Chocolate Chips in Ice Cream

[tunnymowg]

Does anyone know what ice cream manufacturers use in their chocolate chips to get them to melt on your tongue quickly so that they taste like chocolate right away and not random bits of unidentifiable chunky stuff? I was thinking maybe a bit of neutral or nut oil added to melted bittersweet? Then I could harden it as much as possible and chop it up. Or would alcohol work? Maybe a splash of Grand Marnier? Any thoughts? I'm going to experiment but I wondered if anyone here had been through this before. Thanks!

[Fernwood]

I'm sure folks with real chocolate expertise will be able to give you specific advice; I just wanted to commend you for thinking about it. Chocolate chip ice cream can be one of my favorites, but too many versions are ruined by chips that gum up your teeth instead of pleasuring your palate. The size and shape of the chocolate bits is important, as well as the consistency and melting point.

Although I haven't had it in years, I used to like HoJo's choc chip, even though the vanilla base was only fair, because the chocolate was in fairly fine particles that could melt on your tongue and didn't require chewing. I was particularly fond of Edy's (Dreyer's in the West, I believe) when they used to do the same, with rather better ice cream, but then they changed the recipe and put in bigger chips and too salty, at that. That was the only time in my life I was actually moved to write to a major food manufacturer about my feelings for their product; I was bummed! Unbelievably, they never changed it back (they did send me a coupon).

In Cincinnati there is a locally revered ice cream producer called Graeter's that goes the other way and uses chocolate that appears to be broken from sheets into fragments of variable size. Often you get a couple of really big pieces per scoop. They're not too thick and they have a nice smooth texture and a noticeably low melting point, so you do taste the chocolate. The Graeter's black raspberry chocolate chip is particularly good.

[nightscotsman]

You are correct - adding oil is the answer. You could use a nut oil, but that would introduce another flavor which you may not want. I would just use a flavorless vegetable oil. You'll have to experiment to find out how much to add.

I wouldn't add liquor or liqueur since they contain water. The small amount of water will make the chocolate seize and become grainy. You would have to add much more water to make the chocolate smooth, but then you would basically have a water-based ganache. Actually, another thing you might try is small chunks of firm ganache in your ice cream. I imagine it would be more like fudge chunk than chocolate chip.

[jenifresh]

I am an ice cream maker by trade www.jenisicecreams.com .

Those big chunks of chip that you get in Graeter's ice cream ARE made by adding vegtable oil. If I do it this way, I usually prefer sunflower oil. It is neutral in flavor, and usually organic. This oil has a lower freezing point than the chocolate solids. The ratio is about 3 parts melted chocolate to one part sunflower oil. Pour it into your mostly frozen, but still supple, ice cream and stir gently - just to break it up a bit. Or stir vigorously to make what the Italians call stracciatella - which is small shreds of chocolate.

Unless you have a powerful ice cream machine that freezes it pretty solidly, let it harden in your freezer for an hour or so before adding the melted chocolate - and make sure that the chocolate is about room temperature, or it will melt your ice cream.

At my shop, I add cream or even water. Basically, I make a ganache and pour it into my ice cream when it is coming out of the machine. Sometimes I add a little butter - even though it has a higher freezing point, it works.

I make it and test it the same way that I do jam, I freeze a spoon or a plate and put melted chocolate on it. If its too hard, I add more cream, too soft, I add more chocolate.

The folks at Scharffen-Berger will give you a great recipe as well. Just give them a call, they are very helpful, especially if you're using their products!

[foodie52]

Thank you for this thread! I thought it was just me...some chocolate chips or chunks in icecream are a waste of calories: no flavor at all until the warm up in your mouth.

[Katherine]

Thank you for this thread! I thought it was just me...some chocolate chips or chunks in icecream are a waste of calories: no flavor at all until the warm up in your mouth.

Was that chocolate? Or was it brown wax?

[tunnymowg]

Thanks for your replies. Last time I tried chopping some Guittard chips very fine (almost shaved) but it made no difference - they ended up as just really tiny hard bits of chocolate. I will probably just use oil, although I'm also intrigued with the idea of using a ganache that has a lot of alcohol. I've used oil before to thin chocolate for dipping and noticed how much it softened when I used too much. Is canola ok? I'm just a little mystified by the process you described - I had figured I would freeze the chocolate and oil first to make it solid, and then break it up before I add it to the ice cream. But what you are saying is that the chocolate/oil LIQUID will harden and break up instantly when I stir it in? I am thinking of what happens when the egg goes into eggdrop soup - TOTALLY different thing, but do you know what I mean? I can't wait to try this. I'm aiming to replicate a B&J's ice cream I had at one of their scoop shops that was just fabulous - one of the best I've ever had. Don't remember the name, but it was basically a smooth intensely coconut ice cream with dark chocolate chunks and roasted almonds. mmmmmmm!!! Anyway, thanks again for your help! Oh, and LOL - brown wax - that is so true! bleh!!!

[nicolekaplan]

i saw some place do this on tv and they actually poured the liquid chocolate mix into the top of the batch freezer right before extracting it. although i would imagine it will make your machine more difficult to clean i think it would work really well. also how about trying pate a glacer instead of chocolate, it has the oil mixed in already and won't set like chocolate. i have had graeters black rasp chip and i think that would be a similar flavor to what they are doing

[jenifresh]

I'm just a little mystified by the process you described - I had figured I would freeze the chocolate and oil first to make it solid, and then break it up before I add it to the ice cream.  But what you are saying is that the chocolate/oil LIQUID will harden and break up instantly when I stir it in?  I am thinking of what happens when the egg goes into eggdrop soup - TOTALLY different thing, but do you know what I mean?  I can't wait to try this. 

Yes, do not get into trying to chop chocolate that has oil in it. It's a very messy job. It melts faster than butter with the warmth of your hand. Just pour it into semi solid ice cream and stir gently until you have the chunk size you want. It will harden immediately in the cold cream.

Incidentally, this is a great way to make "Magic Shell"... you may need to experiment with other oils like a bit of coconut oil, which hardens in a thinner shell than chocolate, in addition to canola or sunflower.

Sometimes I make a tray of "truffle". I put a thin layer of melted chocolate on silpat, let that harden, then top it with a thick layer of ganache (with or without alchohol), let that layer harden in the freezer and then top it all of with another thin layer of melted chocolate. This I freeze and chop into large pieces and chuck into ice cream for a "truffle chip". Each chip has that characteritic outer crunch on each side and inner smoothness of a truffle. Yes, it is over the top. But mmmm! In this case, you must chop by hand quickly and preferably while standing in a freezer.

Of course, good chocolate is a must!

[claire797]

Jenifresh, thank you so much for your comments! I feel compelled to run to the kitchen and try this.

What I've been doing (until this point) is shredding good dark chocolate with a microplane zester and adding it to the just-out-of-the-machine ice cream. It makes a very good chocolate mint ice cream, but I still prefer chunks. I've avoided trying to make them myself because I didn't know how to get them to melt properly. Thanks again.

[nventura]

I make a ganache, then pipe it onto parchment paper, freeze it, chop it up and add it at the end. Tastes great and melts great.

[Chefjk]

You can even take it one step more. Some of the chocolate manucfactors make a special chip and chunk especially for Ice cream. I work for Barry Callebaut and we have 15 different types. Yes they have special oils in them so when the chocolate is frozen it is not rock hard. These are special made for this reason. We make the chips for Haggen Dazs and Ben and Jerrys. However we also sell them to other people who can only use a case . They can get this product from distiributors.

[claire797]

You can even take it one step more. Some of the chocolate manucfactors make a special chip and chunk especially for Ice cream. I work for Barry Callebaut and we have 15 different types. Yes they have special oils in them so when the chocolate is frozen it is not rock hard. These are special made for this reason. We make the chips for Haggen Dazs and Ben and Jerrys. However we also sell them to other people who can only use a case . They can get this product from distiributors.

Funny you should post this. Yesterday I bought a few cups of Callebaut chocolate chip from the bulk bin at Central Market. When I got to the car, I decided I needed a sample and proceeded to dig through the groceries and bring the chips up to the front seat with me. The chips had been in the sun for about 1 minute and had already started to melt, unlike the Nestle morsels, which tend to withstand the trip from grocery checkout to parking lot a bit better ;).

Could those chips have been the same ones you sell to ice cream makers? They certainly seemed to have a lower melting point.

Oh, and they are definitely the best chocolate chips I've tasted lately.

NVentura, your method of making the ganache, freezing it and chopping it up when needed sounds like an excellent way to have the frozen chocolate on hand when needed. I like to do things in steps -- chocolate one day, ice cream the next -- so thanks for the tip.