A Premium Ice Cream Brand Was Created With Help From A NASA Engineer - Tasting Table

"Freezer-burned ice cream can put a damper on anyone's night, especially if it's all you've thought about since you sat down at the dinner table. Robyn Sue Fisher, the founder of Smitten Ice Cream, wanted to address the problem of icy, unappetizing ice cream by going back to its source: the freezing process. Though it took her several years and several failed attempts, Fisher introduced the nation to nitrogen ice cream before the craze even struck."

"Fisher wanted to create an ice cream product that eliminated emulsifiers and other additives (which contribute to shelf life but degrade overall quality) by decreasing the size of the ice crystals, ultimately resulting in a product with fewer ingredients and a smoother, creamier texture. As an MBA student from Stanford, Fisher experimented with existing machine parts and a tank of liquid nitrogen to practice freezing ingredients."

"The general idea behind Fisher's Brrr Machine was to use liquid nitrogen (at a staggering -321 degrees Fahrenheit) with rotating mixers to turn simple ingredients into the perfect cup of ice cream. Liquid nitrogen, which isn't necessarily dangerous to eat if handled by professionals, is added to the Brrr Machine, which utilizes two mixing spirals to constantly keep the ice cream in motion. The process once required a human's touch, but it's now less reliant on human interaction to create a perfect batch in only about 90 seconds."

Robyn Sue Fisher developed a liquid-nitrogen freezing method and the Brrr Machine to eliminate emulsifiers and additives and reduce ice crystal size for smoother, creamier ice cream. Fisher experimented with machine parts and liquid nitrogen while studying at Stanford and recruited a former NASA engineer and a pastry chef to refine both recipe and equipment. The Brrr Machine uses liquid nitrogen at -321°F and two rotating mixing spirals to keep the mixture in motion, enabling a high-quality batch in about 90 seconds with reduced reliance on manual handling.

Read at Tasting Table