Hello Everyone,
I currently have the opportunity to purchase a PacoJet at a (slightly) discounted price, but before I took the plunge I wanted to clear up exactly how they function. As the ChefSteps Ice Cream course has taught us, ice cream is a three phase system made up of ice crystals, fat, air bubbles and stabilizers that are all dispersed in a continuous phase of concentrated sugar solution. My question is whether ice cream made with a traditional batch freezer is structurally identical to ice cream made with a PacoJet or Frix-Air. While "traditional" ice cream is made up of an interconnected network of destabilized fat, ice crystals and stabilizers, it would seem to me that pacotizing would destroy this network due to the action of the blades (the end result being more of a slurry of ice crystals, fat, air, stabilizers, serum, etc.).
Is this the case? If so, are stabilizers even necessary when using a Pacojet? Similarly, I would assume that pacotizing would break up the hydrocolloids into smaller segments thereby rendering them less efficient at restricting the movement of water and potentially rendering them useless. I have read that some hydrocolloids are capable of reforming a gel after shearing so it's possible that these structures are reestablished at serving temperatures.
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.
- JD
