Re: What is the 'overrun' of ice cream? How do you calculate it?

Funny that your dad knows this term because overrun is not a common term. Anyway, overrun is a measure of how much air is in ice cream and you already picked up on the fact that the Mayfield brand has a higher overrun. The fact that the Ben & Jerry's tastes better has to do with more than just the amount of overrun... but that's a different debate. The equation to calculate the amount of overrun is as follows:

volume of ice cream - volume of mix
------------------------------------- X 100 = percent overrun
volume of mix

In order to calculate the overrun of any ice cream, you will have to sacrifice the ice cream for the sake of science. Here's how it works: the volume of the ice cream is the volume of the container (a full pint in your case). The volume of the mix can be estimated by melting the full container of ice cream (if you sneak a taste before you melt it, you will end up with bad results) and removing the air bubbles. You will have to stir the melted liquid a bit with a spoon to collapse the foam and get all the air out. After you've gotten all the air out, you need to measure the volume of this liquid and that will be your "volume of mix". Plug these values into the equation above, and you have your overrun percentage for that brand. Note: each brand of ice cream will typically have a different amount of overrun. If you want to see the full range, try experimenting with your local grocery brand, Breyers and HaagenDaz. You should see very different results.

Thanks for your question! :)

Kieran