We've explored how helpful xanthan gum is in gluten-free baking, but another place it often shows up, along with other stabilizers like carob bean and guar gum, is in ice cream. Why is xanthan gum in ice cream? And does it belong there?
First, a brief definition of xanthan gum. Xanthan gum is produced by the fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. It was developed in the United Staes in the early 1960s and approved for use in food in 1968. It is used in many foods, including commercial salad dressings, to stabilize the emulsion and suspend herbs and spices in a mixture. It is also used in toothpaste as a binder and in ice cream to help enhance the mouthfeel and add creaminess to the texture.
Xanthan gum just may be one of those ingredients that sounds worse than it is. Its reputation is often associated with other, more sinister chemicals, probably due to its ubiquitous use in many processed foods. ( This article by the Ideas in Food folks is a great introduction to xanthan gum.)
I checked the ingredient lists of a few plain commercially available vanilla ice creams and discovered that most national brands use some form of stabilizer, usually xanthan gum, guar gum and carob bean gum. The only exception in my limited sampling was Häagen-Dazs, which has no gums whatsoever.
One of the things xanthan gum does is help to prevent the formation of ice crystals, which is key to a rich, creamy, smooth ice cream. So should you add xanthan gum to your homemade ice cream? I've never tried it but I feel it's worth experimenting with. eHow has a tutorial on how to add it to existing recipes, with a simple formula of one quarter teaspoon of xanthan gum to one quart of ice cream base. Also, it occurred to me that the beloved and famous Jeni's Ice Cream recipe uses cream cheese as one its base ingredients and cream cheese is often stabilized with xanthan or guar gum. (Jeni's commercially sold ice creams do not list cream cheese in their ingredients.)
Guar gum is another popular emulsifier and is thought to be better in cold foods, although you have to be careful with higher acid ingredients, like lemon. Both xanthan and guar gum are not easily digestible for some people, so be sure to check before serving it to guests. Vegans and dairy-free folks take note: The addition of xanthan gum is a great way to make ice cream from non-dairy ingredients like soy, hemp, almond or coconut milk.
Have you ever used xanthan (or guar or carob bean) gum in your ice cream?
Related: How Can I Make Creamier Ice Cream?
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if xanthan gum is made of lactose, it's not vegan or dairy free then, right? I'm not vegan so I haven't paid attention, but I have been wanting to make coconut ice cream for a diary free friend.
I've tried a couple of ice cream recipes now that use xanthan gum, and the results have been fantastic. It gives the ice cream an "elasticity" that I love, almost like pulling toffee. The recipes only need a tiny amount - between 1/8 and 1/4 of a teaspoon for a 1L batch.
Hi, Dana. This is Ryan at Jeni's. To clarify, the recipes in Jeni's cookbook are for making ice creams on a home machine and are different than the recipes we use in our professional kitchen for making ice creams we sell commercially (thus no cream cheese on our ingredient labels).
You won't find any guar gum, xanthan gum, or carrageenan in our ice creams. It's not that gums are bad for you, it's that they're a filler; a shortcut—especially when used in place of more flavorful (and much more expensive) cream. Gums help to provide thickness and body when you don't have a lot of butterfat—the most flavorful ingredient in cream.
My vegetarian marshmallow recipe calls for xanthan gum (as the "magical" ingredient), and it certainly worked!
@fancyd, I've made a coconut ice cream using coconut milk and maple syrup that was vegan and whipped up really nicely in my ice cream maker, so you should be okay to make it without it.
@ryanatjenis: thank you for making it clear that the cream cheese isn't in the ice creams you sell at Jeni's and for offering more information on how and why gums are used. We love Jeni's here in The Kitchn!
@fancyd: Bob's Red Mill makes a xanthan gum that's certified dairy-free and made with non-gmo corn and soy sugars.
I won't buy ice cream that uses xanthum gum, or anything else. It's a way to avoid making ice cream right. Just because we can use it to cheapen out on ingredients, doesn't mean we should make that a default food choice.
I do endorse Xanthum gum in non standard applications such as more veggie friendly foods, like @Karrey 's coconut milk ice cream. Stuff like that is using modern technology to make things work.
The difference is one use is to cheapen out on ingredients, and the other is to solve a problem.
Breyers' ice cream went way downhill after they started adding tara gum to it. The thing I liked about Breyers' was how it melted, and now it just turns to disgusting goo. That, and adding "natural flavor" to the vanilla ice cream, which whatever it is, is not vanilla.
I have a gluten-free (for medical reasons) friend and she's been singing the praises of xanthan gum. :)
Xantham Gum is one of those things that sounds scarier than it really is. Awesome stuff it is.
This is super helpful and I hope The Kitchn does more posts on other misunderstood/unfamiliar ingredients. It really helps me choose what to buy and understand why, exactly, I may want to avoid certain ingredients.
I just try to buy ice cream that has as few ingredients as possible. I usually try to buy the Haagen Daz "Just 5". If I ever tried to make it at home, I'd skip fillers like gums.
i work for Sambazon (www.sambazon.com) who makes organic, vegan acai sorbet. we have to add Xantham Gum so the fats (omegas) don't separate from the rest of the ingredients. it keeps it smooth and creamy in texture. not a bad thing at all....
doh! i meant soy lecithin...
FancyD: Lactose is typically isolated from mammalian milk, so unless you can verify that the xanthan gum you are using is made from sucrose or glucose, it is not technically dairy free. It is important to note, however, that the lactose/glucose/sucrose is changed into a new molecule by the bacterium, so it is not in the same form as before. Using lactose to make xanthan gum results in the same molecule as using glucose or sucrose.
i dont see any of the gums as a bad option. you say it "cheapens" the ice cream but a 1/4 of a tsp in a full batch doesnt monetarily do anything.
as for a short cut i do agree.
Buuuut from the few batches of ice cream i've made, i bet they would have been improved with a thickener added. Additionally home ice creams encounter a bit more ice crystals than commercial ice cream thats made in factories.
These stabilizers are not used to cheapen ice cream, or to skimp on ingredients. If anyone has made an Anglaise based ice cream and frozen it at home, you can tell the difference in the mouthfeel of the product. It's very hard, needs to come to temper, is "brittle", among a few other things. But, the softer ice creams, that are not cheap (the ones with all of the overrun, or air in them) have stabilizers to control ice crystals and improve mouthfeel all around. These things are derived naturally, so there's no harm, unless, of course, you're allergic to them.
In order to keep a creamy feel with your home made, unstabilized ice creams, you would have to melt, and re-churn the product and eat it at the right temperature. Also, home churns are not the same quality as that of the machines used in restaurants and facilities of the commercial brands.
So, whichever ice cream you prefer, that's fine. But don't say that stabilizers, which are indeed 1%, if that much, of the overall ingredients are cheapening a product or "cheating."
i dont know if anyone else will see this but I just came across a good article from cooks illustrated. it was picking their favorite vanilla ice cream and broke down the ingredient and why they're good. they said that these stabilizers are good to have--without the ice cream would separate and get more ice crystals etc... check it out!
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=23742&Extcode=L2FN2AA00
The most sinister thing about xanthan gum is the price! I've recently changed up my diet for medical reasons, and xanthan gum has been a saving grace in allowing me to keep cooking and eating my favorite foods - most of all ice cream!
I have been making ice cream for a long time, and every time I make it I learn a little more.
Ryan, you say Jenis Ice Creams do not use any gums because they are "fillers" and "shortcuts". Although you are correct that they don't use gums, ALL of their ice creams use Tapioca Starch to do the same function as any gum. Starches thicken, emulsify, and minimize ice crystals...just as the gums. The difference is you have to use MORE tapioca starch than a gum. That's why Xanthan and Guar Gum is so much more expensive than Tapioca Starch...because you can use less and get the same results. So that means Jenis Ice Cream actually uses more filler, and, an even bigger shortcut than using gum based thickeners. I'm not sure where you get off talking about using more flavorful and expensive creams...that is a complete lie. And 1/8 of a tsp is not filler. Filler is buying a chicken sandwhich containing 60% chicken and 40% other things.
Here's why you want to use a gum or starch in ice cream:
To get a creamy texture without ice cream turning rock hard and forming ice crystals, you have a few options. You can use mostly heavy whipping cream, where the milk fat will take care of those problems. However, ice cream dense in milk fat coats the tongue, smothering the taste buds, so it isn't as flavorful. You'll have to use more extracts/vanilla bean/chocolate/fruit to get the full flavor.
Second option is to use egg yolks, like many custards. However, egg yolks are really high in fat and cholestorol, and again smother the taste buds.
Gelato is known for its excellent texture and incredible flavor, and this is accomplished by using less milk fats so the taste buds can pick up all the wonderful flavors. But to accomplish this, gelato uses more sugar, which I think coats the tongue just as much as milk fat, so why bother.
You can also use a syrup, such as corn syrup, rice syrup, maple syrup, or even honey. But again, you are just adding more sugar. Condensed milk works great, but that's because it's a milk/sugar mixture.
The last option is to use a gum or startch. Very little is needed to gain the texture and consistency while minimizing ice crystals. You can use less milk fat and less sugar and create extrodinary tastes. That is why they are used in ice cream.
Oh, and many of Jenis Ice Creams not only use sugar as their 3rd ingredient, but then use both tapioca syrup AND tapioca starch...too many fillers and shortcuts for me, no thanks.