AGRICULTURE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN no. 538 - 853 Cap. 2, Ratum or ranaw Library Material*! Tha MMmum Faa for aach Lot Book to $50 00 The person charging this material is responsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Than, mutilation, and underlining of book* arc raasons for discipli- nary action and may rasult in dismissal from tha Unlvafstty To ranaw can T*4apnona Cantar, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILUNOIS UBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN l|||605 1399 LI6I O-I096 Use of Honey in Ice-Cream Manufacture BY P. H. TRACY, H. A. RUEHE, AND F. P. SANMANN UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 345 CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 287 Composition of Honey 287 General Procedure for Commercial Ice-Cream Manufacture 288 OUTLINE OF THE EXPERIMENTS 288 RELATION OF HONEY SWEETENING TO QUALITY OF ICE CREAM 289 Flavor Ratings of Twelve Kinds of Honey Ice Cream 289 Palatability of Honey Ice Cream 290 Flavor Combinations 291 Storage Quality of Honey Ice Cream 291 Pasteurization Not Detrimental to Honey-Sweetened Ice Cream 292 Honey Changes Body of Ice Cream Slightly 292 EFFECT OF HONEY SWEETENING ON FREEZING AND HARDENING 293 Effect on Freezer Operations 293 Effect on Hardening of Ice Cream 295 DIPPING LOSSES WITH HONEY ICE CREAM 296 RELATION OF HONEY SWEETENING TO MELTING RESISTANCE OF ICE CREAM 296 COMPARATIVE COSTS OF HONEY AND SUGAR SWEETENING FOR ICE CREAM 297 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 297 APPENDIX (Formulas for Honey Ice Cream) 298 Urbana, Illinois May, 1930 Publications in the Bulletin series report the results of investigations made or sponsored by the Experiment Station USE OF HONEY IN ICE-CREAM MANUFACTURE BY P. H. TRACT, H. A. RUEHE, AND F. P. SANMANN' 'ONEY has formed a part of the human diet for centuries, be- ing the main source of sweetness until the advent of refined sugar. Supplanted somewhat by the cheaper cane and beet sugars, honey still remains a popular sweet because of its palatability and high food value. The use of honey in commercial ice-cream manufacture has been rather limited. During the World War, when cane and beet sugars were expensive and difficult to obtain, ice-cream manufacturers had to look, else where for sweeteners, and considerable honey was used by them at that time. The National Association of Ice Cream Manu- facturers, in reporting the results of a recent survey, lists the percent- ages of the different sugars used in commercial ice cream in the United States today but does not mention honey. 2 The literature contains practically no information regarding the merits or disadvantages of honey as compared with sugar for sweetening ice cream. It was to obtain such information that this study was made. Composition of Honey Honey has been defined as "the nectar obtained from flowers by worker bees, which, after modification in the honey-stomach of the latter, is stored in the cells of the comb, for nourishment of the young brood." 3 It is a carbohydrate, being composed largely of the two sugars dextrose and levulose. In color it varies from water-white to dark, depending upon the sources of the bees' food. Its flavor also depends on the kind of flowers from which the nectar was taken. Honey varies in both the kind and the proportions of its different constituents. Its average composition, as determined from 99 com- plete analyses by Browne, 4 is as follows: Ingredient Percent Ingredient Percent Water 17.59 Dextrin 2.09 Invert sugar 74.41 Undetermined 3.70 Sucrose 1.98 Free acid as formic 09 Aah.. 23 'P. H. TRACY, Assistant Chief in Dairy Manufactures, H. A. RUEHE, Chief in Dairy Manufactures, and F. P. SANMANN, formerly Associate. 'Dairy World, June. 1928, p. 348. 'Root. A. I. and E. R. ABC and XYZ of bee culture, p. 398, 1929. 'Browne, C. A. Chemical analysis and composition of American honeys. U. 8. Dept. of Agr., Bur. Chem. Bui. 110, 38. 1908. 287 288 BULLETIN 345 [May, In addition to the above, honey contains enzymes such as invertase, diastase, and sometimes inulase and catalase. Certain aromatic com- pounds add their flavor and odor. The vitamin content of honey is questionable. Some investigators have found none, while others report the presence of small quantities ; it is likely that there are considerable differences in honeys in this respect. The specific gravity of honey at 15 C. is 1.46; a gallon weighs about 12 pounds. General Procedure for Commercial Ice-Cream Manufacture Ice cream is made from such a mixture of milk, cream, condensed milk, or other dairy products, and sugar as will result in the desired proportion and concentration of the different solids. The butterfat content usually varies from 8 to 16 percent (by weight) ; the milk- solids-not-fat, from 9 to 13 percent; and the sugar, from 12 to 18 percent, depending somewhat on the kind of sugar used. A stabilizer such as gelatin is usually added for the purpose of improving the body of the ice cream. The ice-cream mix is ordinarily heated to 145 to 160 F. for about 30 minutes for the purpose of destroying bacteria, and is then passed thru a high-pressure machine 1 in order to completely emulsify the butterfat. It is then cooled rapidly to about 40 F., at which tempera- ture it is held until frozen. Holding the pasteurized mix at a low tem- perature is called aging and usually lasts for 24 to 48 hours. In freezing ice cream it is the usual practice to lower the tem- perature of the mix in the freezer until the maximum amount of heat is removed that will permit the incorporation of the desired amount of air. The refrigeration is then shut off and the ice cream whipped until the desired increase in volume, or "overrun" as it is termed, is ob- tained. Ordinarily from 80 to 100 percent overrun is secured. Flavor- ing is usually added at the freezer. The finished ice cream is drawn from the freezer into conveyors, cans, or pans for bricks, and is then placed in a room having a tem- perature of F. or lower, where it is allowed to harden before being marketed. OUTLINE OF THE EXPERIMENTS The experiments reported herein were made in order to determine the effect of replacing a part or all of the sucrose (cane and beet sugar) in ice cream with honey. Special consideration was given to the effect "There are various types of machines on the market used for this purpose, such as the homogenizer and viscolizer. 1930} USE OP HONEY IN ICE CHEAM IX- of honey on flavor, on the body of the ice cream, on the freezing pro- cess, on the hardening of the ice cream and on its melting resistance. Ice-cream mixes containing approximately 10, 13, and 15 percent of butterfat were used. The total solids contents varied from 35.5 to 42 percent. The control batches contained 14 percent cane sugar, whereas the honey mixes, because honey is less sweet than cane sugar, contained from 16 to 20 percent honey. Various combinations of honey and sugar were also tried. It was the usual practice to pasteur- ize and homogenize the milk products and gelatin mixture and then add the desired quantities of the sweetening products to the cooled mix. The mixes were aged for 24 to 48 hours by storing at 40 F. Both power and hand freezers were used. Mix temperature and overrun determinations were made each minute during the freezing process when the power freezer was used. The ice creams were judged by several persons, but no attempt was made to score the products. The samples were examined while fresh and again at different intervals during a two- or three-months storage period. The honeys used were obtained from the Department of Entomol- ogy, University of Illinois, and from various commercial concerns. The total solids content of each of these honeys, as determined by the Mojonnier method, was as follows: Total Total solids solids Variety of honey perct. Variety of honey perct. Sage. . . ." 80.00 Cotton 82.44 Orange 81.66 Buckwheat 81.30 Alfalfa 82.89 Heartsease 75.37 Clover 81.70 Palmetto 7850 White clover 82.34 Basswood 81.17 Sweet clover, No. 1 76.65 Clover and Sweet clover, No. 2 91.36 heartsease 78.90 Tupelo 83.99 Average 81305 RELATION OF HONEY SWEETENING TO QUALITY OF ICE CREAM Flavor Ratings of 12 Kinds of Honey Ice Cream The predominating flavor in honey ice cream depends entirely on the kind of honey used. To compare the relative merits of some of the more common honeys on the market, 12 of those listed above were used to sweeten and flavor ice cream. Eighteen percent of honey was added in each case. In these testa a wide variety of flavors was obtained. Buckwheat honey gave the ice cream a caramel color and a flavor similar to 290 BULLETIN 345 [May, sorghum. Basswood honey produced a mint flavor in the ice cream. The flavors of the palmetto and heartsease lots were rather pungent and undesirable. Sage honey added an unpleasant flavor that lingered in the mouth. Orange honey gave the ice cream a mild yet pleasant flavor. The ice creams sweetened with clover and alfalfa honeys were very popular. Five experienced judges sampled these ice creams and rated them on the basis of flavor, the maximum rating possible being 60 and the minimum, 5. The results were: Honey used Rating Honey used Rating Sweet clover 58 Mixture (clover and Alfalfa 53 heartsease 28 Clover 51 Tupelo 25 Basswood 47 Sage 24 White clover 36 Heartsease 16 Orange 35 Buckwheat 10 Palmetto 7 Several varieties of honey ice cream, it is evident, can be made successfully. It should be kept in mind that the above ratings were only relative, so that some of the ice creams which had comparatively low scores within this group might still be quite acceptable to many people, especially where there is need for a change of variety. Palatability of Honey Ice Cream In order to obtain the opinions of a number of persons regarding the general desirability of ice cream flavored with honey, as well as to ascertain the relative desirability of ice creams having different pro- portions of honey, samples of the sweet-clover honey ice creams indi- cated in Table 2 were taken at 100 percent overrun, and after remain- ing in the hardening room for 7 days were judged for flavor by fifteen members of the clerical staff and faculty of the College of Agriculture. These people were not informed what the different ice creams con- tained, but were asked to place the samples in the order of their pref- erence on the basis of flavor. The results follow: Sugar Honey Order of preference Mix perct. perct. 1st 2d 3d 4th 5th 1 14.0 .... 3 1 11 4 2 10.5 4.5 12282 3 7.0 9.0 3 5 5 2 4 3.5 13.5 72411 5 18.0 46131 The majority of the judges preferred the ice creams having the larger proportions of honey. The most popular sample was that con- taining 13.5 percent honey and 3.5 percent sugar. None of the lots were criticized as being too sweet or as lacking in sweetness. It is .' 00] USB or HONEY IN ICE CREAM 291 interesting to note that no one placed the all-sugar ice cream either first or second. At least 9 percent honey is required in the mix if an appreciable honey flavor is to be obtained. When honey is the only source of sweetening, 16 to 18 percent is necessary. The sweetening values of honeys vary somewhat, but ordinarily about 25 to 30 percent more honey than sugar is needed if the same degree of sweetness is to be obtained. However, when using as much as 20 percent honey in the mix, a slight wax flavor occasionally results, so that 18 percent honey is recommended as the maximum. Flavor Combinations Various flavor combinations were tried with ice creams sweetened with 16 to 18 percent sweet-clover honey. Pure vanilla extract did not blend well with the honey flavor, while chocolate covered it up almost entirely. Pineapple fruit was found to produce a very pleasing flavor. Cherry, peach, mint, and tutti-frutti made satisfactory combinations. Cold-pack strawberries did not blend so well as did some of the other fruits. One of the best combinations found was bisque made with grapenuts. Storage Quality of Honey Ice Cream Most of the ice creams containing honey retained their quality when stored in the hardening room for a period of several weeks. Some samples, however, seemed to store better than others. A few samples containing high percentages of honey developed an objectionable stale flavor. In some instances, only those samples containing a combina- tion of sugar and honey developed this defect. In the experiment in which the different kinds of honey were tested for flavor ratings (pages 289 and 290) it was found that with the exception of the heartsease honey, all twelve honeys used resulted in a more pleasing flavor in the ice cream after being stored for seven weeks than when freshly made. To determine whether or not the beeswax in the honey had any relation to the flavor developed in the honey ice cream, a series of mixes was prepared as follows: Mix Ingredients 1 4 Ibs. 22% cream, .7 Ib. sugar, 3 Ib. water 2 4 Ibs. 22% cream, .9 Ib. sugar, .1 Ib. water 3 4 Ibs. 22% cream, 35 Ib. sugar, .45 Ib. honey, 2 Ib. water la Same aa Mix 1 with 2 grams beeswax Added 2a Same as Mix 2 with 2 grams beeswax added 3a Same as Mix 3 with 2 grams beeswax added Mixes la, 2a, and 3a were heated to 160 F. in order to melt the 292 BULLETIN 345 [May, wax. All samples, both with and without the beeswax, were kept for six weeks and at the end of that time the following criticisms were recorded : Ice cream sample No. Criticism 1 Cleanest flavor of the series, body least desirable. la Flavor not so clean as No. 1. 2 Body better than No. 1, but flavor not quite so clean. 2a Waxy after-taste but best of the honey samples. 3 Poorest of the series, old stale flavor. 3a Next poorest sample; old stale flavor, honey flavor more pronounced than No. 3. Beeswax evidently has no relation to the stale flavor that some- times develops in honey ice cream. No "sand" 1 development was noted in any of the experimental lots. One series in which the ice cream contained approximately 10 percent fat and 12 percent serum solids was held three months without any lactose crystallization becoming apparent. Pasteurization Not Detrimental to Honey-Sweetened Ice Cream Inasmuch as manufacturers in some communities are required by law to pasteurize the entire ice-cream mix, a study was made of the effect of pasteurizing temperatures on the flavor of honey ice cream. Temperatures as high as 160 F. were used. Pasteurization caused the ice cream to have a slightly sharper flavor, but no detrimental effects were noted. Heating the mix con- taining honey caused the wax present to melt and come to the surface. As the temperature increased, this wax, instead of being dispersed thruout the mix, ran together and formed larger droplets. These wax droplets lost their identity, however, in the subsequent cooling and freezing of the mix and were of no serious consequence. Honey Changes Body of Ice Cream Slightly The texture of honey ice cream has been criticised by Iverson 2 ; this investigator, however, had replaced all the sugar in the mix with an equal weight of honey. Under such conditions the honey ice cream will not have as good a body as that containing sugar, because of the lower proportion of total solids. As stated on page 291 it is necessary to use 25 to 30 percent more honey (by weight) than sugar if the same sweetness is to be maintained in the ice cream. This proportion of honey gives the mix practically the same total solids as when cane 'The term "sand" is used to describe the condition that exists when the lactose in ice cream becomes crystallized. "American Bee Journal, July, 1928, p. 348. ; I ! USE or HONEY IN ICE CREAM 293 sugar is used and the body of the ice cream will be more nearly like that made with sugar. Because of its lower freezing point, honey ice cream seems to be somewhat smoother. In cutting slabs of honey ice cream the body appeared slightly crumbly and sticky but the objection was not serious. EFFECT OF HONEY SWEETENING ON FREEZING AND HARDENING The freezing point of an ice-cream mix is of considerable impor- tance to the manufacturer. It has been found 1 that as the freezing TABLE 1. FREEZING POINT OF SUGAR AND HONEY MIXES Mi* Fat Total solids Cane sugar (by weight) Honey (91.36% t.s.) (by weight) Freezing point 1. . perct. 13.27 perct. 35.58 perct. 14.0 perct. -2 .06C. 2 13.42 36.45 10.5 4.5 -2.57C. 3 13 19 36 70 7 9 -2.95C. 4 13.20 36.44 3.5 13.5 -3.11C. 5 12.90 36.42 18.0 -3.47C. NOTE. Each batch contained .33 percent of gelatin by weight. point is lowered by an increase in the sugar content of the mix, more time is required to complete freezer operations; also, lower tempera- tures are necessary to maintain the ice cream in a firm condition. A mix containing 18 percent honey had a freezing point of 3.47 C., whereas another mix containing practically the same milk solids and 14 percent cane sugar has a freezing point of - 2.06 C. (Table 1). Effect on Freezer Operations Since honey lowers the freezing point of a mix to a greater extent than does an amount of cane sugar of equal total solids, it might be expected that there would be some differences in the freezer operations. This relationship as outlined in Table 2 shows that as the proportion of honey was increased, the time required for the brine to be on was increased. There was also a tendency for the honey mixes to require a longer time to whip. Examination of the freezing curves, however, shows that when the ice cream was drawn at an overrun of less than 100 percent, the differences in the freezing periods became less. Some manufacturers limit the overrun in package ice cream to 80 percent. In these freezings 80 percent overrun would have been obtained at the following intervals: 'Department of Dairy Husbandry, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. Unpublished data. 294 BULLETIN 345 [May, "*"* U CH 5 SiE ill aj i i o . O CO (M O 00 (N (N(M(N S SCO 2l| . O rH 1C CO CO In CD O CO -H ^H CO CC " -S S *" 1 00 03 a> (3 II a g iO O COCO CO 8 g IP III g m o 10 o S O ^ O> CO OO 11 OQ 'S o .... o> -z fc Tt< O t>- CO c 5^1 """* '^ cd ^> 1 3 fe lO CO CO CO CD A. co co co co co o EH g c^^S^S ri fe 6 CO COCOCO < t~ O O>l 8 8 CO CO qo CO CO c~. 55 2 ?o o , 25S 8 SOO Q r^ o eooo oo tO ?< N Q O OS"3 O 5. * 40-percent Skim milk Bulk conde solids) -.j - 8 g g 2 S E o C 9 I ^ 2 c> * '" O. i C. a! tte k wd 83-percen 4-percent 87-percen '.". ' So t>-r^ ream ilk ntrated skim mi n ent n 32-per 4-perc 32-per =^- '= i 53 il rc ti 300 BULLETIN 345 A, B, C, and D and shows how many pounds of each are needed in 100 pounds of mix when using either one of two combinations of fat and milk-solids-not-fat. These two groups are again divided into four, which vary in percentage of non-milk products from 14.5 to 21.5. When a mix is desired the composition of which lies between the extremes listed in the table, the correct proportions can be calculated from the formulas given. For example, if the mix is to contain 12 percent fat, 11 percent m.s.n.f., and 14.5 percent non-milk products, and the milk products available are as listed under A, the formula can be calculated by averaging the values given for the 10-12 and 14-10 mixes as follows: Average 10-12 mix 14-10 mix (12-11 mix) Cream 19.54 31.30 25.420 Skim milk 38.68 35.71 37.195 Condensed milk.. 27.28 18.49 22.885 Total milk solids 85.50 85.50 85.500 ACKNOWLEDGMENT Fourteen different honeys were studied in these experiments. Twelve of these honeys were actually used in making ice creams, thus giving a wide range in flavors. The authors are indebted to Mr. M. G. Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, Illinois, and to Professor V. G. Milum, Entomology Department, University of Illinois, for supplying the bulk of the honey used. Appreciation is also due Hoff- man and Hauck, Inc., Ozone Park, New York, for samples of honey submitted. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA