What is the definition of super premium Ice cream? Which grocery brands are designated as super premium?

Question

I always thought that "premium" and "super premium" were nothing but marketing words, but I now I am not so sure. My curiosity originated from a disappointing recent purchase of Breyers ice cream. I now realize that breyers production process has changed, but I couldn't help but notice that a pint of their vanilla weighed considerably less that a pint of Ben & Jerry's vanilla and have since learned that Ben & Jerry's is considered "super premium".

Answer 1

In a way you're right, 'super premium' is a marketing term.

For a long time there was only 'ice cream'. It was made just the way you'd make it at home, with real milk, eggs, sugar, etc. Over the years manufacturers found ways to make it cheaper by using artificial ingredients (and by 'artificial' I mean just things that weren't in ice cream before--like guar gum, carrageenan, artificial flavors, etc.)

This caused the flavor and 'mouth feel' of ice cream to slowly degrade. It wasn't as good as it used to be, but we didn't notice because the trend was slow.

Then some companies like Ben & Jerrys and Hagen Das started making regular old-fashioned ice cream without artificial ingredients and people said 'Wow, this is great!' They were either too young to remember what it used to be like, or else they had forgotten what real ice cream tasted like. So maybe they shouldn't call it 'super premium', they should just call it REAL ice cream.

Breyers has a kind of ice cream that has a lot of air blended in, that's why it's lighter. It's called 'super churned' or 'super whipped' or something like that. It's not bad, it's very smooth and nice that way, and if you measure it by weight it seems like more. The opposite of this is Italian ice cream (gelato) that is much denser than regular ice cream and has a more intense flavor, but you don't eat as much of it.

As for what brands are best, well Ben & Jerry's is tops in my book. Hagen Das is good. Godiva is good. But different brands are sold in different parts of the country, and in fact even the same brands often have different names in different parts of the country. If you look at the list of ingredients it tells you a lot.

Answer 2

Super Premium Ice Cream

Answer 3

Ice Cream Definition

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the definition of super premium Ice cream? Which grocery brands are designated as super premium?
I always thought that "premium" and "super premium" were nothing but marketing words, but I now I am not so sure. My curiosity originated from a disappointing recent purchase of Breyers ice cream. I now realize that breyers production process has changed, but I couldn't...

Answer 5

Don't know about Costco food - I'd be a bit wary of it, but it might be fine. The ingredients list you wrote sounds fine. They probably get their food from another unnamed manufacturer - look for it on the label (mfg for Costco by:xxxx) I have always thought that IAMS and Eukanuba were overpriced for the quality of the ingredients! Low residue foods can sometimes cause intestinal problems - it's natural and healthy for the undigested materials to move out of the dog's system. Look for a food that does NOT have "by products" in the ingredients list or you'll be paying a lot of money for garbage. Personally, I like Nutro - it has no by products and is reasonably priced and my dogs have done fine on it for more than 10 years. They make canned and dry dog foods for puppies and adults. Any changes in diet should be made slowly to avoid diarrhea - gradually mix more new food in with what you've been using until he's switched over.

Answer 6

I got this from Cook's Country.com. I am a member. Perhaps this will help you. It's actually a very interesting article.

Do premium ice creams—the kind sold in small pint- or quart-sized packages—taste better than mass-market brands sold in half-gallons tubs?
This updated a tasting that appeared in the July, 2002 issue. For related information, see Vanilla Ice Cream and Ice Cream Cones.

This article was published in the June, 2005, issue of Cook's Country, sister magazine to Cook's Illustrated.

Do premium ice creams -- the kind sold in small pint- or quart-sized packages -- taste better than mass-market brands sold in half-gallons tubs? Should be an easy question to answer, right? But it's not -- even though the differences between the two styles are pretty clear.

When ice cream is churned, air is incorporated. If no air were added, the ice cream would be hard and stiff, like an ice cube. Manufacturers can control the amount of air added to the ice cream mixture before it freezes. This air, called overrun, can increase the volume of the ice cream by as little as 20 percent (this is typical of premium brands) or as much as 100 percent (typical of mass-market brands). More overrun produces a fluffy, light ice cream with more air and less of everything else, including fat. Less overrun produces a creamy, dense ice cream with little air and a lot of fat. So when you buy a fluffy ice cream packed in a half-gallon container, you're buying a fair amount of air. But this may not be as bad as it sounds.

When we conducted a blind tasting of seven best-selling brands, two reigned over the rest -- one brand, as it turned out, for each style of ice cream. Fans of premium ice cream praised Ben & Jerry's for having a dense, creamy texture and an intense flavor they found reminiscent of fine bittersweet chocolate. Meanwhile, tasters who preferred mass-market Edy's Grand liked it for its fluffy texture and sweet, milk-chocolaty flavor. The other five brands weren't bad -- we're talking about ice cream, after all. But tasters did downgrade them for weak flavor and/or icy texture. The ice creams are listed below in order of preference.

Top Picks
1. Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Ice Cream $3.79 for 1 pint; 16 grams of fat per 1/2-cup serving
Described by numerous tasters as "creamy" and "rich," this chart-topper has twice the fat of mass-market ice creams. Tasters admired the "very dense" texture that was also described as "fudge-like" and "almost chewy." The chocolate flavor was judged to be "intense" but not overly aggressive.

2. Edy's Grand Chocolate Ice Cream $5.29 for 1.75 quarts; 8 grams of fat per 1/2-cup serving
Several tasters recommended this as the best choice for families with kids. "Like something you'd get from the ice cream truck, but better." Short on richness, Edy's was admired for its "milk chocolate" flavor. Less dense than premium brands, but also not icy, as were many other modestly priced varieties.

Runners-Up
3. Breyers Chocolate Ice Cream $5.29 for 1.75 quarts; 8 grams of fat per 1/2-cup serving
Favored by tasters who preferred an "old-fashioned" or "nostalgic" taste, Bryer's was likened to a fudgsicle. Its "not too rich" flavor earned points with some, while others insisted that it "could have been creamier." A few tasters called the texture "icy" and "grainy."

4. Turkey Hill Philadelphia Style Chocolate Ice Cream $5.29 for 1.75 quarts; 10 grams of fat per 1/2-cup serving
Tasters focused on the texture of this brand, calling it "smooth," "fluffy," "not dense," and "creamy like a milkshake." The flavor was "malty," "milk chocolatey," and, for some, "too sweet."

5. Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate Ice Cream $5.49 for 2 quarts; 8 grams of fat per 1/2-cup serving
Blue Bell was likened to a "Milky Way candy bar," a virtue for some tasters but approaching "too sweet" for others. Although appealingly "fluffy," according to one taster, others deemed it too "airy" and "wispy."

6. Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Ice Cream $5.69 for 1 quart; 18 grams of fat per 1/2-cup serving
With the highest amount of fat per serving, it was surprising that Häagen-Dazs failed to pull in more points. But its attractively "smooth," "creamy" texture couldn't make up for a "boring" flavor, variously called "light chocolate," "dusty," and "a little acidic."

7. Blue Bunny Premium Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream $4.85 for 2 quarts; 7 grams of fat per 1/2-cup serving
While one taster liked Blue Bunny for a "chocolate taste that stands out," another downgraded it for tasting like a "brownie mix." Still other tasters detected "bubble-gum sweetness" and a "minty aftertaste." The texture was praised as "hearty" and "dense."