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Why do people add vegetable glycerin to Ninja Creami recipes?
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The information provided below is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to change your regular diet. Please consult with your physician before changing your diet.
One of the tricky things about Ninja Creami ice cream is the leftovers can become rock solid, like a chunk of ice, after refreezing. Usually, the leftover are not soft enough to scoop. This can be problematic if you don't want to have to process leftovers every time you want to eat them or if you have added mix-ins (mix-ins get completely mixed into the ice cream if you process them again).
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A couple reasons why the leftovers are not scoopable...
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Air-The Ninja Creami works differently than industrial ice cream machines used to make store-bought ice cream. The Ninja Creami does not "churn" the frozen mixture the same way. It does not add any air. Without the air, the ice cream is much denser and freezer more solid. This issue cannot be resolved as there is no way to add air to Ninja Creami creations.
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Ingredients-A lot of Ninja Creami recipes are using low-fat, low-sugar, and high-protein ingredients that store-bought ice cream does not use. These ingredients tend to freeze harder and more solid than full-fat and full-sugar recipes do. The higher the fat and sugar content, the softer the leftovers will be. Also, a lot of store-bought ice creams have different stabilizers in it. Yes, many Ninja Creami recipes have stabilizers like guar gum or cream cheese in them. But, if you look on the package of store-bought ice cream you'll likely notice that there are several stabilizers added like cellulose gum, xanthan gum, locus bean gum, or carob bean gum.
How to resolve the issue...
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Try adding a small amount of alcohol to your recipe. Alcohol changes the freezing point of the ice cream. But, be careful. If you add too much, the ice cream will not be hard enough to scoop. The amount you will need to add will vary based on the alcohol % of the liquor that you use.
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Make high-fat and high-sugar recipes. These stay softer in the freezer.
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Add FOOD GRADE vegetable glycerin to your base recipe before freezing it. The amount per 16 ounce container will vary based on the recipe. You will need to experiment to see how much works best for your recipes, but generally speaking, the amounts in the graphic below are a good estimate of how much glycerin to use per 16 ounce container.
I made several videos and blog posts to provide more detail on my experiment. I started off with 3 pints of the exact same ice cream base and added different amounts of vegetable glycerin to see what amount worked the best. I did the same experiment for a full fat/sugar recipe, a low-fat/sugar recipe, and a low-fat/sugar and high protein recipe.
I used Raw+Rare Food Grade Vegetable Glycerin in all of my experiments. Different brands may react differently in the ice cream.
