Bruce W. Tharp, Ph.D. and L. Steven Young, Ph.D.
Tharp and Young on Ice Cream
An Encyclopedic Guide to Ice Cream Science and Technology
Background
This book is so much more than the title would suggest. Whilst it is laid
out alphabetically, discussion and cross-referencing are comprehensive,
giving the reader the benefit of both authors’ extensive knowledge
and understanding of ice cream–a compilation of their combined
lifetime experience on the subject.
Dr. Bruce Tharp grew up in the ice cream industry with his father’s
manufacturing business, Tharp’s Ice Cream. His passion for ice cream
and dairy saw him complete three degrees in dairy science from Pennsylvania
State University. Bruce was the inaugural recipient of the International
Ice Cream Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006,
in recognition of the immense contribution he has made to the ice
cream industry globally with passionate communication of his technical
expertise.
Likewise, Dr. Steven Young had early exposure to the dairy industry with
his father being a well respected cheese and whey products technical
expert. Dr. Young’s former roles include Director of R & D at Dryers/
Edy’s Grand Ice Cream in the USA and former Director of food ingredient
applications at ADM, USA. He is now an independent dairy and
food technologist working on a consultant project basis.
Leveraging their combined (greater than 100 years) experience in ice
cream, these two gentlemen have collaborated since 1996 with Tharp
& Young on Ice Cream, the title given to the technical short courses,
product workshops and clinics for ice cream training they jointly present
around the world.
Contents
The book is divided into two sections. The first and largest section (350
pages) is the A-Z of listed terms and explanations. Under ‘C’ is an entry for Calculations.
This entry gives 11 pages of detailed information on calculating product weight,
overrun, specific gravity, target package weight at the filler and consideration
of inclusions in calculations of package weights.
Under Mix Processing, there are 18 pages of explanation, diagrams and
photos of the processing steps – the how and why are well explained.
The effect of not enough or too much agitation during dispersion of dry
ingredients is covered very well.
Other topics that are given excellent detailed coverage are emulsifiers,
fat agglomeration, formulation guidelines (not just for ice cream:
soft serve, sorbet, milkshakes, no sugar ice cream are also covered),
freeze concentration, extruded novelties, melting behaviour, sensory
evaluation (10 pages on this, for product development and quality)
and stabilisers.
This book gives the best explanation I have ever read as to how gelato
differs from ice cream (in 4 pages).
Because the regulatory section is based on US frozen dessert standards
of identity and nutrient content claims the details given are not relevant
to our market.
Throughout the general text of this book, temperatures are given in
both Fahrenheit and Celsius scales.
Appendix
The second section is the Appendix, which is a 39 page collection of
essays the authors have had published in the US industry magazine
Dairy Foods since 1999, updated for this book. Essays include Accelerated
Shelf Life Testing, Alternative Sweeteners, Cost Management,
Downsizing of Ice Cream Packaging, Flavour Changes in Ice Cream
during Storage and Pink Discolouration in Vanilla Ice Cream.
Conclusion
The subject matter in both sections includes detailed scientific information
in a very easily understood and interesting manner, making it
not only a reference book but one that can be read from cover to cover.
This book would be equally useful for research, product development,
operations and quality personnel working in the ice cream industry.
I liken the reading of this book to the experience you have when you
listen to a technical guru talk on a subject matter dear to their heart and
you’d like to listen to them all day. Fortunately, the authors’ experience
is now well documented in this book so we can benefit from their
years of observation and understanding about ice cream.
–Sandra Murray, FNZIFST
Business Development Manager
Hawkins Watts Limited
Tharp and Young on Ice Cream
An Encyclopedic Guide to Ice Cream Science and Technology
Bruce W. Tharp, Ph.D. and L. Steven Young, Ph.D.
For the past two decades, Dr. Bruce Tharp and Dr. Steve Young have presented technical short courses to the frozen dessert industry in the U.S.A. and around the world, with Bruce Tharp well known locally for his earlier presentations of the Penn State Ice Cream course in Australia. In this encyclopaedic reference work, Tharp and Young bring together their combined lifetime experience in practical ice cream making and go on to explain the scientific basis behind frozen desserts.
They present this volume as both reference book and text on the making of ice cream, to be read cover to cover, and the abundance of incidental knowledge and advice makes a thorough reading interesting and worthwhile. The term ice cream encompasses all the related frozen products and desserts, with extensive coverage of the familiar products such as hard, soft-serve, soft-scoop, low-fat and yoghurt ice creams; ranging to topical discussion of new concepts, examples being a sherbet based on buttermilk and the use of pre-biotic and pro-biotic ingredients in ice creams targeted at digestive health.
The alphabetical entries range from short definitions of technical terms to detailed discussion of the main unit operations of ice cream production under heading such as; formulation guidelines, calculations, mix processing, freezing, and hardening. While not meant to be a definitive scientific reference, the scientific principles are covered in some depth and their linkage to practical ice cream making will make this volume valuable to researchers. The text follows an American perspective in discussion of formulations, regulations and labelling requirements while providing metric conversions for temperatures and volumes, although the calculation section is illustrated in American units only.
The main strength of this volume is its practical approach, bridging from the product to the science behind. As a unique and comprehensive reference, it will be a very useful addition to the shelf for technologists in the ice cream business. The alphabetical presentation makes it an accessible reference for marketing and management personnel and suppliers to the industry, and a must have for food technology libraries. (338 words)
–Geoff Ball
Consultant to the food and dairy industry, Sydney
