This past Friday I had the unique opportunity to “tour” the creamery. I hesitate to use the word “tour” since the experience consisted of gathering in the main entrance of the Food Science building, standing just behind the glass windows of the production facility. Although I was anticipating a bit more of a “tangible” experience, I wasn’t terribly upset about not making it onto the floor. For one thing, I understand the importance of food safety and sanitation. Additionally, the machines were sitting idle (so free samples were clearly not on the horizon ;)) And finally, I was a guest who requested to join another class on this tour. In other words, I wasn’t personally invited in the first place; but rather, I sought out this opportunity myself.
As it turned out, I didn’t really need to first-handedly see the facility, given that the Assistant Manager kindly provided a robust overview of what goes on behind the glass, and shared a video with the group detailing the manufacturing process. This process begins at dairy farms through the milking of cows and ends with the final delivery of the coveted ice cream to customers. Steps in between include the pasteurization, homogenization, mixing of ingredients, and freezing, among others. Perhaps the prevailing reason I could withstand looking at the facility from afar is that I could internally visualize the explanations shared by the speaker. As a supply chain major familiar with souring, manufacturing, and distribution, I could grasp the concepts fairly easily. Without using too much “logistics lingo”, I’ll proceed to highlight some newly learned tidbits that contribute to our Creamery’s uniqueness:
- Short lead times
Made possible by local sourcing, Berkey Creamery ice cream is different from the national brands in that the milk supply literally comes from the backyard. Hundreds of cows at Penn State’s own dairy farm supply 70% of the Creamery’s milk, while the other 30% comes from local suppliers in order to meet the volume demands. The almost negligible distance between supply base and manufacturing allows for short, frequent milk deliveries that ensure maximum freshness. Time between milking the cow and serving a cone? A mere 4 days.
- Less overrun
I’ll admit, this term was new to me. Overrun is the amount of air pumped into the ice cream mix before it is packaged. This number is given as percentage (of air) relative to the mix. For example, an overrun of 50% means that 1 gallon of ice cream mix yields 2 gallons of finished ice cream. According to Turkey Hill, a higher overrun typically produces lighter, creamier, and warmer ice cream. The lower the overrun, the more “dense, heavy, and colder” the ice cream. Now you can deduce why, in part, the creamery ice cream is so rich compared to some other brands.
- Quick freezing
After the ice cream is packaged, it is quickly (almost instantly) frozen to a very low temperature of 21 degrees below zero. The sooner the ice cream is frozen the better, since water begins separating from the milk the longer the ice cream sits out. This separation results in the formation of ice crystals in the freezing process. Unless you came looking for a snow cone, you might be turned off.
As one of Penn State’s oldest icons and the first of its kind in the United States, it’s no wonder that Berkey Creamery’s recent 150th birthday was such a milestone. It is often one of the first foods perspective students consume, and often the most sincerely missed upon one’s departure from Happy Valley. Rest assured, its newly revamped e-commerce platform now permits shipping to all 48 states and is expected to double in volume as a result. Though my days at Penn State are (sadly) numbered, I am grateful that the creamery has sustained its success and is here to stay.
http://creamery.psu.edu/our-story#process
http://icecreamjournal.turkeyhill.com/index.php/2006/12/28/ice-cream-dictionary-overrun/
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