Ask Lemmy

I can buy some ice cream and put it in my freezer, and it's extremely soft, I can just put a spoon in it with no resistance. I put that exact same ice cream in my parents freezer and it gets so hard that I can't even scoop it with an ice cream scoop unless I let it thaw out for a few minutes. The temperature it's stored at absolutely plays a huge difference.

The ice cream I buy is always either so hard your spoon bends or so soft I have to check if the freezer is working. Idk if it's a brand thing or what.

You want Trader Joe's. That stuff is so hard that I often use a hot scoop to get it out. I'm OK with a slightly softer texture. Tillamook is my go-to brand. I've never found it to be absurdly soft, but it is easier to scoop than a Häagen-Dazs or TJ's.

Several years ago when I lived in PA I frequented an independent ice cream shop that made their own in house. He complained about all the air added to commercial ice cream lately. He had a conversion rate for how many pounds a gallon should weigh and would weigh his containers to ensure he sold the correct amount. Some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had, and had exotic flavors too such as Kulfi (cardamom) and ginger. Search Nutz about Ice Cream in Bethlehem PA. I was just thinking about him the other day and his ginger ice cream. The eggnog at the end of the year is amazing too. The “regular” flavors year round are good as well. I know he ships across the country, I’ve never looked into it yet.

Sounds like your freezer isn’t actually getting cold enough for the ice cream. Semi-melted Tilamook will get whipped-esque if not cold enough. Put a digital thermometer in there for a while and see what temp it’s holding! No ice cream is “drop metal into it and it slides to the bottom” unless it’s not cold enough

As for ice cream consistency, afaik more cream content (which is better ice cream) will be softer at the same temperature compared to ice cream with more water content (shit ice cream). Breyers regular (I think they have a fancy attempt with more cream) is pretty watery, Tilamook is creamed up

(Do you notice a lot of frost on stuff? That is a sign of a bad seal and (humid) air is getting in)

Happy when I get ice cream that doesn't take 10 minutes to thaw enough to not bend spoons. Never seen anything close to what you've described though; just soft enough that you can generally eat it with some force straight from the freezer.

A lot of ice cream makers have started manufacturing a substance which is a little more like plastering putty with sugar mixed in. Presumably it is cheaper than the ice cream substance which they used to make.

I recommend Häagen-Dazs. Turkey Hill is alright but it seems to have succumbed a little bit to the putty consistency. The Costco stuff is decent too. Get vanilla, then mix it up in the bowl with a strong spoon, to soften it, with big chunky chocolate chips (also available from Costco) sprinkled generously within it and then stirred in during the preparation phase.

Hope this helps

What brand are you buying?

Just to clarify, what temperature do you set your freezer at and does it stay that temp of do you notice it fluctuating more than a few degrees throughout the day?

Tillamook has a weird fluffly texture and would be good otherwise. I haven't had Breyer in a while, but recall that is used to be good. The Ultra Premium, or whatever dumb name it has, at Aldi is good.

Cold Stone is soft because they slap it around on that cold slab of stone before they put it in a cup or cone.

IDK what could be wrong with your store bought. Or maybe what's right... The last few times I've gotten some ice cream, shits rock hard and full of ice crystals from having been melted and refrozen god knows how many times. Maybe your freezer is set too high for the ice cream but not the other things you keep?

I do know a trick to find what ice cream has better ingredients though. Find two or more brands in the same size container, and then see which one actually weighs more. They'll all be in ounces or some fluid measurement, and the weight will be heavier in the ones with fewer fillers like if it was only made using cream, eggs and sugar.

Maybe consider getting sorbet or gelato next time?