I decided to purchase store bought ice cream after years of just buying from places like Cold Stone. It seems to me most ice cream manufacturers have very soft ice cream now despite storing it in a freezer for a week straight. I could easily drop a spoon in the tub and watch it cut straight through to the bottom. The consistency is now kind of disgusting because it feels like I’m eating whipped cream instead of something that should be semi solid. So far I’ve tried Tillamook, Dryer’s, and Target’s in house brand and they all have that same mushy texture.
Before anyone suggests it’s my freezer, I’ve kept it relatively uncluttered and everything else stays frozen just fine. I also make sure not to purchase those tubs of “Frozen Dairy Dessert”. What happened? Is this some cost cutting measure or are customer’s preferences really going to extremely soft textures?
I will second this, please buy a thermometer or two. I like the ones that tell you the min/max temp its recorded. (Random example, never bought this particular one, check reviews etc.
I looked at multiple sources to double check the correct temperature, many agree that the freezer should be at 0°F (-18°C)). Water freezes (and by extention most everything else) at 32°F (0°C), siginficatly higher than the recommended 0. Here’s the sceinific Wikipedia article about why, TLDR: not every food freezes at 0°C, so set freezer low enough everything will freeze.
I found this article that goes over all kinds of food storage info (fridge and how the produce drawers work, freezer temp, pantry etc.)
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/refrigerator-freezer-use-and-temperature-tips
While you wait for your thermometer, ensure
nothing is blocking the freezer vents(you said you did that) and turn that thing up.The non-scientific, not recommended check; Your icecream should roughly be something in between a rock and butter. If its a rock, its too cold, and its its butter/soup its too warm.