Field Trip to SCOOPS Ice Cream Factory

On the 1^st of October the sections A, B, C, D,E and F of ninth grade were taken to the SCOOPS ice cream factory located in Jaipur in connection with our upcoming science lesson. Here we learned about the complex and time taking process of making ice cream.

 After a long 90 minute drive we finally reached our destination. All of us were astonished by the levels of hygiene that are being maintained by the factory. We were asked to cover our mouths and also our hair. Before entering we were asked to wash our hands and put both our hands and legs in antiseptic. All this precaution was in order to avoid contamination of the ice cream.

 Whenever you say an ice cream factory the first thing that comes to your mind would be an amazing and magical factory something like that of Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory where ice cream is supposedly grown on trees but it actually involves the usage a lot of complex machinery and also selfless effort.

The process starts of by placing all the basic raw materials like sugar, butter, milk, etc. into a big bin that leads to a tube into which all the materials are sucked and subsequently mixed. The vacuum in this tube is created by using hot and cold water to create high and low pressures sucking the materials into the low pressure area.

Then that are put into a pasteurisation tank to remove all impurities. When the mixture goes through this drastic change of temperature the butter tends to separate and so to avoid the fat present in the mixture are reduced to fat globules and the mixture is made homogeneous. This process is called homogenization which takes place in the homogenization tank. By this the ice cream ‘Mix’ is prepared. A single mix can be used to prepare over 15 varieties of ice cream. This mix is stored in tanks at a temperature of -4^o C.

After 8 hours flavouring, adding of colour, fruits and nuts takes place. All this content is then put into cones, boxes and cups as per their requirement. Then the packed ice cream is frozen in a chamber at -29^o C. We were allowed to have a look inside the freezing cold chamber. After freezing the ice cream it is transported to their destinations in trucks with highly effective cooling systems preventing them from melting. This way the ice cream reaches the outlets and subsequently our houses.

After the tour we were given some ice cream and cake as a snack. We then got back onto the busses and came back to school. In addition to this the manager gave us a brief on the impact that the using of butter of dalda has on the ice cream. The whole experience was highly resourceful as well as overwhelming. We learnt that the tasty ice cream we eat with no thought about how it is made uses a lot of time and energy during manufacture.

-By: Nikhila  IX A