– Custard, ice cream with eggs
– Vegan, vegan gelato style ice cream. Vegan has a bit more settings, for more info on vegan ice cream check this post. Introduction to Vegan ice cream.
You also select the Milk and Cream you like to use.
And finally you must select a secondary sugar, this is needed to be able to balance the recipe and control the sweetness and hardness of the ice cream.
Here you can read more about the Wizard dialog.

Press OK and the recipe is calculated and loaded. Here we select Vanilla Ice Cream using Whole milk, Heavy cream and Dextrose. We also load the Ice cream base chart from the Online charts.

A new balanced recipe is created.

All recipes in ICC are by Metric Weights in gram. It is possible to input recipes using volume but I strongly suggest getting a scale when using the calculator.