Frozen Yogurt Facts

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By T. Connors
eHow Contributing Writer

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Frozen yogurt is one of the most popular desserts for those looking to cut calories and fat from their diets. This frozen treat is very similar to ice cream, but has slight differences in flavor and texture. Frozen yogurt, as the name implies, is a blend of yogurt ingredients that have been frozen to a solid consistency.

Frozen yogurt can come in a variety of flavors, from fruity to more savory flavors. Popular frozen yogurt chains and franchises can offer dozens of flavors. Some cut the calories by offering sugar-free options. These sugarless options use artificial sweeteners to provide the sweetness to the yogurt.

Commercially manufactured frozen yogurt follows a similar process to how ice cream is made. Both ice cream and frozen yogurt require a combination of air and water and the added steps of pasteurization and homogenization.

Yogurt Cultures

Frozen yogurt has a distinct tart or sour flavor due to the bacterial cultures lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilous. These cultures comprise about 1 percent of the main ingredients of frozen yogurt. These friendly bacteria are what give frozen yogurt a different flavor in comparison to regular ice cream.

Main Ingredients

Like ice cream, the most critical ingredients to yogurt are water and air. These two elements provide volume to the end product. Although called frozen yogurt, yogurt is never truly frozen, but contains ice crystals formed by the water in the product.

Milk fat and sweeteners are also part of the main ingredients in frozen yogurt. Milk fat provides the body of flavor while sweeteners are part of what makes the yogurt more sweet than tangy.

First Step in Manufacturing Frozen Yogurt

Dry and wet ingredients are added to a large spinning vat and gradually heated to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The ingredients are mixed until completely dissolved.

Second Step-Pasteurizing

Pasteurizing is required to kill harmful bacteria and helps extend the shelf life of the product. Pasteurization involves raising the temperature of the product very quickly and for a short period of time. The product mix is then cooled to lower than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Third Step-Homogenizing

Homogenizing makes a creamier frozen yogurt by forcing the product through a very small tube, forcing the fat molecules to break apart. Cavitation is then encouraged by creating a sudden discharge in pressure of the product, which helps the fat droplets merge with the vapor, completing the homogenization process.

Fourth Step-Adding Culture

The bacterial cultures are then added to the product while it is at 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature allows the bacteria to bloom before the cooling process.

Fifth Step-Cooling and Flavor Addition

After the cultures have been added, the product mix is slowly cooled down to 40 degrees. The mix becomes more thick and then the manufacturer will continue to cool the product down to 32 degrees. This is the point when the flavoring and sweetener is added.

This mixture is mixed slowly, to capture more air for volume and then cooled in a freezer that brings the product to a low temperature of 20 degrees or lower.