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How Production & Packing Quantities Work
Understanding the numbers from mix to container
The Journey of Ice Cream
Making ice cream involves several steps that change the weight and volume of what you’re working with. The system tracks these changes so the numbers make sense at every stage.
Mix Weight
What you weigh out on the scale — all your ingredients combined
Example: 10.0 kg of vanilla base mix
⬇ Pasteurization — some water evaporates
Final Weight
Mix weight minus evaporation loss — what’s in your tank after pasteurization
Example: 10.0 kg − 5% = 9.5 kg remains
⬇ Churning — air is whipped in (overrun)
Churned Volume
Volume increases from incorporated air — weight stays the same
Example: 9.5 kg → ~13.2 litres with 50% overrun
⬇ Inclusions folded in — cookie pieces, ripple, nuts
Finished Product
Ice cream base plus inclusions — ready to fill containers
Example: ~13.7 litres, ~10.0 kg total
Key Quantities Explained
Mix Weight
What you weigh out on the scale. All ingredients that go into the pot. This is the starting point.
Evaporation
Water lost during pasteurization. Typically 0–10%. Reduces weight but not quality.
Final Weight
Mix weight after evaporation. What’s physically in your ageing tank. This is your batch yield.
Overrun
Air incorporated during churning. 50% overrun = volume increases by 50%. Weight stays the same.
Inclusions
Solids folded in after churning — cookie pieces, chocolate chips, ripple, nuts. Add both weight and volume.
Infusions
Flavourings steeped and removed — vanilla bean, tea leaves. Contribute flavour but aren’t in the final product.
How the System Uses These Numbers
📅 Planning — “How much mix do I need to make?”
When you add a product like “Vanilla Cookie 500ml × 27 units” to the calendar, the system works backwards from the container to calculate mix weight:
27 × 500ml = 13.5 litres finished product
Total volume needed in containers
⬆ Subtract inclusion volume (cookies take up ~0.5L)
~13.0 litres of churned base needed
Just the ice cream, without inclusions
⬆ Reverse overrun (÷ 1.5 for 50% overrun), apply density
~8.7 litres → ~9.4 kg after evaporation
Liquid mix volume × density = Final Weight
⬆ Reverse evaporation (÷ 0.95 for 5% loss)
~9.9 kg Mix Weight
This is what appears on your recipe card in the calendar
💡
The recipe card shows Mix Weight — the amount you need to weigh out. This drives your ingredient forecast and shopping list.
🏭 Production — “What gets recorded?”
When you produce a batch, the system records:
Production Log Entry
Quantity Produced (mix input)9.9 kg
Actual Yield (after evaporation)9.5 kg
Ingredients deducted from stock✓ All, including inclusions
Available for packing9.5 kg
📦
The Actual Yield is what appears as “available” when you go to pack. Inclusions are deducted from ingredient stock during production but aren’t added to the batch yield — they’re accounted for through the volume calculation when packing.
📦 Packing — “How much do I draw from the batch?”
When packing, the system calculates how much post-evaporation mix is needed — because evaporation has already happened:
27 × 500ml = 13.5 litres finished product
⬆ Subtract inclusion volume, reverse overrun, apply density
~9.4 kg drawn from batch
No evaporation reversal — it already happened
⚠️
Planning calculates pre-evaporation weight (how much to make). Packing calculates post-evaporation weight (how much to draw). That’s why the numbers are slightly different — and that’s correct.
How the Numbers Align
Following one batch through the complete cycle:
| Stage |
What it calculates |
Evaporation? |
Result |
| 📅 Planning |
How much mix to weigh out |
Reversed (included) |
~9.9 kg mix weight |
| 🏭 Production |
What was produced + yield |
Applied |
9.9 kg in → 9.5 kg yield |
| 📦 Packing |
How much to draw from batch |
Already happened |
~9.4 kg from batch |
Planning tells you to make ~9.9 kg. You produce it, yielding ~9.5 kg after evaporation. Packing draws ~9.4 kg from the batch. Everything adds up.
What About Inclusions?
Inclusions — cookie pieces, ripple, chocolate chips — are handled differently from base ingredients:
During Production
Inclusion ingredients are deducted from your ingredient stock — the system knows you used 500g of cookie pieces. But the inclusion weight is not added to your batch yield, because the batch represents the base mix.
During Packing
The volume calculation already accounts for inclusions. When calculating how much base you need for 27 × 500ml, it subtracts the volume that inclusions occupy. So it asks for less base mix, because the inclusions fill some of the container.
✅
You don’t need to think about inclusions separately — the system handles them automatically through the volume calculation. Your ingredient stock is correctly deducted, and the right amount of base mix is drawn from the batch.
Recipe-Derived Ingredients
Some recipes produce ingredients used in other recipes — for example, a raspberry ripple recipe produces ripple that goes into your raspberry ripple ice cream.
1. Produce the ripple
Ripple gets added to ingredient stock
⬇ Ripple is now available as an ingredient
2. Produce the ice cream base
Ripple is deducted from ingredient stock as an inclusion
⬇ Base is ready, churned with ripple
3. Pack into containers
Draw from the ice cream batch
⏱️
The key is to produce the ripple before you produce the ice cream that uses it. If you try to produce the ice cream first, the system will warn that the ripple isn’t in stock yet.
Practical Workflow
MondayProduce ripple, produce ice cream base, age overnight
TuesdayChurn the aged base with the ripple, pack into containers
Weight-Based vs Volume-Based Products
Volume-Based (most common)
“Vanilla Cookie 500ml” — the system does the full reverse calculation (overrun, density, inclusions, evaporation) to figure out how much mix is needed.
Weight-Based
“Gelato Tub 1000g” — simpler calculation, just converts grams to kg. No overrun or density calculation needed.
Quick Reference
| Term |
What it means |
In finished product? |
| Mix Weight |
What you weigh out on the scale (all ingredients) |
✓ (minus evaporation) |
| Final Weight |
Mix after evaporation = what’s in your tank |
✓ |
| Overrun |
Air added during churning |
✓ (volume only) |
| Inclusions |
Cookie pieces, ripple, nuts — folded in |
✓ |
| Infusions |
Vanilla bean, tea — steeped and removed |
✗ |
| Batch Yield |
What the production log records as available |
= Final Weight |