The Discovery, Creation and Launch of the Next Great Clemson Ice Cream Innovation

Team Mentor:

Dr. John McGregor, Professor

Dept. Food Science and Human Nutrition


Team Objectives

  1. Develop and test market new ice cream flavors for Clemson’s ’55 Exchange. 
  2. Conduct heat penetration experiments to develop a shelf stable, retort processed ice cream product for kids.
  3. Write a draft proposal plan to enter the shelf stable ice cream product for kids in the 2010 IFT (Institute of Food Technologists) new product development competition.

Abstract for Focus on Creative Inquiry Annual Poster Symposium (FoCI)

Title: The Next Great Clemson Ice Cream Innovation - Effect of Freezing Temperatures on the Quality of Ice Creams being Developed for Clemson's '55 Exchange

Authors: Eileen Beebe, Maria Bertrand, Matthew Blake, Jacklyn Dejonckheere, JoAnna Gorcesky, Larissa Long, Corey Meenan, Jason Raines, Melissa Ried, Hanna Santoro, Stephanie Scheppman, Eric Toglia, Jennifer Walker; Faculty Mentor: Johnny McGregor

Abstract: There are two steps in the freezing process of Clemson ice cream. Step one is rapid (5 min) and takes place in a small batch ice cream freezer (scraped surface heat exchanger). During this step the product is converted from a liquid form (1°C) to a semisolid form (-2°C).  Step two is slower (16h) and takes place in a forced air freezer. During step two the product is converted from a semisolid form (-2°C) to a solid form (-28°C). The traditional serving temperature of ice cream is approximately -15C, the temperature of a home freezer. In this study, one sample went directly into the home freezer (-15C) for hardening, while the other was hardened in a commercial freezer (-28°C). After 16 hours of hardening both samples were moved to a home freezer (-15C) for 6 days of storage. Our study investigated the effect of different freezing rates during the hardening step to determine if a more cost effective process could be used in the product development process for designing and creating new Clemson Ice Cream flavors. A sensory panel was conducted using a triangle test to determine if consumers could differentiate between the two hardening processes. Our study demonstrated that there was no significant difference in the texture of our experimental batches of ice creams produced using a commercial hardening freezer (-34°C) to a home freezer (-15°C).  This is a significant finding for the ’55 Exchange new product development process because we have determined that a home freezer, costing approximately $500, will produce experimental test samples of equal quality to a commercial freezer that cost approximately $7,500.