Xanthan gum in ice cream making

Xanthan gum
in ice cream making

Xanthan gum is the only gum you will ever need, if you have to choose only one from all the gums available in the market. Here you will find everything you need it.

And please do ask us your questions. We ❤️ questions.

About xanthan gum | How do I use it? | How much should I use? |
EXCLUSIVE: the no-thermometer method

top xanthan gum ice cream recipes:

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About xanthan gum:

Xanthan gum is one the gums used in ice cream making. Pastry chefs and food industries around the world use a combination of gums to stabilise the ice cream mixture and create the creaminess and mouthfeel they want.

Xanthan gum is the only gum which when used on its own, it creates a terrific ice cream texture; all other gums need to be combined with at least one more.

Most gums may be hard to find and expensive, but xanthan gum is widely used in gluten-free baking, so it is often available at the grocery stores (the baking aisle), at specialty shops or online. This makes it the easiest to find.

One more thing to love in xanthan gum is that you do not need much heat to use it; xanthan gum fully hydrates at approx. 52ºC/ 125ºF, whereas all other gums need to be added to the ice cream mixture at 85ºC / 185ºF. This makes xanthan gum the most convenient in using it, as it requires less cooking over the stovetop.

Xanthan gum creates a lovely ice cream body which churns beautifully, melts uniformly and keeps well in the freezer.

Questions

Other gums used in ice cream making:

Carob bean gum
Locust bean gum
Guar gum

How do I use xanthan gum?

To add xanthan gum in your ice cream mixture follow these steps:

bring the ice cream mixture to 45ºC-62ºC/ 113ºF-143ºF
pour it into a blender’s jar
with the blender on, sprinkle the xanthan gum over the surface
blend for two minutes to fully hudrate the xanthan gum
chill the ice cream mixture until completely cold.
churn with your ice cream maker

Note that the ice cream mixture doesn’t thicken during blending. It will thicken slightly as it cools.

Questions

How much should I use?

You can adjust the quantity of the xanthan gum in the ice cream recipe to your liking, depending on the texture you want to achieve:

To slightly stabilise the ice cream without affecting its texture and mouthfeel much, use 0.06% in total weight of ice cream mixture
to create a firmer texture, which has a fuller body and mouthfeel, close to a store-bought ice cream, use 0.12% in total weight of ice cream mixture
for a stretchy texture similar to Booza/salep ice cream, use 0.22% in total weight of ice cream mixture

Questions

The no-thermometer method

When using xanthan gum for ice cream making, you need to bring the ice-cream mixture to the right temperature (approx. 45ºC-62ºC/ 113ºF-143ºF) before adding the gum. At this temperature, xanthan gum dissolves without clumping, fully hydrates during blending, and effectively stabilises the ice cream mixture.

If you do not have a thermometer, you can use a simple and foolproof method to bring the mixture to the right temperature without using one, which I have developed over the years. How does it work? Thanks to physics, you can calculate the temperature of a mix of liquids with different temperatures. But to begin with, you need two temperatures that you do not need a thermometer to measure.

Luckily, there are two temperatures in a modern home which are always the same:

the one is the boiling temperature of a liquid, which is always approx. 95ºC-100ºC / 203ºF-212ºF ;
the other is the temperature of a liquid cold straight out of the fridge; that can be anywhere between 4ºC-14ºC/ 39ºF-57ºF in normal conditions (abnormal conditions include extreme hot weather; or frequently opening and closing the fridge’s door; those can disrupt the standard temperatures of your fridge).

What we do is divide in half the mixture that we want to stabilise with the xanthan gum; half of the mixture must be boiling hot and the other half fridge-cold. When you blend the two halves together, the blend instantly reaches approx. 52ºC/ 125ºF; you then sprinkle the xanthan gum and blend for two minutes to fully hydrate.

That works every time, and it is an easy way to use xanthan gum without a thermometer. And fear not for minor differentiations in the above temperatures, as xanthan gum is quite forgiving. In fact 52ºC/ 125ºF is the temperature I prefer for convenience; xanthan gum works anywhere between 45ºC-62ºC/ 113ºF-143ºF.

Questions

Example:

Say you want to make fior di latte ice cream with: 500 g milk + 350 g cream + 150 g sugar = total weight 1000 gr.

What you need to do is:

1. Divide in half the ice cream mixture: this is 1000g ÷ 2 = 500 g

2. Keep the one half in fridge-cold temperature and bring the other half to boiling-hot temperature

3. What to include in the boiling-hot half: it only makes sense to include all the sugar because sugar must be dissolved and it does so efficiently only when heated. The sugar is 150 g. So we need (500 g boiling hot half – 150 g sugar =) 350 g of liquid to boil with the sugar. This 350 g can be milk or cream; I prefer to boil milk, as heavy cream tends to turn yellow during boiling. So the 500 gr boiling half in my case is 150 gr sugar + 350 gr milk.

4. What to include in the fridge-cold half: the rest of the ingredients. This is 350 gr heavy cream + 150 gr milk (from 500 g milk in total)

5. Pour the fridge-cold half into the blender’s jar to have it ready and bring the milk and sugar to a boil. As soon as the milk+sugar comes to a boil, pour it into the blender with the cold milk+cream; this instantly brings the total mixture to approx. 52ºC / 125ºF, which is a good temperature to sprinkle the xanthan gum in without clumping.

6. Sprinkle the xanthan gum over the surface of the mixture with the blender on, blend for 2 minutes to fully hydrate it and you are set.

If there are other components in the ice cream mixture, like nut paste, chocolate etc these can be added after blending in the xanthan gum.

You can use this method with almost any ice cream recipe by playing around with the ingredients; not sure how to do it? Check my strawberry ice cream recipe, with strawberries, cream and sugar for insipration.

Questions

All xanthan gum ice cream recipes

all your xanthan gum ice cream recipes in one place

Vanilla Ice Cream | with xanthan gum

with milk, cream, sugar, vanilla extract, and xanthan gum

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream | with xanthan gum

with milk, cream, sugar, vanilla bean, and xanthan gum

Ice Cream | with xanthan gum

with milk, cream, sugar, and and xanthan gum (a.k.a. Fior di Latte flavour)

Strawberry Ice Cream | with xanthan gum

with strawberries, milk, cream, sugar, and xanthan gum

The Best Blueberry Ice Cream

This is not a xanthan gum ice cream recipe; it is just blueberries, milk, cream, and sugar. But we would hate us if you missed it, so we put it here. Blueberries contain pectin which thickens the ice cream mixture, making the addition of xanthan gum needless.