The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. The package of
commercial ice cream has been shrinking. For decades, it was a half gallon.
Then 1.75 quarts. Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be 1.25
quarts. Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and no
more ice cream. You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for $3.99.
And they'll be printed in China.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

> The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. The package of
> commercial ice cream has been shrinking. For decades, it was a half gallon.
> Then 1.75 quarts. Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be 1.25
> quarts. Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and no
> more ice cream. You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for $3.99.
> And they'll be printed in China.
>
>

And yet, fast food portions continuously get BIGGER.

Conclusion: The total amount of food in the universe is
a constant. The packaging just shifts around.

On Aug 18, 9:58*pm, "Ed Pawlowski" > wrote:
> The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. *The package of
> commercial ice cream has been shrinking. *For decades, it was a half gallon.
> Then 1.75 quarts. *Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be 1.25
> quarts. * Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and no
> more ice cream. *You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for $3.99.
> And they'll be printed in China.

Heh! For real.

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. The package of
> commercial ice cream has been shrinking. For decades, it was a half
> gallon. Then 1.75 quarts. Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be
> 1.25 quarts. Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and
> no more ice cream. You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for
> $3.99. And they'll be printed in China.
>

I know people complain all the time about the shrinking packages. But at my
local grocery store a half gallon of ice cream is still a half gallon. Go
figure

Jill

RegForte wrote:
>
> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> > The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. The package of
> > commercial ice cream has been shrinking. For decades, it was a half gallon.
> > Then 1.75 quarts. Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be 1.25
> > quarts. Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and no
> > more ice cream. You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for $3.99.
> > And they'll be printed in China.
> >
> >
>
> And yet, fast food portions continuously get BIGGER.
>
> Conclusion: The total amount of food in the universe is
> a constant. The packaging just shifts around.

The half gallon of Blue Bell I got yesterday at my local Albertson's is
a half gallon, and the half gallon I got at Shady Glen when in CT a few
months back was also *gasp* a half gallon.

Conclusion: Only the crap brands are playing the shrinking package game,
since people clueless enough to eat such low grade mostly air garbage
also don't know how many quarts a half gallon is anyway.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. The package of
> commercial ice cream has been shrinking. For decades, it was a half gallon.
> Then 1.75 quarts. Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be 1.25
> quarts. Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and no
> more ice cream. You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for $3.99.
> And they'll be printed in China.
>
>


The old gallon will become a Dixie Cup (remember those? 4 oz or so?)

gloria p

Pete C. wrote:


> The half gallon of Blue Bell I got yesterday at my local Albertson's
> is a half gallon, and the half gallon I got at Shady Glen when in CT
> a few months back was also gasp a half gallon.

What's in it? Ingredient-wise that is.




Brian

--
Day 198 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project

Default User wrote:
>
> Pete C. wrote:
>
> > The half gallon of Blue Bell I got yesterday at my local Albertson's
> > is a half gallon, and the half gallon I got at Shady Glen when in CT
> > a few months back was also gasp a half gallon.
>
> What's in it? Ingredient-wise that is.

Which brand and which flavor?

Pete C. wrote:

>
> Default User wrote:
> >
> > Pete C. wrote:
> >
> > > The half gallon of Blue Bell I got yesterday at my local
> > > Albertson's is a half gallon, and the half gallon I got at Shady
> > > Glen when in CT a few months back was also gasp a half gallon.
> >
> > What's in it? Ingredient-wise that is.
>
> Which brand and which flavor?

What do you have? Vanilla is always a good benchmark. I was pretty
irritated with Breyer's when "natural tara gum" showed up as an
ingredient.



Brian

--
Day 198 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project

Default User wrote:
>
> Pete C. wrote:
>
> >
> > Default User wrote:
> > >
> > > Pete C. wrote:
> > >
> > > > The half gallon of Blue Bell I got yesterday at my local
> > > > Albertson's is a half gallon, and the half gallon I got at Shady
> > > > Glen when in CT a few months back was also gasp a half gallon.
> > >
> > > What's in it? Ingredient-wise that is.
> >
> > Which brand and which flavor?
>
> What do you have? Vanilla is always a good benchmark. I was pretty
> irritated with Breyer's when "natural tara gum" showed up as an
> ingredient.

Breyer's is one of the brands I'd consider to be crap. I've tried their
product and to my assessment at least, it is barely above the quality
level of generic store brands. I believe Breyer's is also one of the
brands playing the shrinking package game.

Blue Bell is vastly better, but it too has some vegetable gums as
stabilizer. You have to realize that some sort of stabilizer is
necessary in any ice cream that will be distributed much beyond the
place where it is produced.

I'll have to look at a tub of Braum's ice cream to see it's ingredients.
I normally just get stuff at their drive through, vs. buying a tub to
take home. Since they say they deliver from their plant to their stores
every other day, they may be able to avoid the stabilizers. Certainly
their product is very good.

Pete C. wrote:

>
> Default User wrote:

> > What do you have? Vanilla is always a good benchmark. I was pretty
> > irritated with Breyer's when "natural tara gum" showed up as an
> > ingredient.
>
> Breyer's is one of the brands I'd consider to be crap. I've tried
> their product and to my assessment at least, it is barely above the
> quality level of generic store brands.

I certainly disagree with that. They do have significant overrun.
However, the ingredients are by and large superior to Edy's and most of
the others.

> I believe Breyer's is also one
> of the brands playing the shrinking package game.

Indeed, which is a source of frustration for me.

> Blue Bell is vastly better, but it too has some vegetable gums as
> stabilizer. You have to realize that some sort of stabilizer is
> necessary in any ice cream that will be distributed much beyond the
> place where it is produced.

Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The addition of
tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the old TV
commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the ingredients for the
other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream, sugar, vanilla."


Blue Bunny Premium has a natural vanilla that's free of any thickeners
or stabilizers.

<http://www.bluebunny.com/Products/Fa.../d/Premium_Ice
_Cream_All_Natural_Vanilla>

Unfortunately it's the only flavor of theirs that is that way.

<http://www.bluebunny.com/Products/Fa.../d/Premium_Ice
_Cream_French_Vanilla>

To me, presence of gum thickeners has a more important important effect
on quality than does overrun. Others undoubtably feel differently.

All in all, for commercial-grade that I can find, Breyers still tends
to be the best. Much degraded though. I have trouble bringing myself to
pay for super-premium ice cream very often.




Brian (enough to make me start feeling grouchy, have to be careful)

--
Day 198 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project

Default User wrote:
>
> Pete C. wrote:
>
> >
> > Default User wrote:
>
> > > What do you have? Vanilla is always a good benchmark. I was pretty
> > > irritated with Breyer's when "natural tara gum" showed up as an
> > > ingredient.
> >
> > Breyer's is one of the brands I'd consider to be crap. I've tried
> > their product and to my assessment at least, it is barely above the
> > quality level of generic store brands.
>
> I certainly disagree with that. They do have significant overrun.
> However, the ingredients are by and large superior to Edy's and most of
> the others.

Edy's (and the other name they use) is another on my crap list

>
> > I believe Breyer's is also one
> > of the brands playing the shrinking package game.
>
> Indeed, which is a source of frustration for me.

Oddly the ones that are not on my crap list aren't engaging in the
shrinking package game, they are raising the price as the cost of the
ingredients increases which is fine with me.

>
> > Blue Bell is vastly better, but it too has some vegetable gums as
> > stabilizer. You have to realize that some sort of stabilizer is
> > necessary in any ice cream that will be distributed much beyond the
> > place where it is produced.
>
> Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The addition of
> tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the old TV
> commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the ingredients for the
> other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream, sugar, vanilla."

I don't have any Blue Bell vanilla to check here, but it's probably on
their site.

>
> Blue Bunny Premium has a natural vanilla that's free of any thickeners
> or stabilizers.
>
> <http://www.bluebunny.com/Products/Fa.../d/Premium_Ice
> _Cream_All_Natural_Vanilla>
>
> Unfortunately it's the only flavor of theirs that is that way.
>
> <http://www.bluebunny.com/Products/Fa.../d/Premium_Ice
> _Cream_French_Vanilla>
>
> To me, presence of gum thickeners has a more important important effect
> on quality than does overrun. Others undoubtably feel differently.
>

I find overrun to be a more significant factor as it pretty much
destroys the texture and takes the flavor with is since you're tasting
mostly air.

> All in all, for commercial-grade that I can find, Breyers still tends
> to be the best. Much degraded though. I have trouble bringing myself to
> pay for super-premium ice cream very often.

You can always make your own ice cream, it's rather easy to do these
days. No more hand cranking and dealing with ice and rock salt, just use
the Kitchenaid ice cream maker or similar, or do as I do and freeze it
with liquid nitrogen.

Pete C. wrote:

>
> Default User wrote:
> >
> > Pete C. wrote:

> > > I believe Breyer's is also one
> > > of the brands playing the shrinking package game.
> >
> > Indeed, which is a source of frustration for me.
>
> Oddly the ones that are not on my crap list aren't engaging in the
> shrinking package game, they are raising the price as the cost of the
> ingredients increases which is fine with me.

The packaging is an annoyance, but doesn't affect the flavor. I'm more
worried about that.

> > > Blue Bell is vastly better, but it too has some vegetable gums as
> > > stabilizer. You have to realize that some sort of stabilizer is
> > > necessary in any ice cream that will be distributed much beyond
> > > the place where it is produced.
> >
> > Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The
> > addition of tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the
> > old TV commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the
> > ingredients for the other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream,
> > sugar, vanilla."
>
> I don't have any Blue Bell vanilla to check here, but it's probably on
> their site.

I didn't find much there. I did find a link to an old (like 2001)
Cook's Illustrated ice cream test:

<http://www.doublerainbow.com/aboutus/news.html>

They listed Blue Bell overrun at about 50%, while Breyers was close to
100%.
> I find overrun to be a more significant factor as it pretty much
> destroys the texture and takes the flavor with is since you're tasting
> mostly air.

To each his own. Certainly it affects the overall texture. Too little
overrun can be a bit unpleasant too, for me. The super premiums are
often down around 25%.


> You can always make your own ice cream, it's rather easy to do these
> days. No more hand cranking and dealing with ice and rock salt, just
> use the Kitchenaid ice cream maker or similar, or do as I do and
> freeze it with liquid nitrogen.

Oh yeah, I've got the contraption. I'm just not motivated to go through
the effort very often.




Brian

--
Day 198 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project

Pete C. wrote:
> The half gallon of Blue Bell I got yesterday at my local Albertson's is
> a half gallon, and the half gallon I got at Shady Glen when in CT a few
> months back was also *gasp* a half gallon.
>
> Conclusion: Only the crap brands are playing the shrinking package game,
> since people clueless enough to eat such low grade mostly air garbage
> also don't know how many quarts a half gallon is anyway.
>


Yes, Blue Bell is a half gallon. They have a Key Lime ice cream that I
would love to try. I tried Groom's Cake and it was pretty good. I
should behave myself, but they keep tempting me. :-P


Becca

"Default User" > wrote in message
>
> Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The addition of
> tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the old TV
> commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the ingredients for the
> other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream, sugar, vanilla."

More like 50+ years. Breyers used to be the top local brand in Philadelphia
area. Eventually, they sold to Sealtest who sold to Kraft Foods who sold
that division to Good Humor who sold to Unilever. None of the flavors had
crap gums in them. They also discontinued my favorite flavors decades ago.
Banana, orange ice, raspberry ice. One of my favorites was a double cone
with vanilla on the bottom, raspberry ice on the top. Sugar cones were a
penny more.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "Default User" > wrote in message
> >
> > Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The addition of
> > tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the old TV
> > commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the ingredients for the
> > other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream, sugar, vanilla."
>
> More like 50+ years. Breyers used to be the top local brand in Philadelphia
> area. Eventually, they sold to Sealtest who sold to Kraft Foods who sold
> that division to Good Humor who sold to Unilever. None of the flavors had
> crap gums in them. They also discontinued my favorite flavors decades ago.
> Banana, orange ice, raspberry ice. One of my favorites was a double cone
> with vanilla on the bottom, raspberry ice on the top. Sugar cones were a
> penny more.

Be glad you still have Shady Glen up there with quality ice cream, and
what, two locations? Not to mention the burgers with the crispy
cheese...

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. The package of
> commercial ice cream has been shrinking. For decades, it was a half gallon.
> Then 1.75 quarts. Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be 1.25
> quarts. Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and no
> more ice cream. You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for $3.99.
> And they'll be printed in China.
>
>
Naw. Then they bring back the large size and charge more. Like
paper towels.

--
Jean B.

"Pete C." > wrote in message
>
> Be glad you still have Shady Glen up there with quality ice cream, and
> what, two locations? Not to mention the burgers with the crispy
> cheese...

And reasonable prices. Most every time we stop there I get the burger
though. I like the crispy cheese. And they still make real milkshakes.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "Pete C." > wrote in message
> >
> > Be glad you still have Shady Glen up there with quality ice cream, and
> > what, two locations? Not to mention the burgers with the crispy
> > cheese...
>
> And reasonable prices. Most every time we stop there I get the burger
> though. I like the crispy cheese. And they still make real milkshakes.

Did you ever order a side of crispy cheese? Rather addictive...

They also have the rare Grapenut ice cream, when I was up there I
grabbed the last one in the case and brought it back to TX with me.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

>
> "Default User" > wrote in message
> >
> > Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The
> > addition of tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the
> > old TV commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the
> > ingredients for the other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream,
> > sugar, vanilla."
>
> More like 50+ years. Breyers used to be the top local brand in
> Philadelphia area.

Ah. It only came on my personal radar in the Kraft days back in the 80s.





Brian

--
Day 199 of the "no grouchy usenet posts" project

Default User said...

> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
>>
>> "Default User" > wrote in message
>> >
>> > Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The
>> > addition of tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the
>> > old TV commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the
>> > ingredients for the other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream,
>> > sugar, vanilla."
>>
>> More like 50+ years. Breyers used to be the top local brand in
>> Philadelphia area.
>
> Ah. It only came on my personal radar in the Kraft days back in the 80s.


I remember when Baskin Robin's opened up in the Philippines! Out of all 31
flavors, I stood there and said "I'll have a waffle cone, double-scoop.
Make it Manilla!"

Andy

Andy said...

> Default User said...
>
>> Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> "Default User" > wrote in message
>>> >
>>> > Breyer's didn't use to have any, for at least 20 years. The
>>> > addition of tara gum is relatively recent. Many of us remember the
>>> > old TV commercial with the kid who had trouble reading the
>>> > ingredients for the other brand, but Breyers was "milk, cream,
>>> > sugar, vanilla."
>>>
>>> More like 50+ years. Breyers used to be the top local brand in
>>> Philadelphia area.
>>
>> Ah. It only came on my personal radar in the Kraft days back in the 80s.
>
>
> I remember when Baskin Robin's opened up in the Philippines! Out of all
31
> flavors, I stood there and said "I'll have a waffle cone, double-scoop.
> Make it Manilla!"
>
> Andy


Geez, I thought I was gullible.

Andy

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> The thread about making ice cream got me thinking. The package of
> commercial ice cream has been shrinking. For decades, it was a half
> gallon. Then 1.75 quarts. Now 1.5 quarts. Next year, it will probably be
> 1.25 quarts. Given the rate of decease, there are six more decreases and
> no more ice cream. You'll get a certificate with a picture on it for
> $3.99. And they'll be printed in China.

:-)

Dimitri