Added a selection in Ingredients to show only standard ingredients or only user added ingredients.

AI features

This is a major new feature. Read more here.

Working with Bases

Added better support for working with Bases. See more here

Improved production planning

Rewritten list tab with search filter.
Added a statistics tab.
Displays summary of weights in the calendar tab.
Added a Compact mode checkbox in calendar tab to be able to display more recipes.
Improved the connection to the Inventory system.

Inventory system

In the inventory system, products can be linked to ingredients or recipes. When a production is completed in the planning module, the system can automatically update the inventory based on these links. If a recipe is produced and linked to a product, the inventory increases for that product. Conversely, if an ingredient is linked to a product, the inventory decreases for that product.

For some unknown reason the database can lose the table settings for the ingredient table. If this happens there was no way to edit the table and it was always empty. Added a fix that detects this.

Some improvements in the Planning dialog

The list can be sorted by clicking the columns
For the summary panel I have added “All ingredients” “Ingredients” and “Products”. The All ingredients option will break down “recipe ingredients” to base ingredients. This means you can choose to view the list for all base ingredients (ingredients in the database). This only affects recipes that use other recipes as ingredients.
Also fixed a bug that caused a crash if you had added a recipe to planning but later deleted that recipe from the database.

Fixed bug with recipes used in add-ins

If you added recipes as add-ins those recipes was not properly handled in the nutrition, allergens and data calculations etc.

Added Groups to allergens

There is now a possibility to set allergen groups in the allergen system. The idea here is to be able to group together multiple allergens. For example, you have several ingredients in your recipe, one has peanuts as an allergen and one has cashew nuts. In this case you could add a Group called Nuts. This makes it easy to know if a recipe contains any kind of nuts.

Added timeout when accessing the USDA database

Some users reported that the system sometimes hangs when using the USDA database. I have added a timeout for the server call so this should not happen any more.

Added Overrun input edit

Added an edit to change the overrun in addition to the track bar.

Fixed bug with Compare Charts function

The Compare Charts function did not work after porting to .NET 8, this is now fixed.

Revision logic

Small change in the logic when a new revision is created. The current recipe is reloaded.
I noticed when using this myself that if you changed a recipe and then selected to create a new revision that the active recipe got saved with the changes you already made and Undo did not work. The new logic works like this. When you select to create a new revision the new revision is a copy of the current recipe of course but after the new revision is created the current recipe is re-loaded from the database.

New feature Heat transfer simulation

The command is available at Menu/Recipe/Simulate
This is a heat transfer simulation calculation. You can use this to both calculate heating or freezing for the current recipe using different environmental settings and containers.

You set the initial temperature of the ice cream, the target temperature as a stop condition for the simulation and an ambient temperature that is the surrounding temperature. There are also a few other settings for air flow, grid size etc…

This is still an experimental function so please feel free to test it and give feedback.

— Water was rounded to whole integer value in Edit ingredient
— Category was not updated correctly in Online database
— Production process bugs, fixed volume conversion errors
— PIN code bugs fixed
— Fixed bug with Cost calculations for recipes with other recipes as ingredients and when those contained add-ins. The add-ins cost for such recipes was not included in the main recipe.
— In the Production planning the weight in the summary table now accounts for Scale.

Minor changes

— Added evaporated weight (Final weight) in the Production system.
— Added color coding of Online ingredients.
— Displays total number of ingredients and standard ingredients.
— Added “Not used in recipes” filter in the Ingredients dialog.
— When changing W% the Total Weight is fixed.
— Improved the Database Groups system.
— Added more DATA to the recipe data.

.NET 8

To be able to take part of all new development and improvements of .NET the calculator has been updated to .NET 8. When installing you will probably be prompted to download and install .NET 8 as it is not included in Windows 11 by default and I don’t think it is added by Windows Update. But, just click the link to download and install and try starting the calculator again.
There are no major changes as a result of upgrading to .NET 8 a part from the Notes editor that needed to be replaced.

New Report System

The report system has been changed to use a build it Word-like editor. This will make it much easier to make reports. I have also simplified all the report settings and put everything directly in the dialog and removed most of the old settings. The new report templates have .TX as extension. You will still be able to run your old DOCX reports but it is recommended to rewrite them in the new system instead.

In the new report editor you both design your template and generate the report. You switch between edit mode and report mode by pressing F5 or using the button in the Report tab. The actual word processor is similar to Word so it should be quite familiar.
To add data to the report you just double click on the DATA item you like to have in the list of available DATA on the right side when you are in Edit mode. More info on the reports here. Reports info.

View changes for online ingredients

In the Ingredients dialog you can press the Online DB to update or add ingredients from the online database of standard ingredients. You can now also see what has changed if you double click on an ingredient in the list. Online ingredients are now also color coded in the Ingredients dialog.

Wizard Vegan Gelato/Ice Cream

Added the option of Gelato or Ice Cream when creating a Vegan recipe in the Wizard. I have also added two new Online Charts for Vegan Gelato and Vegan Ice Cream.

— Add-Ins weight was not visually updated in the recipe when changing total weight. You had to open the Add-Ins dialog and press OK for the weight to update in the list. This was only a visual problem the actual weight is correct, the display just didn’t update in all cases.
— Undo bugs fixed after SaveAs and Reload
— Volume converter now uses 2 decimals and remembers the last Unit used
— Butterfat is now displayed in the main recipe again
— Evaporate ingredient bugs fixed
— DPI bug when using PAC +/- or POD +/- buttons
— Improved tooltip on Compare button to indicate it takes a snapshot of the current recipe
— Fixed bug in production planning if a recipe was changed the old recipe was still used in the planning until the calculator was restarted.

Produce dialog improvements

Some improvements to the Produce dialog. You can now use Volume and add-ins are also added to the list.

USDA Info added

When adding an ingredient using the USDA database information about the sugar composition and the FDCID are added to the Notes.

Attached files to ingredient

Added back an old feature to attach files to an ingredient.

Solids info added to evaporation dialog

Improved the evaporation dialog with Solids information.

Reload compare recipe

When working with a Compare recipe you can now reload that recipe.

Ingredient database dialog exact search using OR syntax

In the Find edit in the Ingredient database dialog you can now perform exact search using OR syntax. Example you can type in “Apple OR Orange” in the Find edit and that will list exact matches to Apple or Orange.

• * Revisions could not be opened. This is fixed.
• * Replacing an ingredient in all recipes bug fixed. The weight was set to zero after replacing.
• * Wizard loaded charts even if the chart existed in the list resulting in multiple identical charts in the chart list.
• * Possible bug with the volume of add-ins fixed. This also affected cost/L with add-ins
• * Fixed several bugs with missing translations
• * Fixed bug in production planning dialog. Add-Ins were not displayed in the used in list.
• * Not a bug but now all open recipes will be re-opened when you start ICC

Only used in recipes filter

Added a new filtering option in the ingredient list dialog. Only used in recipes. By checking this checkbox the list will only show ingredients used in active recipes.

List ingredients used in selected recipes

A new button in the Recipe dialog. Pressing this button will list all ingredients used in the selected recipes and you can modify the cost of each ingredient or edit the ingredient.

Sort order in Ingredients

When adding an ingredient to a recipe the ingredient is normally added after the currently selected row. This new setting will place the ingredient based on the Sort order position instead if it is defined (-1 means it is not set). This allows you to group ingredients automatically when adding them to a recipe.

Daily Value

You can now define the absolute values for the Daily Value calculations in nutrition labels. The nutrition information dialog has also been extended with more data and %DV.

Cost columns in Recipe dialog

Added new columns in the recipe dialog for Total cost, Cost/Kg and Cost/Liter. These columns are left blank by default, you have to check the Show cost checkbox to calculate these columns. Also improved the Excel export with some more data and costs.

Improved Compare dialog

Some improvements in the compare dialog. Color coding for different values, filtering and Excel export.

Create chart from all open recipes

A new method to create a chart and set the min/max ranges based on all open recipes.
Also moved all Chart creation methods as a drop down when pressing the + button below the chart list box.

Recipe Database Groups

It’s now possible to add recipes to different “recipe database groups”. You can for example have a TEST group and one PRODUCTION group etc…
In the recipe database dialog there is now a selection from what group you like to select your recipes.

You could do similar things before using the TAGS but this is a new feature that will tie in to a new User system later. Planning a system with Users where you can set privileges etc…more info later.

– Fixed bug with font size in some columns, W% for example.
– Fixed bug with Total solids warning when adding ingredients to handle internal rounding errors.
– Fixed translation bugs and added missing sentences.
– Conversion from V3 to V4 bug fixed. If in V3 you had a recipe with a so called “non-database” ingredient this recipe was not imported correctly.

Ingredient single add mode

If you check the Ingredient single add mode the Ingredient dialog will close directly when double clicking an ingredient or pressing the Add button. If this checkbox is not checked adding ingredients work as before and you need to press the Close button to end ingredient adding.

Double click tab to change recipe name

You can now double click on a tab to change the recipe name. The other ways to change the name are to right click and select Rename or press F2.

Double click in Weight cell

Double click in Weight cell brings up the Modify weight dialog.

Ingredient database dialog size

The ingredient dialog size is now stored so if you manually change the size of this dialog it will be displayed in that size the next time you open it. This is useful for users with low resolution screens.

Recipe Wizard Charts

When using the wizard you can now automatically load the actual chart used to generate the recipe. Just check the “Load chart” checkbox.

Water Activity

Water activity is a crucial parameter in confectionery production to ensure product safety, mold growth, quality, shelf stability, and texture. Water activity is usually measured using a water activity meter and that is the only safe method if you want accurate results.
However there are methods to estimate the water activity aw.
I have added a Water Activity estimation in the calculator using the Grover model.
aw=1.04−0.1×E+0.0045×E^2
where E is based on the PAC, Protein, Starch and Salt.
This is still under evaluation and should be used with caution!

Portable version support

In the settings you can now select to place the database in the same folder as the executable.
This means if you copy the whole installation to an USB drive you can run it from there on any computer. You will of course need Read/Write access to the executable folder for this to work.
You check the Portable license checkbox to activate this. When you do this a database called icc4.sqlite will be created in the same folder as the executable. If you like to use your current database you will need to copy it to this folder and rename it if needed to icc4.sqlite.

New recipe

When pressing the Menu/New button a dialog box will show where you can select an Empty recipe or another recipe from the database. You can add template recipes to this list similar to version 3.

Remember settings in recipe and ingredient dialogs

The sorting and radio buttons in the ingredient database and recipe database dialogs are now remembered so these dialogs opens in the same way as last time you used them

Machine settings

You can now add an ice cream machine to the calculator. A machine will have an optimal fill volume and a min/max fill volume. There are also new DATA items created to support this. Optimal volume, Min volume, Max volume, Machine volume range and Machine. By default you will get a list of popular home ice cream machines but you can add your own and/or delete items from this list. When adding a new machine you will be prompted to fill in the Bowl capacity. The Optimal volume will then be calculated as half the bowl capacity and the min/max will be +/- 15% of that. You can of course modify these values and for batch freezers you should do that as this formula does not apply to batch freezers. Using the DATA items you can easily add your own DATA item using a formula to calculate the number of batches you need to produce your recipe [Mix volume]/[Optimal volume] or [Mix volume]/[Max volume]

– Fixed a bug with batch numbers. The date was not read from the database correctly.
– Fixed a bug when saving a product in the Inventory. The Weight was rounded to an integer.
– Some minor changes to support lower resolution screens better. The W% trackbar is now resized when the form is resized so that the buttons on the right is always visible.
– Fixed bug when changing Final weight to a weight that is larger than Total weight, this caused the program to crash.
– Fixed installation so that a desktop shortcut is always added to V4 when updating from V3.
– Fixed bug with the Min/Max ranges of ingredients, they were not saved correctly in the recipe. They reverted back to the values set in the ingredient database and not the overridden values set in the recipe.

Online charts

For new installations all the online charts will be loaded automatically.

Chart value text

Made the chart value text a bit easier to read if it overlaps a range line.

Tags

You can now toggle the TAGS for a recipe in the main form. Added a small blue “T” button to toggle TAGS on and off.

Balancing

I have rewritten the Automatic balancing algorithms. There were a few issues I wanted to address.

One thing was that if you had one target property that could not be reached that property could mess up the other targets. For example, say you have a target for stabilizers but your recipe doesn’t have any stabilizers in it. Then this property will never be possible to satisfy, and this would affect the balance of the other properties.
I also wanted to be able to prioritize one property that I think is more important. If the balancing fails it can fail in different ways, if you have one property that you really would like to succeed it would be good to be able to flag that property as important.
And finally I wanted to improve the quality of the balancing in general.

I think all these issues have been resolved after rewriting the algorithms. I believe the balancing is now really good and the results when it fails are more intuitive. A challenge for users would be, if the automatic balancing fails, can you manually change the recipe so that all charts and panels are green? If you find such a case please let me know!

So, you can now set a Priority flag on a property to indicate it is important.

When balancing, both the chart and any panels with a range (min or max) set will be used. You can now turn off panels from the balancing if you like. If a panel is used in the balancing a small blue dot is displayed in the panel to indicate this. To disable a panel from balancing uncheck the Use in balancing checkbox.

Minimize cost balancing

Added a new balancing method to minimize the total cost of the recipe. This balancing method will balance as usual but also try to minimize the total cost of the recipe.

Fixed several bugs in the Reports dialog.
Inventory items where not saved correctly.
PAC and POD was not correct when you added a recipe with evaporation as an ingredient to another recipe.
Other minor bugs.

Changes

Save as ingredient is now available in the top row of buttons. Right click to customize additional buttons.
The Freezing curve panel now has a small red X button to close it. It can be turned on again from inside the freezing curve dialog.
Improved the graphics and text rendering of the Panels and Charts.
New design of the Recipe properties dialog.

New TAB control for the recipes

Implemented a new and improved tab control for the recipes. It should now be much clearer and easier to use.

Perceptual maps

Compare recipes using perceptual maps. Found in the recipe database dialog.

Radar charts

Analyze recipes using radar charts. Found in the recipe database dialog.

User data in recipes

Add unlimited extra data to your recipe.

Default Note

You can now set a default note that will be set for new recipes. Right click on the Note button to set or clear the default note.

Recipes as add-ins

You can now also add recipes as add-ins to other recipes.

Fixed some bugs with revisions. You can now delete the latest revision and there was a bug when you used the Split revision button in the recipe dialog.

Data

You can now multi-select data items when adding panels instead of adding new panels one by one.
Added more Data items. Items starting with A_ are the weight of each add-in in the recipe and items starting with SI_ are the weight of each sub-ingredient in the recipe.
Also the user interface logic is improved in the Data dialog, the selected row is now remembered better when adding/deleting user data items.

Bugs

Some minor bug fixes.
Fixed bug with Cost/Kg when converting a recipe to an ingredient. The Evaporation was not accounted for.
Fixed bugs with Density estimation. Evaporation was not accounted for. If the recipe has a user supplied density that density is not adjusted for evaporation.

RCPX

Added a cost scale factor to RCPX recipe items. This allows you to calculate cost better. The scale factor lets you handle waste when producing a recipe.
Added a tool in the RCPX dialog to calculate the Scale based on moulds/cavitites and extra production weight.