Many of our customers have asked us about the difference between gelato and ice-cream. While gelato is generally the Italian term for ice-cream, there are some fundamental differences in the way ice-cream is produced in Italy, hence the term has transcended over time to connote a different type of ice-cream made the traditional Italian way. Sorbet (or Sorbetto) refers to a non-dairy version of the frozen dessert, and is usually made up of mostly fruit and water or juice, making it a healthier choice. A similar form is sherbet which would include some dairy ingredients, making it a combination of gelato/ice-cream and sorbet.

For the whole technical schpeal on gelato, here’s the real scoop:

Low Overrun
The term “overrun” is a measure of air that is injected into the ice-cream during the production process. To be precise, overrun is the increase in the volume of the finished ice-cream product over the volume of the base mixture used. Before batch freezers (commercial ice-cream machines) were developed, ice-cream was hand-cranked in buckets filled with ice and salt. The base mixture was stirred slowly during this process, which didn’t allow for much air to be introduced into the mixture. Then, the batch freezer system was developed which did away with the ice, salt and most of the manual hand labour, and at a much faster production speed. It also allows manufacturers to set the amount of air they want to mix into the ice-cream. Most commercial brands of bulk ice-cream range from 60% to 120% overrun (which means they consist of 30% to 60% air). Air, of course, expands the volume of the ice-cream, and allows a manufacturer to produce (and sell) more without using correspondingly more ingredients. Even a better-quality ice cream might have overrun of as much as 50%. Traditionally-made gelato should contain under 30% overrun (15% air or less). The result will be a denser textured ice-cream with a richer taste since you will be able to taste more of the ingredients instead of air. It is true however, that gelato tends to melt faster than commercial ice-cream due to its low overrun.

Low Fat
In some countries, it is regulated that frozen desserts have to meet certain minimum limits on butterfat content before manufacturers can term it as ice-cream or gelato. Most superpremium ice creams in the U.S. have a butterfat content of 15% to 18%; gelato’s butterfat content normally runs from 1% to 8%.

While ice cream often contains more cream than milk, gelato is mostly made from milk, with only a little cream, if any at all. Ice-cream on the other hand, typically uses butterfat (heavy cream) and eggs as natural stabilizers. At Swirl, no cream or egg is used in the production of our gelato, and we use only fresh pasteurized milk from Australian cows.

557 Bukit Timah Road
#01-04/05 Crown Centre
Singapore 269694

Tel: +65 6464 6180
Fax: +65 6468 7725

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