ICE CREAM MAKING 531 



If to this mass one and one-half quarts (three Ib.) of sugar is 

 added, about one and one-half quarts of gum tragacanth stock 

 will be produced. Four tablespoonfuls of this stock is enough 

 to use in one gallon, one quart in ten gallons of ice cream. If 

 this amount of sugar is employed, the gum stock will remain 

 usable for several weeks; in fact the amount of sugar used 

 is almost enough to prevent the stock from spoiling at all. 

 Gum tragacanth seems to be gaining in favor, either as such 

 or in the form of some of the many powders that are on the 

 market. 

 Ice cream powders. 



Ice cream powders are being sold under a great variety of 

 names, each implying that a special, creamy, velvety, rich prod- 

 uct will inevitably be made as the result of its use. The active 

 principle in most of the powders on the market is either gelatin, 

 gum tragacanth, or a mixture of the two, very finely pulverized 

 and thoroughly triturated with from six to ten times its weight 

 of powdered sugar. Rice flour, dry rennet, and corn starch are 

 also occasionally added to the mixture. Naturally these pow- 

 ders produce essentially the same effect as would the raw ma- 

 terials from which they are built ; for catchy trade names are 

 valueless in this respect. Their chief advantage lies in the con- 

 venience attending their use, which precludes the necessity of a 

 previous preparation of the stock and of its holding. When 

 these powders are used, they are dusted on top of the mixture 

 after it is placed in the freezer and well mixed. Because of their 

 exceedingly finely divided condition, they spread quickly and 

 evenly throughout the mass. 



TYPES OF FREEZERS 



The many kinds of freezers on the market may be roughly 

 divided into four classes or types. There are, however, several 

 variants in each class. 



