Balance calculator
Enter your ingredients by weight. The calculator works out the composition of the mix, compares it with the range for your type of ice cream and tells you exactly what to change.
Ice cream is not about eyeballed ratios: fat, milk solids-not-fat, sugars and total solids decide whether it turns out creamy or full of ice crystals, and PAC tells you how hard it will be straight from the freezer. The calculator works out exactly what we show with every recipe — only for a mix you put together yourself.
- Pick the type of ice cream — the target ranges come from it.
- Build the mix from ingredients, or pre-fill it from one of our recipes.
- You get the composition, a verdict on every value and, for the ones out of range, a suggestion of what to do — including how the numbers change afterwards.
What the numbers mean
The calculator invents nothing — it works from the composition of the ingredients, just as it does for recipes. This is the short version; the articles have the detail.
- Fat
- Fat carries flavour and creaminess and keeps ice crystals small. Cream, egg yolks and plant fats add it; swapping cream for milk takes it away.
- Milk solids non-fat (MSNF)
- Milk solids-not-fat (proteins and lactose) bind water and give ice cream body. Skimmed milk powder or quark raise it; too much of it turns the texture sandy.
- Sugars
- Sugars sweeten, but above all they lower the freezing point and keep ice cream scoopable. Lactose is left out, polyols are counted in.
- Total solids
- Total solids are everything that is not water. The less of it, the more ice — sugar, milk powder or less water will raise it.
- PAC
- PAC is the anti-freezing power of the mix: the higher it is, the softer the ice cream straight from the freezer. Dextrose, fructose, invert sugar, alcohol and polyols move it the most.
- POD
- POD is sweetening power relative to sucrose. When you need more PAC without making the ice cream sweeter, dextrose instead of table sugar is the answer.
- Brix
- Brix is the share of dissolved sugars — the key number for sorbets and granitas. Low Brix means shaved ice, high Brix a mix that never quite freezes.
Target ranges by type
What the calculator works from: the ranges each type is usually made in. Every type has its own page with the explanation.
| Type | Fat | Milk solids non-fat (MSNF) | Sugars | Total solids | PAC | POD | Brix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic cream ice cream | 10–18 % | 6–12 % | 12–20 % | 35–44 % | 19–30 | 13–22 | — |
| Italian gelato | 4–10 % | 7–12 % | 16–22 % | 32–42 % | 24–34 | 15–22 | — |
| Frozen custard | 10–18 % | 6–11 % | 12–20 % | 38–46 % | 19–30 | 13–22 | — |
| Sorbet | 0–3 % | — | 20–32 % | 24–38 % | 26–42 | — | 24–34 |
| Sherbet | 1–3 % | 1–6 % | 20–30 % | 26–38 % | 26–40 | — | — |
| Granita | 0–3 % | — | 12–24 % | 12–28 % | 16–32 | — | 13–24 |
| Frozen yogurt | 0–8 % | 8–15 % | 14–22 % | 26–40 % | 24–36 | — | — |
| Rolled ice cream | 4–16 % | — | 12–22 % | 28–42 % | — | — | — |
More articles
How zmrzka calculates the composition of the mix
Fat, milk solids, sugars, total solids, PAC, POD and Brix: where the numbers on every recipe come from, which databases the ingredients are taken from and where the calculation reaches its limits.
PAC and POD: why ice cream is soft and how sweet it tastes
The anti-freezing power and sweetness of sugars compared with sucrose. How to soften ice cream with dextrose, invert sugar, alcohol or salt, and where the limits are.
What fat, sugar, protein and air do in ice cream
Ice cream is a foam and an emulsion at the same time. The roles of fat, milk solids, sugars, stabilisers, emulsifiers and air, and what happens when there is too much of something.