Selects: How Ice Cream Works

Summary

Podcast Summary: Stuff You Should Know – Selects: How Ice Cream Works

Release Date: May 10, 2025
Hosts: Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant, and Jerry

---

Introduction to Ice Cream

In the episode titled "Selects: How Ice Cream Works," hosts Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant, and Jerry dive deep into the beloved dessert, exploring everything from personal preferences to the intricate science behind its creation. The conversation begins with the hosts sharing their favorite ice cream flavors and brands, setting a relatable tone for listeners.

Notable Quotes:

• Chuck Bryant [01:55]: "Oh, my friend, ice cream is a year-round treat for me."
• Jerry [02:05]: "Probably Rocky road and vividly vanilla."

History of Ice Cream

The hosts trace the rich history of ice cream, highlighting its origins and evolution over centuries. They discuss how early civilizations, including the Romans with figures like Nero and Claudius Caesar, enjoyed flavored ice and snow mixed with honey and nectar. The narrative moves through time, touching on the introduction of ice cream in Parisian cafes in the 17th century, making it more accessible beyond royalty.

Notable Quotes:

• Chuck Bryant [08:35]: "They say, as far as 2nd century BC, but they can't pinpoint, like, a definite person or place."
• Jerry [10:26]: "But then like everything else in industry in America around that time, manufacturing became more widespread and cheaper."

The Science Behind Ice Cream

Delving into the scientific aspects, the hosts explain that ice cream is a colloid—a complex mix where fat, sugar, and milk are combined with air to create its creamy texture. They discuss the role of emulsifiers like egg yolks or xanthan gum in stabilizing the mixture, preventing the separation of ingredients that don’t normally mix.

Notable Quotes:

• Jerry [23:35]: "Ice cream is a colloid, which is an unusual and complex substance."
• Chuck Bryant [25:09]: "The USDA actually has an ingredient standard for it to be labeled ice cream, which has to be at least 10% milk fat and a minimum of 6% non-fat milk solids like caseins."

Ice Cream Making Process

The episode provides an in-depth look at the ice cream making process, from the initial mix to the final hardening step. Hosts discuss both traditional methods, such as the hand-crank ice cream maker patented by Nancy Johnson in the 1850s, and modern electric machines. They emphasize the importance of overrun—the amount of air incorporated into the ice cream—which affects its texture and density.

Notable Quotes:

• Jerry [34:04]: "You have something that's cooling it, whether that little drum that you put in the freezer or you have ammonia-filled tubes freezing the mixture."
• Chuck Bryant [39:12]: "The increase is called overrun, and it's indicated by a percentage."

Popular Flavors and Consumption Statistics

The hosts explore global ice cream consumption, noting that while the United States produces about 20 quarts per capita, countries like New Zealand lead in consumption. They also discuss the most popular flavors, with vanilla surprisingly topping the list, followed by innovative options like green tea, influenced by cultural culinary practices.

Notable Quotes:

• Jerry [45:17]: "New Zealand, per capita, I guess. The average New Zealander eats seven and a half gallons of ice cream a year."
• Chuck Bryant [46:07]: "And the most popular flavor is still vanilla, which I had to explain to Emily was a real flavor."

Ice Cream Culture and Traditions

The conversation touches on ice cream's role in various cultural events and traditions, such as ice cream socials at Chuck’s church, and the invention of the ice cream cone during the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. They also reminisce about classic ice cream treats like root beer floats and discuss modern trends like frozen yogurt.

Notable Quotes:

• Jerry [41:18]: "There's an origin story to the waffle cone, and a lot of people place it at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis."
• Chuck Bryant [16:21]: "In the 19th century, the professional soda jerk at soda fountain shops pops up and they make things called root beer floats and coke floats."

Listener Interactions and Final Thoughts

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts engage with listener feedback, featuring a message from Danny, a recent astronomy and physics graduate, who praises the podcast for its scientific discussions. They encourage listeners to explore more about ice cream through a recommended five-minute recipe available on the HowStuffWorks website.

Notable Quotes:

• Danny [47:33]: "I wanted to shout out to Jerry, but was afraid I'd spell her name wrong. Hopefully that is right."
• Jerry [47:18]: "If you want to know more about ice cream and to get this awesome, really easy, five-minute ice cream recipe, go to howstuffworks.com and type ice cream in the search bar."

Conclusion

"Selects: How Ice Cream Works" offers a comprehensive and engaging exploration of ice cream, blending personal anecdotes with historical facts and scientific explanations. Whether you're a casual ice cream lover or someone curious about the intricate processes that make this dessert so universally adored, this episode provides a delightful and informative experience.

---

Listeners interested in more details or the five-minute ice cream recipe can visit HowStuffWorks and search for "ice cream."

Transcript

[Chuck Bryant]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.

[Josh Clark]

Banking with Capital One helps you keep more money in your wallet with no fees or minimums on checking accounts and no overdraft fees. Just ask the Capital One bank guy. It's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. He'd also tell you that this podcast is his favorite podcast too. Thanks Capital One Bank Guy. What's in your wallet? Terms apply seecapital1.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC. Do you know what's at the root of most oral health problems like cavities and gingivitis? Ding, ding, ding. You're right. It's bacteria. And the Colgate Total Active prevention system is 15 times more effective at fighting that bacteria. When used together, the system reduces bacteria buildup in six weeks starting in week one compared to a non stannous fluoride toothpaste and flat trimmed toothbrush. Take that mouth bacteria. Be dentist ready. Shop the Colgate Total Active Prevention system by visiting shop.colgate.com total.

[Chuck Bryant]

I screamer. You screamer. We all screamer for how ice cream works. The great episode Celebrating the best dessert treat. In all honesty, I mean, it's just nothing better than ice cream. This is from February 5, 2015. I don't eat ice cream much anymore because it disagrees with my body. But boy, every now and then I'd get one of those pints. Get a little chubby, hubby, if you can find it, throw it down your throat and suffer the consequences. Welcome to Stuff youf Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

[Jerry]

Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. And there's Jerry. So this is Stuff youf Should Know, the Dreaming of Summer in the Middle of Winter Edition.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, my friend, ice cream is a year round treat for me.

[Jerry]

Yeah, sure. I know. I had some last night.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh yeah? What'd you have? We're gonna buzzmark it a lot.

[Jerry]

Probably Rocky road and vividly vanilla.

[Chuck Bryant]

What brand is that?

[Jerry]

Kroger.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh yeah?

[Jerry]

Yeah, they were delicious.

[Chuck Bryant]

Nice. Was it heavy or light?

[Jerry]

It was light.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

Yeah. After reading this, I was like, man, this is very light.

[Chuck Bryant]

A lot of air in there.

[Jerry]

I taught myself to juggle with them.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, well, that's exciting.

[Jerry]

That was a cross reference.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I'm a Ben and Jerry's guy.

[Jerry]

Well, yeah, it's great stuff.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Can't have too much of it though because I got the lactose issues.

[Jerry]

Really?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

And ice cream is your favorite treat?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

It's pretty sad that's self hate.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Ice cream followed by a large glass of milk, Right? No, just kidding.

[Jerry]

Then you just inject a bunch of caseins directly into your neck.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I mean, if you fall over, it's not like I don't have lactose issues such that. Any kind of milk product, really. It's just if I overdose on it, like if I have a bunch of pizza and ice cream or something.

[Jerry]

What do they call it? Like, mildly sensitive? Maybe. Maybe mildly intolerant.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I get the poopy butt.

[Jerry]

You're cool with lactose at work, but you don't want lactose marrying your kid. You're that kind of intolerant to lactose, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly. I just don't want it living next door to me. I can get a. I can do a pint of ice cream, though, and. Or is it the half pint, The Ben and Jerry's little one?

[Jerry]

I think it's a pint.

[Chuck Bryant]

It's a pint.

[Jerry]

The little.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, not the little baby one.

[Jerry]

That's just like a fistful.

[Chuck Bryant]

I'm not seven.

[Jerry]

Yeah, right. I think it's a pint is what they sell them in.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I can do a pint of, like, the Chubby Hubby. That's my old favorite.

[Jerry]

That's a good one. Well, basically any Ben and Jerry's is good. I'm not a big fan of cherries and stuff.

[Chuck Bryant]

Ooh, me neither.

[Jerry]

But other than that, I'm like, pretty cool with all ice cream. And I used to not like bananas and things, but now I'm like, I'm cool with bananas.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah?

[Jerry]

Yeah. Like bananas and ice cream. I would never have eaten before, and now I will.

[Chuck Bryant]

I'm pretty picky with my ice cream flavors.

[Jerry]

I'm trying to think of one I really don't like, and nothing's coming to mind except for stuff with cherry in it.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I don't like mint crazy. I don't like coconut crazy. My favorite is the Chubby Hubby. And then they have, you know, have the limited runs. Yeah, they have one out now called Candy bar Pie.

[Jerry]

Candy Bar pie. Like, what kind of candy bar is it modeled after?

[Chuck Bryant]

It's ridonculous. I don't know. It's got nougat in. Doesn't taste like a specific candy bar, though. It's not like they're trying to be like a Snickers ice cream sneakily. It just tastes. It's just delicious.

[Jerry]

Nice. I would love to try that. I like Butterfinger and ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

What about. So, like, places to get ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Jenny's is delicious.

[Jerry]

Where is that?

[Chuck Bryant]

They have it here on the west side over by Star Provisions.

[Jerry]

Okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

And they got a new one in Krog Street Market.

[Jerry]

There's a place in old town Alexandria outside of D.C. called pops. It's like an old timey ice cream parlor. Awesome.

[Chuck Bryant]

I think I went in there actually last summer.

[Jerry]

It's awesome.

[Chuck Bryant]

But it did not. Did they have like candy and all that stuff or is it just an ice cream shop?

[Jerry]

It's pretty much just ice cream. There's like a couple of long cases. They've got the old turn of the last century furniture and everything. And the striped wallpaper. They're doing it right. But then their ice cream stands behind it too. It's good. And then of course, Friendly's. Yeah, Friendly's has the Reese's piece of sundae, which is probably the greatest ice cream treat ever created in the history of humanity. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Growing up in Atlanta, they had something called Ferals, which was.

[Jerry]

I remember ferals.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, did they have those?

[Jerry]

They had that in Ohio, too. And on your birthday they'd come out with that big drum.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah.

[Jerry]

Scare me to death. I went under the table a couple.

[Chuck Bryant]

Of times just like old school ice cream parlor. Scaring the bejesus out of children everywhere.

[Jerry]

Now they had a lot of candy selection too.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Yeah, man. Let's just talk about. Let's just not even do this. Let's just talk about ice cream. We love.

[Jerry]

I like this flavor. I like this flavor.

[Chuck Bryant]

Everyone's starving right now for it, though. I guarantee it.

[Jerry]

I have one more, though. Have you ever been to the Plaza Fiesta, I think is what it's called over on Buford Highway?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Jerry]

Okay. They have a gelato place there that had tuna flavored gelato, raw tuna flavored gelato. And by God, it tasted exactly like raw tuna flavored.

[Chuck Bryant]

I thought you were gonna say it was good.

[Jerry]

It wasn't bad.

[Chuck Bryant]

Like.

[Jerry]

Yeah, if you eat like sashimi or something like that.

[Chuck Bryant]

I love sashimi.

[Jerry]

You would appreciate this. It's not something you're like, oh, man, I've gotta get some tuna flavored gelato. But you're not like. It's not like one bite and you spit it out.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jerry]

You're just like. This is really odd.

[Chuck Bryant]

Interesting.

[Jerry]

Unusually tasty.

[Chuck Bryant]

I'll have to try that.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

My other quickly. My other thing I like lately is a little heat in the ice cream. Like some of them that have a little cayenne in the chocolate or.

[Jerry]

Oh, yeah. With cinnamon or Something.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, that and some salted caramel.

[Jerry]

I am so over salted caramel. Or bacon and sweetness. I'm just so sick of that combination.

[Chuck Bryant]

Really?

[Jerry]

Yeah, it's all basically a ripoff of Wendy's Fries and a Frosty Dip together.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's good, too.

[Jerry]

That's fine. That's the original. That one.

[Chuck Bryant]

Like the original salty.

[Jerry]

No improvement. Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

All right, well, I'm salivating now.

[Jerry]

I am as well. Let's get through this and we can go get some ice cream. Okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yay.

[Jerry]

You're buying.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Jerry]

So the history of ice cream. Chuck, how long could it possibly have been around?

[Chuck Bryant]

Where'd you find this, by the way? We need to give a good shout. Was that the Dairy Association?

[Jerry]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

Yeah. I think the International Dairy association, the big guy.

[Chuck Bryant]

Not the Regional Dairy Association. No.

[Jerry]

They came up with this kind of. This history of ice cream or dairy. Frozen dairy treats is a better way to put it, because ice cream is the lion's share of frozen dairy treats. But technically, it falls under the umbrella.

[Chuck Bryant]

Of frozen dairy treats along with things like sherbet and gelato and frozen yogurt.

[Jerry]

Right. Or ice cream sandwiches.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, Novelties.

[Jerry]

Exactly.

[Chuck Bryant]

Those are good, too. Well, my friend, it goes back, they say, as far as 2nd century BC but they can't pinpoint, like, a definite person or place. For sure. They just know that it started popping up in history, like with Alexander the Great, he had flavored ice and snow with honey and nectar.

[Jerry]

Yeah. Snow cone.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And that makes sense that that would be the origin of ice cream. It makes me laugh. In this thing, they said that Nero and Claudius Caesar would frequently send runners to the mountains for snow. That just seems like a very Roman emperor thing to do. Like, I'd like something cold and sweet. Go.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And like, three hours later, they'd come back, you know, half dead.

[Jerry]

Yeah. Here is your ice snow cone.

[Chuck Bryant]

Exactly. But they would flavor those with fruits and juices, and that was sort of another part of the beginning of ice cream.

[Jerry]

Apparently all this is going on in a vacuum, too. Like over in Asia.

[Chuck Bryant]

In different places.

[Jerry]

Yeah. In the Mid east and Asia, wherever. They had mountains in these areas and they could get snow and ice. Because Marco Polo, in, I think the 13th century, came back to Italy and said, check this idea out. Frozen fruit treats. And that was basically the origin of ice cream in the West.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. In England, they were big on what they called cream ice. Because England, they got to say it slightly funny, or they would probably call it proper.

[Jerry]

Right. You know, there's an E at the end of cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Is there?

[Jerry]

No, no, but there would be.

[Chuck Bryant]

And Catherine de Medici, who we mentioned in the episode.

[Jerry]

Oh, Nostradamus.

[Chuck Bryant]

Nostradamus episode. That's right. She was big on it. She was the wife of Henry ii. And back then, though, it was, you know, in the 1500s, in the 16th century, it was only, like, for royalty, because ice was.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

You know, they didn't have freezers and they didn't have ice machines.

[Jerry]

You needed a guy to go run up to the mountain and bring it down. Yeah. No, it was a big deal to have ice. Unless, of course, it was winter, in which case you were like, oh, yeah, I can have a frozen treat. But if it were summer.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

And you were enjoying a frozen dairy treat.

[Chuck Bryant]

Send the runner.

[Jerry]

You're rich.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

You're super rich. So apparently, by about the 17th century, there was at least one cafe in Paris. I think it was the first cafe in Paris that started selling ice cream to the public in 1660.

[Chuck Bryant]

Nice.

[Jerry]

They basically made it egalitarian. And from that point on, ice cream was a definite luxury item, but you didn't have to be royalty to obtain it.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. That's a good way of saying it.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

In the United States, the first time they found it in print was in a letter in 1744 by a guest of the governor of Maryland, William Bladen or Bladden. And there was an ad in 1777, May 12, the New York Gazette for ice cream. So it was for sure for sale to the people back then.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

By that time.

[Jerry]

Yeah. George Washington had a recipe. Thomas Jefferson had a recipe.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

Dolly Madison used to like to serve it at the White House.

[Chuck Bryant]

George Washington ate a lot of it. Right. Didn't he say $200 for one summer?

[Jerry]

Yeah. And I failed to go to the West Egg currency converter.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's a lot of.

[Jerry]

I imagine that's a lot of money.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. But he made. You know, he had guests, and he may have shared it with his.

[Jerry]

Oh, I would hope so.

[Chuck Bryant]

Staff. You never know.

[Jerry]

Especially if that's like $50,000 worth of ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

That would be a lot.

[Jerry]

You can't eat that in one summer. Even if you're Joey Chestnut, world record holder for most ice cream eating.

[Chuck Bryant]

Is he?

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

How much did he eat? Do you know?

[Jerry]

1.8 gallons in six minutes.

[Chuck Bryant]

1.8 gallons in six minutes. That doesn't seem like that much.

[Jerry]

Oh, that's a lot.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. That's pretty speedy.

[Jerry]

Yeah, it is.

[Chuck Bryant]

But, hey, that's why he's Joey Chestnut.

[Jerry]

Plus, don't forget the brain freeze.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh yeah, man. Do you have a thing on that brain freeze?

[Jerry]

No, I've done a don't be dumb on it though before.

[Chuck Bryant]

Do you remember what it is?

[Jerry]

Like, what is brain freeze?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

Oh, what is brain freeze? Yeah, there's a. There's a blood vessel that runs from your brain into the roof of your mouth that becomes constricted, which changes the volume of your brain, which gives you a headache.

[Chuck Bryant]

Gotcha.

[Jerry]

Which is why if you place your tongue against the roof of your mouth while you have brain freeze, it warms up that, that blood vessel, allowing it to relax again.

[Chuck Bryant]

Or just light a match and hold that under your roof of your mouth.

[Jerry]

That's another way to go.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

You'll concentrate on that pain instead of the brain freeze.

[Chuck Bryant]

Interesting. I don't get brain freeze because I think as an adult, you know how not to wolf it down like that.

[Jerry]

I've gotten it accidentally though, as an adult from time to time.

[Chuck Bryant]

Really?

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

No good?

[Jerry]

No, it's terrible. It's as terrible as an adult as it is when you're a child.

[Chuck Bryant]

It's probably worse as an adult.

[Jerry]

It's just debilitating, you know?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

So painful.

[Chuck Bryant]

So like you said, until around 1800, it was mostly for the upper class. But then like everything else in industry in America around that time, manufacturing became more widespread and cheaper. And all of a sudden you had warehouses that were big freezers and you had shipping. You could ship things cold and frozen.

[Jerry]

Right. So you had like the manufacturing aspect in place.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, homogenizer machines, electric power, mechanical refrigeration, basically.

[Jerry]

But even still, you had, you had the manufacturing in place. The distribution though was still limited to say like a store. Somebody who could make money by investing in some freezer cases and then selling it to the public. It wasn't until iceboxes became widespread in America that the ice cream industry really blew up. Because then you could sell to the guy down at Pops. You could also sell to Pops next door neighbor who took it home.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Jerry]

To keep in his freezer.

[Chuck Bryant]

And thank God that happened.

[Jerry]

Yeah. And actually as far as making ice cream, that the, you know the hand crank ice cream maker that use like rock salt and all that stuff?

[Chuck Bryant]

Sure.

[Jerry]

That was invented by a woman named Nancy Johnson in the 1850s, I think.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

And she patented it and apparently everybody ripped her off. She sold the patent for like 200 bucks. And the guy who bought it from her turned around and like made a fortune off of it. But I guess he ultimately got ripped off by a bunch of copycats. But that, that same thing is still in use today. Like, you can go buy the Johnson Crank that same. Yeah, the Johnson crank ice cream maker and make your own ice cream the 1850s way.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, you mentioned take home ice cream being a big deal as far as it spreading. I do have a little modern stat.

[Jerry]

Oh, yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Released from a few years ago. That is still the biggest part of the market. 67% of the overall market is take home ice cream.

[Jerry]

Well, I saw that 87% of Americans have ice cream in their freezer right now.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I don't. I can't.

[Jerry]

It doesn't stick around.

[Chuck Bryant]

No. Like, you know, if you're going to get a pint, you might as well just plow through it and be done with it and then get some a few weeks later.

[Jerry]

You're not a quitter.

[Chuck Bryant]

No. And I can't just keep like a gallon of ice cream in the house.

[Jerry]

Oh, that's a bad move.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's a bad move for me.

[Jerry]

Yeah, It's a bad move for everybody.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, no, some people have willpower.

[Jerry]

Yeah, I guess you're right.

[Chuck Bryant]

You're one of them.

[Jerry]

I don't keep a gallon of ice cream in my house.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, but you got willpower to a large degree, I think. Yeah, well, you're the guy who quit smoking by just saying, I'm not gonna smoke anymore.

[Jerry]

Yeah, that's true.

[Chuck Bryant]

You know.

[Jerry]

Yeah, I guess I do have a.

[Chuck Bryant]

Degree of willpower, but I do not. So we're now in the 19th century in late 1800s, and the professional soda jerk at soda fountain shops pops up and they make things called, like root beer floats and coke floats and soda floats.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Which I haven't had one in a long time. I used to love root beer floats.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

But I don't know why. It's not something I see very much anymore. Well, you have to make it all.

[Jerry]

You have to get rid of the trouble of putting it together yourself.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jerry]

You don't see floats very often anymore. I'm sure there's some places that sell them.

[Chuck Bryant]

But they were good, though.

[Jerry]

Oh, yeah, man. Root beer and ice cream is a winning combination.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I mean, I haven't had one since I was a kid.

[Jerry]

Probably Coke works, too. Yeah, Coke floats good, too.

[Chuck Bryant]

Root beer floats are the thing, though.

[Jerry]

I think you're right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And then this was, for me, the fact of the show, I did not know about this religious criticism back then. They didn't like you eating things that were so rich and like, gluttonous I guess they thought it was sinful. Yeah, well, yeah, on Sundays that is. And so in response, they took out the carbonated water or the root beer or whatever and made a sundae. And that's why I called it a sundae originally.

[Jerry]

But apparently they were like, are you mocking us? And the soda jerks union said no, no. And they changed the spelling from S u n D a Y to S U n D A E. Because they.

[Chuck Bryant]

Were mocking them, right? Yes.

[Jerry]

And they were like, this was their act of retribution, changing the spelling of Sunday.

[Chuck Bryant]

And the other cool thing too was during World War II, apparently it was the armed forces were all trying to outstep one another in providing ice cream to the troops in new and exciting ways. Because it was such a morale booster, of course, to get ice cream when you're at war. You know, a little taste of home and I think. Was it the Navy that. That had the ship?

[Jerry]

Yeah, the world's first floating ice cream parlor.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's awesome. In the Western Pacific.

[Jerry]

Well, even before that, In World War I, ice cream was deemed an essential food. And so ice cream manufacturers got rations of sugar so they could keep making ice cream during the war even though everything else was being rationed.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And Ed points out that during the Depression, everything kind of slowed down. That was a non essential, including ice cream. But it never went away. And through the years it's pretty much gained in popularity. I think in the 70s is when you started to see a little more health conscious efforts like the frozen yogurts and the like fro yo. Fro yo, Right. Emily loves the fro yo. It's good stuff, like the new stuff that's really like from the Greek yogurt.

[Jerry]

You know, that's tangy, changes everything.

[Chuck Bryant]

Not like I think this, this can't be yogurt. Growing up, was that even yogurt that was just like soft serve ice cream, wasn't it?

[Jerry]

Is it? This can't be. I thought it was the country's best yogurt. Tcby.

[Chuck Bryant]

We heard it was. This can't be yogurt.

[Jerry]

Huh?

[Chuck Bryant]

Maybe it was different. I wonder.

[Jerry]

It had to be the same.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, tcby.

[Jerry]

Yeah. No, TCBY was great. I don't know what it was. I think it's still around.

[Chuck Bryant]

It had to be yogurt. Cause they couldn't call it that. But it wasn't. Definitely not the tangy stuff that you see like at a pink berry and stuff like that.

[Jerry]

So good.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I'm not the hugest fan.

[Jerry]

I love that stuff. Each bite is just like, it's just a trip through a flowery meadow. Every bite of really. Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Do you get the vanilla and add your stuff to it or I get.

[Jerry]

The regular, like the. Yeah, just the, I guess, plain version. Yeah. And then you throw in a little mango, some blueberries.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, look at you.

[Jerry]

The white yogurt chips on top of that's a good combination. Or if you want to go a different route, there's like, you know, chocolate crunch and maybe some other kind of chocolatey, delicious treat on top. Man, I want some ice cream so bad.

[Chuck Bryant]

All right, well, we'll get to the science of ice cream, which is decidedly less yummy sounding right after these messages.

[Emily]

Stop your sh.

[Advertiser]

Hey everyone. As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind 24 7. So when you're hiring, you need a partner that grinds just as hard as you do. And that hiring partner is LinkedIn jobs.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. So when you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network and get qualified candidates that you can manage all in one place.

[Advertiser]

That's right, those qualified candidates.

[Chuck Bryant]

You know, at the end of the.

[Advertiser]

Day, the most important thing to your small business is going to be the quality of those candidates. And with LinkedIn you can feel confident that you're going to be getting the best.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And actually, based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small businesses using LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates.

[Advertiser]

Just post your job for [e-mail] sysk that's LinkedIn.com sysk and you can post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.

[Emily]

Time for a sofa upgrade Introducing Anabe sofas where designer style meets budget friendly prices. Anibe brings you the ultimate in furniture innovation with a modular design that allows you to rearrange your space effortlessly. Perfect for both small and large spaces, Annabe is the only machine washable sofa inside and out. Say goodbye to stains and messes with liquid and stain resistant fabrics that make cleaning easy. Liquids simply slide right off. Designed for custom comfort, our high resilience foam lets you choose between a sink in feel or a supportive memory foam blend. Plus our pet friendly stain resistant fabrics ensure your sofa stays beautiful for years. Don't compromise quality for price. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your living space. Today sofas start at just $699 with no risk returns and a 30 day money back guarantee. Get up to 60% off, plus free shipping and free returns. Shop [e-mail] Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Josh Clark]

You know, Chuck, as it starts to get warm outside and nice, it's like nature is calling you to your outdoor space. And what better place to refresh your outdoor space and make it feel more yours than Wayfair?

[Advertiser]

That's right. Summer is on its way. And there's no better place to go for outdoor furniture than Wayfair because they have a huge selection of outdoor essentials that are going to help you make your outdoor space more comfortable, functional, and most importantly, more you.

[Josh Clark]

Yep, Wayfair has all things outdoor and at unbelievable prices, too. So don't wait until summer's in full swing. Get your outdoor space ready today so you can enjoy it all season long.

[Advertiser]

And get this, you can get free and easy delivery even on the big stuff. So no more huge delivery fees for patio furniture. Get big stuff like patio sets, gazebos, hot tubs, even outdoor dining sets and more shipped for free.

[Josh Clark]

Wow. So shop a huge selection of outdoor furniture online this summer. You can get outside with Wayfair. Head to Wayfair.com right now. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair. Every style, every home.

[Chuck Bryant]

So, buddy, you said that all of that stuff is frozen dairy treats, right? But not necessarily ice cream, because there's a definition, Correct?

[Jerry]

Yes. So ice cream is a colloid, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

Which is an unusual and complex substance. And actually, quicksand is a colloid. It's a colloidal gel. Yeah, technically I remember that. But ice cream is a colloid, and a colloid is a substance where you have things that don't normally mix that are mixed together.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Jerry]

And in this case, you have fat and sugar and milk mixed together with a little bit of air thrown in. And what you need to create a colloid is something called an emulsifier. That's the bonding agent that holds everything together. These things that don't normally mix. And in the earliest cases, egg yolks were the emulsifier that held everything together. And of course, if you're making ice cream at home, you can still use egg yolks as an emulsifier. It's an easy go to thing. But. But if you're manufacturing it on a large scale, you're probably using something like xanthan gum or something else to emulsify and stabilize the whole thing to hold it together. But yes, ice cream specifically is a colloid that has undergone a very specific manufacturing process. And if you take or add different ingredients or different steps in the process, then you have something different. Like frozen yogurt or soft serve ice cream or sherbet.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Because frozen yogurt isn't just yogurt that they freeze, which I never knew. It's actually during the ice cream making process, they'll put in the yogurt cultures to make it. Frozen yogurt.

[Jerry]

Yeah. You don't start with yogurt. You make yogurt during. Yeah, I didn't know that either.

[Chuck Bryant]

Pretty cool.

[Jerry]

Agreed.

[Chuck Bryant]

Which is why every time I just throw the yogurt in the freezer, it doesn't taste anything like I want it to taste.

[Jerry]

Really cold. Yogurt.

[Chuck Bryant]

The USDA actually has a ingredient standard for it to be labeled ice cream, which has to be at least 10% milk fat and a minimum of 6% non fat milk solids like caseins. And a gallon has to weigh 4.5 pounds.

[Jerry]

I think that's neat.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, sure.

[Jerry]

Because the federal government can't get its act together on anything, but it can define ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And the reason they have the minimum or the. Yeah, the minimum poundage is because, as we mentioned earlier, lighter ice cream is generally cheaper because it means there's just more air whipped in there. And that's why Ben and Jerry's pint is like a brick in your stomach.

[Jerry]

Yeah. And the grabster who wrote this points out that that's usually a general rule of thumb that the heavier the ice cream, the higher quality it is. But he points out, to be fair, you need to compare, like, to types like, you can't compare something that's loaded down with like, brownies and snickers with like a plain vanilla. Because you know the brownies and snickers are going to add weight and throw off your judgment.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right. In more ways than one. So milk fat. There is a range of milk fat you can use. Premium ice creams max out at about 16% at the most, but generally they're about 14%. And ice cream in general is a minimum of about 10%. And butterfat, which is another name for it. Delicious. Sounds so great.

[Jerry]

Both of them sound great.

[Chuck Bryant]

Butterfat makes it taste good and it makes it creamier and richer. But it's interesting that they found that 16% is about as high as you want to go, though. It's not like, oh, just make it 50% because that would be even better.

[Jerry]

You'd just vomit after every bite.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, you would. And people, they point Out. Ed points out, people wouldn't eat as much.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Because it is so rich and it is so calorie rich as well. And so they found that perfect combination of enough to make you plow through that pint and want to get another one the next night.

[Jerry]

Yeah. About 14 to 16%.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, that sounds pretty good when you're talking butter fat.

[Jerry]

10% for the cheap stuff that, like, Ned Flanders would eat, you know?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, totally.

[Jerry]

So, like I said, ice cream is a colloidal, and it's created by adding egg yolk to milk fat and sugar.

[Chuck Bryant]

And I think that's a custard. If you use the egg yolk. Right.

[Jerry]

I think you use more egg yolk.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. 1.4% at least.

[Jerry]

Something like that. I thought it was higher than that.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Frozen custard is at least 1.4% egg yolk solids.

[Jerry]

Okay.

[Chuck Bryant]

So that's even worse for you.

[Jerry]

Right. So that's just like. Well, not necessarily.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, cholesterol wise, sure.

[Jerry]

But the ice cream itself is specifically just this combination of different types of ingredients with other agents that hold the whole thing together that's put through this process. Right. So when you have your sugar, when you have your cream, your milk, and you have your eggs or whatever you're going to use as a stabilizer or emulsifier, you put the whole thing together. And what you have right there is an ice cream mix.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

And no matter whether you're making it at home or if you just bought a factory or inherited it from your rich uncle who just died and left it to you, then you're going to be following pretty much the same process using virtually the same ingredients.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I've got an ice cream machine, which, when I looked at the process of making ice cream, it's pretty much what goes on in this little thing.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Like, you freeze the canister, which I found out the hard way. That's how you do it.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Because I was like, man, it's not getting solid.

[Jerry]

Oh, no way. You did it without freezing the canister.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I had no idea.

[Jerry]

Like, you just used it at room temperature.

[Chuck Bryant]

At room temperature.

[Jerry]

How long did you try that for?

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, it spun for quite a while before I realized what was going on.

[Jerry]

We luckily figured that out from the get go. Made some pretty killer lemon gelato once.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. So you freeze the thing, and then it's. The canister actually spins, and they have, like, a blade in there that disrupts it, introduces the air bubbles, which is key to making ice cream nice and rich and creamy. And it also Acts as a scraper to keep ice from forming, which is exactly what happens in big factories. It's pretty much the same process.

[Jerry]

Right. Or if you're using the hand crank thing.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's what you just said, the Johnson crank. Right, yeah.

[Jerry]

What you just said listed off all of the necessary components to making ice cream. You've got something that's cooling it, whether that little drum that you put in the freezer or you have ammonia filled tubes that are freezing a tube that your mix is in.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

So you've got that.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right?

[Jerry]

Yeah, you have.

[Chuck Bryant]

And the ammonia tubes, we should point out, there's no ammonia. It's just making the tube cold.

[Jerry]

Right. The ammonia is not being introduced to the ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Not at all.

[Jerry]

It's just. Yeah, the tube is up against the tube that the ice cream is in.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Jerry]

Or if you are making it at home using a Johnson crank, you're gonna use rock salt, right?

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Jerry]

So I was kind of. I didn't understand what the point of using rock salt was, so I looked into it.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, we covered a little bit within the salt episode, but not like super in depth.

[Jerry]

Okay. So basically the reason that you would add rock salt to ice is because if you just used ice, the freezing point of ice is 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

It takes more than that. More degrees than that. Let me put it a different way. Milk freezes at a lower temperature than ice.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Jerry]

Right. So when you add salt, you actually lower the freezing point of that ice.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Jerry]

Because when you're using ice, it's a fresh water mixture. Saltwater ice has a lower freezing temperature. So you're melting it and it's melting and refreezing. And as the ice melts, the way that it's melting is by drawing heat from something else. In this case, your ice cream mixture.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right, right.

[Jerry]

So when you add salt, it has to draw more heat to melt because it has a lower freezing point. Freezing temperature.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

So that's why you add salt. It actually lowers the freezing point, which allows you to cool your ice cream faster. Ah, right. So it's. It lowers the freezing point. Milk has a lower freezing point and it draws the heat out more quickly so those ice crystals don't form on the side.

[Chuck Bryant]

Just that simple little thing is the magic that makes it happen. Yeah, yeah. We had a electric ice cream maker growing up that was the same as the Johnson crank version, but you just plug it in. Not like the new one that I have today, which is much different.

[Jerry]

Right. Which you Definitely plug in.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, definitely plug in. And you got to freeze that thing, apparently. But my church, one of my favorite memories growing up is my church would have ice cream socials where everybody would bring their own homemade ice creams. And there would just be a table with like 30 of those steel containers. You know, the people just take it right out of the old, you know, ice, rock salt bin.

[Jerry]

All right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And just set it on the table.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And you would just go berserk.

[Jerry]

You know, as a child, we had a Johnson crank.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jerry]

Growing up.

[Chuck Bryant]

And you probably had to do it right, because the parents are always like. That's the fun part.

[Jerry]

I don't. I'm sure I did. I don't really remember. I just remember the wooden bucket thing with the crank on top. Yeah, that's what I remember. And like a bag of rock salt.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right, man.

[Jerry]

That we also use for the driveway, too.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, sure, yeah. Yeah. Of course we did in Atlanta. But I remember when I saw that rock salt come out, it was a special evening at the Bryant house.

[Jerry]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

So I mentioned the little paddle. It's called a dasher, which is the blade inside the tube. And this is if you're in an ice cream factory. And like we said, it whips it up, introducing those air bubbles. And that's what gives it the structure. And like I said, also prevents the ice crystals, larger ice crystals from forming. Because you don't want that.

[Jerry]

No.

[Chuck Bryant]

You want it cold, but you don't want ice.

[Jerry]

And we should say by this time, you. You've got your ice cream mixture, but you've already added whether. Whatever flavor you're gonna add.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Jerry]

But if you're adding chunks of stuff, which you should. You're not doing that quite yet.

[Chuck Bryant]

No.

[Jerry]

So you're freezing it. What you've. What you've just created is a frozen ice cream mixture.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

But it's not technically USDA standard ice cream yet. If you stopped right here, and even if you added the Snickers or the brownies or whatever or both, what you would have is soft serve ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

The ice cream still has another step to go through to become regular old ice cream. And that's the hardening process.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. The hard freeze. And that's basically all it is, is you take that soft serve and you have to get it down super low, at least to zero degrees Fahrenheit. But when you're in an ice cream factory, you're gonna pump it down even lower because you're gonna be shipping it and Packaging it. And you want it to stay nice and hard throughout that whole process.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And. Yeah. And that's how you do it. That's pretty much it.

[Jerry]

That's pretty much making ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

It's a great, great thing that everyone.

[Jerry]

Should try making ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Sure, sure.

[Jerry]

Yeah. Well, actually that's funny that you say that because whether you have a hand crank or one of those awesome electric ones that you have to freeze the drum ahead of time, you can also just make it at home with like basically nothing. Yeah, just using a couple of bags. Baggies. Yeah, like a bigger baggie, a smaller baggie, make a little rock salt mixture and. Well, I won't go through the whole recipe, but if you go to how stuff works and look up how ice cream works, there is a recipe for 5 minute ice cream that makes just a little bit using nothing but plastic bags and the ice cream ingredients.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And I don't think we mentioned that it's pasteurized along the way too.

[Jerry]

Oh, that's good.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's an important step. Yeah. Pasteurization keeps you from getting salmonella.

[Jerry]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

And if you're making your own mix at home, you can even do that yourself with a double boiler.

[Jerry]

So we'll talk a little bit about just how much everybody loves ice cream right after this.

[Emily]

There's nothing like sinking into luxury. Annabe sofas combine ultimate comfort and design at an affordable. Annabe has designed the only fully machine washable sofa. From top to bottom. The stain resistant performance fabric slipcovers and cloud like frame duvet can go straight into your wash. Perfect for anyone with kids, pets or anyone who loves an easy to clean spotless sofa. With a modular design and changeable slipcovers, you can customize your sofa to fit any space and style. Whether you need a single chair, loves to seat or a luxuriously large sectional, Annabe has you covered. Visit washablesofas.com to upgrade your home. Sofas start at just $699 and right now you can shop up to 60% off store wide with a 30 day money back guarantee. Shop now at washablesofas.com add a little to your life. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Advertiser]

Hey everybody. Here's an interesting fact. The most common disease in the world is cavities. It's also one of the most preventable. Which brings us to the Colgate Total active prevention system because it attacks the root cause of oral health problems like cavities and gingivitis.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Spoiler alert. It's bacteria. The system is 15 times more effective at fighting bacteria. It reduces bacteria buildup in six weeks starting in week one compared to a non stainless fluoride toothpaste and flat trimmed toothbrush when used together.

[Advertiser]

It's some cool science too. The unique technology in the toothpaste was recognized with the Edison Patton Award, which honors outstanding research and innovation.

[Josh Clark]

But this is about more than impressive awards and healthy smiles. Oral diseases can increase the risk of other health conditions such as respiratory disease, diabetes and cardiac conditions. With the Colgate Total Active Prevention System, you can help prevent problems like cavities and gingivitis before they start, which may make a positive impact on general health conditions.

[Advertiser]

Be dentist ready Shop the Colgate Total Active Prevention system by visiting shop.colgate.com Total.

[Jerry]

Hey everybody, we want to talk to.

[Josh Clark]

You about Squarespace and in particular, if you have a great idea that you want to sell on the web. Well, Squarespace makes it easy to sell access to content on your websites.

[Advertiser]

That's right. You can do online courses, you can do blogs, videos, memberships. You can even earn recurring revenue by gating your content behind a paywall. Simply set the price and choose whether to charge a one time fee or a subscription for access.

[Josh Clark]

That's right. And you can get your content discovered fast with integrated SEO tools. Every Squarespace website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, an auto generated sitemap, and more. So you show up more often to more people in global search engine results.

[Advertiser]

Just go to squarespace.com stuff and you can get a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use our offer code stuff s t u f f to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or or a domain.

[Chuck Bryant]

All right buddy, we will finish this out with some stats and the like, but first we should talk about overrun because that's an important part of ice cream. Because when you're making ice cream, there's going to be an increase in volume as you go because you're whipping all that air into it.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And that increase is called overrun.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

And it's indicated by a percentage.

[Jerry]

Yeah. So if you're. If the volume goes from one gallon of ice cream mixture to a completed one and a half gallons of ice cream, it's a 50% overrun, which is good.

[Chuck Bryant]

But what the pros shoot for, like our friends at Bluebell with great, great commercials.

[Jerry]

Yeah, they do make fantastic ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it is really good. So if you are a professional ice creamier, you might have as much as 100% overrun, but the premium Ice creams are more dense, so they have less overrun.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

Which is why they're heavier.

[Jerry]

Yes. But you can also get into a situation where your ice cream is dense because you're not using much stabilizer or emulsifier.

[Chuck Bryant]

So that's not good.

[Jerry]

No. Because it makes your ice cream chewy.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, no.

[Jerry]

So just really dense ice cream is not necessarily the best thing.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Jerry]

You want a mixture between the two of somewhat dense, but not totally dense, but not super light ice cream. There's a balance that you want to achieve.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Because the air, like we said, is what gives it the structure that you appreciate. And, you know, it's familiar.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

You get some chewy ice cream. That's no good. No, no.

[Jerry]

And Chuck, we were remiss in not mentioning ice cream cones.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I'm not a cone guy. Are you?

[Jerry]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, really?

[Jerry]

Oh, yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

So when you go to, like, you go out, you get it in the cone every time? No, Just sometimes.

[Jerry]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Do you get the waffle cone?

[Jerry]

If I get a cone, I like it all. Except the. I don't know what they call the non sugar cone ones.

[Chuck Bryant]

The cheap styrofoam type.

[Jerry]

Yeah, that's definitely the lowest on my list, but that one's fine. But yes, I guess it does go. Waffle, sugar, cheap cone.

[Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Jerry]

As far as order of preference goes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Right, sure.

[Jerry]

But no waffle cone. Obviously. That, like, just adds to the whole thing smelling like fresh made waffle cones being made while you're ordering ice cream. Really?

[Chuck Bryant]

I always get the cup.

[Jerry]

Just for, like, just to be healthier while I'm eating ice cream.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, no, but I mean, that's a decision.

[Jerry]

Yeah, for sure. But it is preferable in a waffle cone. I think they're delicious.

[Chuck Bryant]

I might start getting a cone every now and then.

[Jerry]

So there's an origin story to the waffle cone, and a lot of people place it at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Jerry]

And that is probably not where ice cream cones were invented, but that is where they were popularized.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I mean, if you're at a world's Fair, there's gonna be some waffling going on, some waffle making.

[Jerry]

There definitely was some waffles being made, but there was also some ice cream being served. That's documented.

[Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Jerry]

And the story goes that the ice cream makers ran out of plates or bowls or whatever they usually use, and they turned to the waffle makers who said, hey, we can help you out for a fee. Yeah, let's turn these things into some sort of cone and bam. That's what happened. But it turns out that the person who actually invented the ice cream cone was an Italian immigrant to America named Italo Marchioni. Please, go ahead.

[Chuck Bryant]

You mean Italo Marchioni, right? Yeah. And he also invented the eiscrima a US Crema a we allscrema for eiscrema. I think he was the first one to coin that term.

[Jerry]

He was into ice cream big time.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. But he actually filed a patent for the cone making machine a full year ahead of the. Yeah, so he generally gets credited with the invention of the ice cream cone. Although just because you patent the machine doesn't necessarily mean that you are the first person who thought of the cone.

[Jerry]

No. Supposedly there's French cookbooks that date back to the 1840s that have recipes for ice cream cones.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, really?

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, and we also didn't mention Jacob Fussel. We'd probably need to mention that guy because he was the first. He opened the first wholesale manufacturing operation in the United States in Baltimore. And he, like some of the greatest success stories in business, sort of got into it by accident because he was just a dairy guy who had too much cream and was like, well, I guess I can try this ice cream thing out. And before you knew it, he was selling more ice cream than he was anything else.

[Jerry]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Good for him.

[Jerry]

Good for us.

[Chuck Bryant]

Good for. That's true. Good for all of us.

[Jerry]

So if you want to become like a Jacob Fussel type, you can actually go, depending on where you are in the country, to your local major university. And they may or may not, depending on the size of their dairy program, offer, like a real ice cream course.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Penn State is known for one, correct?

[Jerry]

Yeah, Wisconsin has one.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, of course.

[Jerry]

Actually, Penn State graduated Ben and Jerry back in 1977.

[Chuck Bryant]

Really?

[Jerry]

Yep.

[Chuck Bryant]

An ice creamery?

[Jerry]

Yes.

[Chuck Bryant]

Ah, I thought you were gonna say, like. No, they were architects.

[Jerry]

No. One of them tried to get into med school. He graduated and. And couldn't afford med school. The other one just dropped out of college. But both of them went together to Penn State's ice cream course and graduated.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, I saw. I went to their website to look at some of their facts, and they. I think they said they started their initial business with like $4,000.

[Jerry]

I saw 12.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, 12 grand.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, either way, that's cheap. I know.

[Jerry]

It is.

[Chuck Bryant]

I do have some other stats, though.

[Jerry]

Lay them on us, Chuck.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, it's been a while since we've had a stat run the Majority of US Ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturers have been in business for more than 50 years, and many are still family owned. This is why you see, like, the Blue Bells and stuff like that.

[Jerry]

Right.

[Chuck Bryant]

You know, there's not a lot of upstarts, like, you know, like extreme ice cream.

[Jerry]

Right. Made with Mountain Dew. Code red.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, God. US dairy approximates. This is a few years ago. 20 quarts per capita.

[Jerry]

What? The US eats every year.

[Chuck Bryant]

No, produced.

[Jerry]

Oh, wow.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, they produce 20 quarts per capita.

[Jerry]

What's interesting, though, is the United States isn't the leader in ice cream consumption. Did you know that?

[Chuck Bryant]

Who is?

[Jerry]

New Zealand.

[Chuck Bryant]

No way.

[Jerry]

Yeah. New Zealand, per capita, I guess.

[Chuck Bryant]

Obviously.

[Jerry]

Yeah. Well, yes. Yeah. So the average New Zealander eats seven and a half gallons of ice cream a year.

[Chuck Bryant]

Wow.

[Jerry]

Americans eat five and a half gallons, huh? Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

Apparently Asia, the Caribbean and Mexico and Latin America all import ice cream as well to a large degree. And the most popular flavor is still vanilla, which I had to explain to Emily was a real flavor. She thinks it's an absence of all flavors, like white light. I was like, no, vanilla's a thing. And some people like, vanilla's still good. She thinks it's a waste of calories to eat anything that's just plain vanilla.

[Jerry]

There are really good vanillas out there that you're just like, this is all that's needed.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah, I agree. Like, super creamy, like vanilla bean. Yummy.

[Jerry]

Yeah.

[Chuck Bryant]

And then chocolate chip mint and cookies and cream followed as the next most popular. I'm surprised plain chocolate is not on the list.

[Jerry]

I saw a grubhub survey they did most popular ice cream flavors by flavor ordered, and vanilla was number one.

[Chuck Bryant]

Wow.

[Jerry]

That's surprising. But green tea was number two. And I was thinking about it, and it's probably because, like, at a Japanese restaurant.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

You don't really have any other options besides.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, sure.

[Jerry]

You know green tea.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I've never had the green tea ice cream. Is it good?

[Jerry]

Oh, my God.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Jerry]

Really?

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Dude, I don't eat dessert in restaurants.

[Jerry]

It's so good.

[Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I'm gonna have to start eating dessert.

[Jerry]

If you go to a good Japanese restaurant, they bring it out whether you ask for it or not. Part of the meal. And it'll be like, green tea or red bean is another one, too. That's a pretty good ice cream. But green tea definitely has it destroyed.

[Chuck Bryant]

That sounds delicious.

[Jerry]

Yes, it is.

[Chuck Bryant]

I'm hungry.

[Jerry]

Yeah. So if you want to know more about ice cream and to get this awesome, really easy, five minute ice cream recipe. Go to howstuffworks.com and type ice cream in the search bar. And since I said search bar, it's time for listener mail.

[Chuck Bryant]

I'm gonna call this first of two Scientific method emails. You're gonna hear one here and then one in the next one. Awesome, because these are great. I was super proud of that one. And we got a lot of kudos from scientists, which is always nice. Hey, guys. My name is Danny. I'm 23 and recently graduated with degree in astronomy and physics. Now work at an aerospace company in LA on a space mission concept called the Star Shade.

[Jerry]

Way to go, Danny.

[Chuck Bryant]

I know the Starshade is a really awesome piece of tech that allows will allow us to image planets around other stars and ultimately search for life outside of our solar system. I'm writing because I was just listening to the podcast on the Scientific method, and as someone whose job regularly involves the scientific method, I want to express my appreciation for you guys recording such a great discussion on the subject. It's extremely important to give the public the opportunity to learn about science. Think that your podcast is a great vehicle by which this is achieved, so thanks. I remember once in the show you guys let it slip that you get a few hundred emails a week. So statistically speaking, I'm twice as likely to become a millionaire than to get my email read on the show.

[Jerry]

I saw that and I felt like he was baiting us.

[Chuck Bryant]

Oh, he totally was, and it worked. But in the case that some miracle happens and you do read it, I'd love if you could plug the Astrophysics blog my friends and I have. It's called Astrophysics Unleashed and can be found online at astrophysics- Unleashed.tumblr.com and it's a place where we seek to expose the beauty hidden within astronomy and modern science. It's a great place for the inquiring mind to find food for thought or to ask questions. So that is from Danny. And he said, I wanted to shout out to Jerry J E R I, but was afraid I'd spell her name wrong. Hopefully that is right. Tell her that I have no idea what she's like at all, but I'd be willing to bet that she's really cool.

[Jerry]

That was nice, man. Usually people have, like, a better chance of getting struck by lightning than spelling Jerry's name correctly, but he nailed it.

[Chuck Bryant]

Well, and here's a spoiler. The other scientist said the exact same thing. Thing about spelling her name wrong. And he spelled it right.

[Jerry]

Wow. So how about that, man?

[Chuck Bryant]

Scientists are smart.

[Jerry]

If you want to get in touch with us, you can send us an email to stuffpodcastowstuffworks.com and you can join us at our home on the Web StuffYou Should Know.com.

[Chuck Bryant]

Stuff youf Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever.

[Emily]

You listen to your favorite shows.

[Advertiser]

Time is precious and so are our pets. So time with our pets is extra precious. That's why we started Dutch. Dutch provides 24. 7 access to licensed vets with unlimited virtual visits and follow ups for up to five pets. You can message a vet at any time and schedule a video visit the same day. Our vets can even prescribe medication for many ailments and shipping is always free. With Dutch, you'll get more time with your pets and year round peace of mind when it comes to their vet care.

You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. With Indeed sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. Don't wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com Arts, just go to Indeed.com Arts right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.

[Emily]

Hi, it's Emily Tish Sussman, host of the podcast she Pivots. In honor of Mother's Day, we have some very special guests. I'm Elaine Welteroth.

[Jerry]

And I'm Caitlin Murray.

[Emily]

Both women pivoted out of their careers after having their kids, proving that motherhood is just another chapter in our journey, not the end. Come on over to hear their full stories. You can listen to she pivots on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Chuck Bryant]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.