Probably the first major step in the evolution of modern ice cream came with the development of processes for freezing of water using salt and ice. It was described as early as 1530 in Italy but was not utilized for the freezing of sweet food mixtures until the middle of the seventeenth century.
It has been claimed that ice cream was introduced to France from Italy when the 14 year old Catherine de Medici was married to the Duc d’Orleans in 1533.
Perhaps the first published recipe for water ices came from the French confiturier Nicholas Audiger in 1692, in which he claimed he had serving such desserts at the Court of Louis XIV of France since 1662.
In 1674 Nicholas Lemery published a recipe for water ice and two years later Pierre described freezing a mixture of fruit, cream and sugar by using snow and saltpeter.
Beginning of the 18th century, Italian brand leaders the Neapolitans had learned to combine vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ices in the famous trinity.
Ice cream was made by hand until in the 1840s Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia invented the first ice cream making machine.
The invention simplified ice cream production and ensured a more uniform texture that had previously been possible.
Until World War II, virtually all ice cream manufacturers created their product by a method known as ‘batch freezing’.
After the war, commercial refrigeration and more sophisticated ice cream makers came along, and batch freezers disappeared.
In the latter half of the 20th century, automated equipment accelerated the process of manufacturing ice cream, guaranteed a more uniform product and improved sanitation in the plant.
With the continuous commercial freezers, the mix of cream, sugar and eggs was poured in and quickly whipped with fast moving beaters. These machines continuously spit out the ice cream.
As new technology spawned newer technology in virtually every field, more automation and more computers were the inexorable trend in manufacturing.
History of ice cream production
