Viewing the Freezing Properties of a Formula

The freezing properties of a formula can be viewed in the Formula Development section. The formula’s ingredients must have information for MSNF (milk solids not fat which contributes milk salts and lactose), total solids, and sucrose equiv. (sucrose equivalents). If you require a more detailed explanation of calculating freezing properties please contact technical support.

Click the View button and select Freezing Properties.

For more detailed freezing information, retrieve the formula in the Mix Properties section (refer to Mix Physical Properties).

Formulating for a Particular Ice Content

Formulating for a particular ice content using TechWizard Online™ can be useful for a variety of frozen products. For example, the ice content of a frozen dessert imparts much of the mouthfeel to the product. If the ice content at serving temperature is outside an acceptable range then the frozen dessert will most likely also be unacceptable. The ice content of a product at a particular temperature is dependent on its freezing point and the freezing point is dependent on what is in the product. Water-soluble components can reduce the freezing point (make the product freeze at a lower temperature). The smaller the molecular weight of the component the more effective it is at reducing the freezing point (see figure below).

Experiments have been done to determine the reduction in freezing point for a given concentration of sucrose. With this information we can determine, for a given component in solution, the equivalent concentration of sucrose that would have the same freezing point (sucrose equivalents). When components in a product are converted to an equivalent concentration of sucrose, we can determine the freezing point from the sucrose data. This information is used to calculate the ice content at a particular temperature. For example two ice cream formulas can have the same ice content if they have the same water content or total solids, the same MSNF (which contributes milk salts and lactose); and the same sucrose equivalents. Hence, these properties (MSNF, total solids, sucrose equiv.) should be included in the formula development stage if you are trying to match ice content.

Percent Water Frozen or Percent Product Frozen

The freezing characteristics of a product can be determined based on % water frozen or % product frozen. The % water frozen term is the more common term used in relation to frozen desserts. The term can be explained by the following example. If a liquid mix contains 40% total solids then the rest of the mix is water, i.e., the water content is 60%. If 50% of the water in the mix is frozen (50 % water frozen) then half of the 60% water is frozen or the mix contains 30 g of ice for 100 g of product. This leads us to the other term used to express freezing characteristics, % product frozen. The % product frozen is simply the grams of ice per 100 grams of product. A value of 50% product frozen means that the mix contains 50 grams of ice per 100 grams of product.

Typical Composition and Freezing Characteristics of Frozen Desserts

Evaluation of the freezing characteristics of frozen desserts is a developing science. The multitude of interactions between the many ingredients that go together to make frozen desserts makes it difficult to set hard and fast rules on what the ice content or freezing point of a frozen dessert should be. The user should use this information to help develop quality parameters that work best for the particular product. In this way, the user can develop their own quality standards for what the freezing characteristics of a particular product should be for it to have the best consumer acceptance and the best shelf life. The following composition and freezing data are provided as a reference. You may wish to compare results for your formulations with these values.

Sucrose Equivalents

The sucrose conversion factors (relative freezing point depression) for a variety of ingredients are shown in the following table. The factor is generally obtained by dividing the molecular weight of sucrose (342.3) by the molecular weight of the particular sugar then multiplying by 100.

Therefore 100 grams of glucose has a sucrose equivalents of 186 % (or g/100g)

Calculating the Sucrose Equiv. of Ingredients that Dissociate in Water

The sucrose equiv. of an ingredient that can dissociate in water is calculated in a slightly different manner than non-dissociating ingredients. To assign a proper sucrose equiv., we need to know the molecular weight of each dissociated component as it exists in water.
For example, let’s calculate the sucrose equiv. of Sodium Citrate. Sodium Citrate has the following formula and molecular weight:

It dissociates to the following:

The percentage of each dissociated component is calculated:
[189.1 / 294.1] x 100 = 64.3% Citrate
[(3 x 22.99) / 294.1] x 100 = 23.5% Sodium
[(2 x 18) / 294.1] x 100 = 12.2% Water

The sucrose equiv. for each component is calculated:
[342.3 / 189.1] x 100 = 181.01 Sucrose Equiv of Citrate
[342.3 / 22.99] x 100 = 1488.9 Sucrose Equiv of Sodium
Water has no sucrose equiv.

Finally the overall sucrose equiv. for sodium citrate is calculated:
(64.3 / 100) x 181.01 = 116.4
(23.5 / 100) x 1488.9 = 349.9
Total Sucrose Equiv = 466.3

That is 100 grams of sodium citrate is equivalent to 466.3 grams of sucrose in its ability to depress the freezing point of a solution.