I love McConnell’s but will only have it at a scoop shop preferably in Santa Barbara after wine tasting or dinner at Loquita. I’ve bought 2 pints at supermarkets and the texture was very icy. In this thread or another thread somebody who worked for markets said that ice cream shipping can encounter issues with temperature control which leads to icy textures. I believe he said it was due to the ice cream melting or going under temperature between locations. Maybe it’s better now with the increase of cold storage.
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Some of these products are labeled by weight (1 ounce = 28 grams) and others are labeled by volume (1 ounce = ~30 milliliters). Gelato is much denser (typically 20-30% overrun (air)) and thus heavier than some commercial ice cream (as much as 100% overrun), so 16 ounces (1 pint) of ice cream by volume could be less product by weight than 11 ounces net weight of gelato. On the other hand, some “super-premium” ice creams are about as dense as gelato. When it’s labeled by volume, you’d really need to weigh the package to know what you’re getting.
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And the products with less dense/heavy mix-ins are going to fit in the pint size but weigh less (as I assume is what’s going on with the two Talenti items I noted).
I think some of the Talenti flavors come in jars that are smaller than a pint. I’ll have to look next time I’m at Whole Foods.
McConnell’s claims 10% overrun.
I’ve been getting Facebook ads for Nick’s ice cream here in SoCal. Available at Ralph’s. Anyone tried it?
I’ve had it and I think it’s alright–probably one of the better light ice creams on the market. It’s obviously not going to replicate regular full fat ice cream, but you could definitely do worse in that section of the freezer isle.
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Skim Milk, Cream, Soluble Corn Fiber, Allulose, EPG (modified plant-based oil), Erythritol, Milk Protein Concentrate, Xylitol, Coconut Oil, Natural Flavor, Whey Protein Isolate, Acacia Gum, Salt, Guar Gum, Tara Gum, Ground Vanilla Bean, Stevia and Monk Fruit Extract, Carob Gum
No thanks.
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If it’s $9.99 a pint I’m not interested no matter what’s in it. :o(
Actually about a year or two ago McConnell’s reformulated their supermarket pints, and the texture is softer/smoother, less hard, and certainly less icy now…but that’s because they’ve added starches (tapioca) to the ingredients list. I can no longer recommend McConnell’s from the supermarket, as tapioca starch doesn’t appear in any of my recipes for homemade ice cream. Häagen-Dazs is pretty much it for me now…
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Actually Jeni’s ice cream (also in her book) uses tapioca starch in her recipes.
In addition, Dana Cree in her great book “Hello my name is ice cream” discusses different additives in her recipes and also recommends tapioca starch as easiest to use for good texture
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I’ve been buying these and they are super good, especially for being non-dairy.
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Grocery Outlet (at least the one in Camarillo) always has great finds. Selection is limited but no complaints for $2.50 pints of Humphry Slocombe and High Road.
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I think you missed my point: I don’t put nor do I look for “additives” in my ice cream, especially not unnecessary starches and emulsifiers.
Why is cornstarch or tapioca starch unnecessary in ice ? That’s like saying I don’t put thyme in bechamel sauce because it would be an “additive”. What’s wrong in improving the mouthfeel/texture of a dish, something every home cook or restaurant is doing everyday with nearly every dish
The short answer is that starches simply are not necessary to make ice cream and because IMO it does not improve the mouthfeel. I like a good, high-quality, traditional ice cream with a high fat content that’s hard when frozen, and unfortunately there just aren’t a lot of brands providing that option these days. McConnell’s used to be one of them, and now at least their supermarket product is not; I don’t know if they also changed the recipes for their Scoop Shop product or not, as I haven’t been in some time now (none near me).
If I want something with the texture of soft serve, I’ll go get some soft serve; I don’t want or need my “ice cream” to have starches added to make it softer. McConnell’s is priced at a premium, so why the hell would I want it to have a similar texture to Breyer’s? Do you buy processed “spreadable butter” for your bread because a stick of butter takes a minute or two to soften from the fridge?
Ice cream should just be cream, milk, sugar, egg yolks and whatever else is needed for the given flavor – I don’t want any starches, gums, carrageenan, etc.
You, or any business, can Frankenstein recipes all you want, but some people simply can’t handle carbs as well as others, and for me the lines I’ve drawn in the sand are at unnecessary starch thickeners and excessive levels of sweetness. If I’m trying to thicken my gravy, I’m not going to add a cornstarch slurry, I’m instead going to add some collagen. By the way, the flavor and texture of the collagen-thickened sauce beats the pants off the slurry-thickened sauce any day of the week.
I just like having my options, and while I was originally a huge fan of McConnell’s for making ice cream the traditional way, over the past few years they’ve strayed from that – no more French Vanilla (“Golden State Vanilla” – theirs was to die for), they’ve ditched other long-time flavors like the decadent Dark Chocolate Paso Brittle and their seasonal Winter Cranberry Chip… and now their supermarket product recipes have all been reformulated with added starches.
Just like Broguiere’s Egg Nog has been reformulated from their traditional, simple, clean ingredients to a highly-processed list that reads like a science experiment. No bueno, and it tastes like shit now, too.
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I feel attacked
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Without commenting on the rest of your post,
Huh? I’ve never had a stick of butter that I took out of the fridge that was anything close to spreadable (IMO) afer only 1-2 mins at room temp. What brand butter do you use? (b/c I’d love to buy some of this stuff)
…do you typically put an entire stick of butter on your bread all at once? The trick is to take the stick of butter, slice off a chunk, turn the chunk on its side, then make thin slices from that chunk. The thin slices only take a minute or two to soften to a spreadable consistency 
It sound like you have ever used corn- or tapioca starch in ice cream yourself - the consistency has nothing to do with soft serve. It might be actually helpful if you try it at home so that you actually know what you are talking about. And an ice cream which is hard when frozen (independently if there are any starch in it) is just a sign of a low quality ice cream or that it wasn’t handled correctly.
It’s been a while but hard to beat Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.