Technical Note #010: From Composition to Behaviour — Can We Simulate an Ice Cream Before Producing It?

An ice cream recipe generally describes a composition: milk, cream, sugars, fat, water, stabilisers…

But a professional formulation is much more than a list of ingredients.

From its composition, it is possible to study parameters that influence the behaviour of ice cream during freezing, storage and serving.

This raises an important question:

Can we simulate the behaviour of an ice cream before actually producing it?

With a formulation software such as Gelato Pro Software, the objective is no longer simply to calculate a recipe, but also to analyse what that recipe can produce.

From Formulation to Physical Behaviour

Ice cream is a complex system in which several components interact.

Sugars influence, among other things, the behaviour of water and the freezing process. Fat contributes to structure and mouthfeel. Proteins and other dry matter also contribute to the properties of the finished product.

As a result, two recipes with different compositions can behave very differently during freezing.

For the formulator, analysis should therefore go beyond simply looking at ingredient percentages.

It should also be possible to answer more practical questions:

• How much water remains unfrozen at a given temperature?

• How does the proportion of frozen water change as temperature decreases?

• How does the formulation influence the behaviour of the product?

• How does hardness evolve as temperature changes?

• What happens to these parameters when an ingredient is modified?

This is where computer-based analysis becomes particularly useful.

Gelato Pro makes it possible to move from recipe composition to the analysis of its theoretical physical behaviour.

What Happens When Ice Cream Is Cooled?

When an ice cream mix begins to cool, not all of its water turns into ice instantly.

Some of the water gradually freezes, while another portion remains in the liquid phase.

The proportion of frozen water therefore changes with temperature.

This evolution depends, among other factors, on the composition of the formulation and on the presence of dissolved substances.

As temperature decreases, the amount of frozen water generally increases. However, this evolution is not the same for every formulation.

Two ice creams with a similar water content can therefore behave differently if their sugar or dry-matter composition differs.

For the formulator, temperature alone is therefore not enough to characterise the state of the product.

It is also necessary to understand what is happening within the aqueous phase.

The Freezing Curve: Following the Evolution of Water

The freezing curve makes it possible to observe this evolution.

It relates temperature to the proportion of frozen water in the formulation.

It therefore helps us understand how the product changes as it is cooled and makes it possible to compare different formulations.

With Gelato Pro Software, this analysis can be carried out from the formulation itself. The software can therefore be used to theoretically study how frozen water evolves as temperature changes.

This information becomes particularly relevant when considering serving temperature.

An ice cream served at -12°C is not in the same physical state as one served at -18°C. The proportion of frozen water and the characteristics of the remaining liquid phase change with temperature.

The freezing curve therefore allows us to move beyond simply specifying a serving temperature and instead obtain a physical view of the product at that temperature.

But it does not tell the whole story.

Freezing Curve and Hardness Curve: Two Complementary Views

The freezing curve primarily describes what happens to water as temperature decreases.

The hardness curve provides another type of information: how the ice cream behaves mechanically as its temperature changes.

These two curves should therefore not be confused.

An increase in the proportion of frozen water generally contributes to making the product more rigid. However, hardness does not depend on this parameter alone.

The overall composition of the ice cream and the structure of its matrix also play a role.

The reasoning can therefore be represented as follows:

Formulation → freezing behaviour → proportion of frozen water → product structure → mechanical behaviour.

The freezing curve helps us understand the evolution of the aqueous phase.

The hardness curve then provides information about the mechanical consequences of this physical state.

In Gelato Pro, these parameters can be studied at different temperatures to better understand the theoretical behaviour of a formulation and compare different recipes.

This becomes particularly useful when serving temperature is considered from the formulation stage.

What About Viscosity?

Freezing is not the only phenomenon to consider.

As water freezes, the concentration of the components remaining in the liquid phase increases. This unfrozen phase therefore becomes progressively more concentrated, and its properties change.

Viscosity is consequently another useful parameter for understanding the behaviour of the mix and the ice cream.

It can complement the analysis of the formulation and help explain why two products with similar freezing characteristics may nevertheless behave differently.

The value of formulation software lies precisely in being able to consider these different parameters together rather than analysing them independently.

Can We Simulate an Ice Cream Before Producing It?

Simulation does not mean that software can replace the laboratory.

It means using the available formulation data to anticipate the theoretical behaviour of the product and compare different possibilities before moving into production.

Consider a simple example.

A formulator wants to replace part of one sugar with another ingredient.

The question is not simply:

“How much should I use?”

It is also:

“What consequences will this change have on my formulation?”

The modification may affect the sugar balance, the amount of available water, freezing behaviour and the characteristics of the product at serving temperature.

With Gelato Pro, these consequences can be studied before producing several experimental batches.

The formulator can compare different compositions and identify those that present the desired characteristics.

Simulation therefore becomes a tool for better targeting experimental trials.

Changing a Recipe and Measuring the Consequences

This is one of the major benefits of a simulation-based approach.

A formulation is rarely completely fixed.

An ingredient may need to be replaced, a recipe may need to be adapted to a new raw material, the fat content may need to be changed, or a different texture may be required at serving temperature.

Each modification can affect several parameters simultaneously.

With Gelato Pro, the formulator can compare a reference formulation with a modified one and examine the calculated differences.

The question is no longer simply:

“Does this recipe work?”

It also becomes:

“What changes when I modify this recipe?”

This approach makes formulation more structured and reduces reliance on purely empirical trial and error.

From Simulation to Production

Simulation does not eliminate testing.

It makes testing more targeted.

Instead of producing numerous recipes simply to discover what works, the formulator can use calculations to reduce the number of hypotheses that need to be tested.

The process becomes:

formulate → calculate → simulate → compare → produce → validate.

The laboratory remains essential for verifying the actual behaviour of the product.

But it intervenes after an initial analysis that can already help eliminate certain formulations or identify those that deserve to be tested.

It is this complementarity between calculation and experimentation that gives simulation its value.

A Simulation Is Not a Promise

It is important to distinguish between simulation and experimental validation.

A simulation relies on models and on the quality of the data used.

It can help anticipate, compare and guide formulation decisions, but it cannot reproduce every variable found in a laboratory or production process.

Machine type, freezing process, air incorporation, storage conditions and other production variables can all influence the final result.

Simulation should therefore be considered an aid to formulation, not a replacement for real-world testing.

Gelato Pro: From Formulation to Simulation

This is where Gelato Pro Software fits into the formulation process.

Professional formulation software should not be limited to calculating a recipe.

It should also help analyse the parameters that influence product behaviour and compare different formulations.

The analysis of sugars, water, dry matter and other components is the first step.

The study of freezing behaviour, frozen-water content, hardness and related parameters allows the analysis to go further.

The formulation becomes a model that can be analysed before production.

From Recipe to Behaviour

Modern formulation is no longer simply about determining how many grams of each ingredient should be included in a recipe.

It is also about understanding what that composition can produce.

The freezing curve allows us to follow the evolution of frozen water.

The hardness curve provides a complementary view of mechanical behaviour.

Serving temperature places these parameters in the conditions in which the product will actually be consumed.

And simulation makes it possible to connect these data with the formulation before production begins.

From composition to behaviour, a recipe becomes a model that can be analysed, compared and refined.

This is one of the benefits of an approach such as Gelato Pro Software: using formulation data not only to calculate a recipe, but also to better understand and anticipate the behaviour of the finished product before it is produced.