Posted on 05/23/2014 7:25:56 PM PDT by kingattax
Plain as it is, vanilla is the nation’s favorite ice-cream flavor. Our expert tasters tried 19 (including gelatos), separating the yum from the ho-hum. For ice-cream lovers who venture beyond vanilla, we also recommend a dozen in three other flavors: salted caramel, mint chip, and fudge brownie.
Taste. Among vanillas, Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs are the clear winners: dense and creamy, with intense dairy flavor and complex, high-quality vanilla flavor. A runner-up, Talenti, is quite sweet and a bit icy, with a fruity-floral vanilla flavor typical of Tahitian vanilla.
As you go down the Ratings, the ice creams tend to be a bit more gummy or have vanilla flavor that’s generic or less pronounced.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
That explains much
Actually that isn’t true. Some diners and fast food places only carry vanilla. I know many restaurants that carry four or five flavors
So I had to go check because my memory saint what it used to be.
Less cream, less eggs, less air, and storing at a warmer temperature all contribute to the different taste. If you ice cream has no flavor it is more likely due to a large amount of air churned in.
Thanks for cleaning out the cob webs
In a pinch, however, Häagen-Dazs will do.
“These people never had Blue Belle.”
The Century Sundae from a couple years back was very good. This year is all about the Sea Salt Caramel. 3 gallons in and Type II Diabetes is just ahead.
You betcha!
Love some after my Texas Whatsburger!
As a supporter of the Second Amendment, I should have secured a part-time position..."...imagine that; me working for you." ('Signs')
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‘Blue Bell Creameries, based in Brenham, Texas,
opened its doors in 1907.
It all started on a hot summer day when local farmers decided to establish the Brenham Creamery Company and make butter from excess cream brought in by area farmers. A few years later, the creamery began making ice cream and delivering it to neighbors by horse and wagon. It was in 1930 that the company changed its name to Blue Bell Creameries after the native Texas bluebell wildflower.
And although Blue Bell is only available in about 26% of the nation’s supermarkets, it ranks as one of the top three, best-selling ice creams in the country.’
http://cdn.bluebell.com/the_little_creamery/our_history.html
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They can all rave about Ben and Jerry’s, Haagen-Dazs or whatever, but you haven’t tasted ice cream until you’ve tasted Texas’ own Blue Bell!
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That is true.
I try to avoid the Blue Bell aisle at the supermarket because if I see the Blue Bell Butter Pecan, it’s curtains.
And their French Vanilla should be considered a controlled substance. B&J has nothing on it.
Blue Bell vanilla is awesome! But I have always wondered why they named it Blue Bell instead of Blue Bonnet. Blue Bonnet is the name of the native Texas wildflower that grows heavily in that part of Texas.
“They carried two brands, Sealtest and Biltmore.”
I recall that decades ago Sealtest consistently won taste tests. I recall from my childhood in rural NY state, that’s the brand Dad brought home when we could afford ice cream.
What I'd love to find is an ice cream that only uses pure food ingredients, sweetened by granulated sugar, and uses organic milk for no added antibiotics.
Does that even exist in the US?
I can get a gallon for under $6.00 and it is really good.
Yeah.....Bakersfield lol
When I was younger my rooimmate worked at Dewars and we always had peanut butter chews around the apartment. I still never got sick of them.
YUCK all I taste on that brand is CHEMS. Same goes for the new Turkey Hill. It extends to the Blue Bunny pop cycles too. Hunts Jello packs.
Eddy’s is about the best out there.
I grew up on real home made ice cream.
Texas’s own Blue Bell is the closest you will ever find to fit those standards.
Just got a hot dozen glazed early this morning to go with my Community 'Breakfast Blend' coffee.
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grania: “What I’d love to find is an ice cream that only uses pure food ingredients, sweetened by granulated sugar, and uses organic milk for no added antibiotics.
Does that even exist in the US? “
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Texas’ Blue Bell ice cream factory:
The board of directors hired E.F. Kruse, a 23-year-old former schoolteacher, to take over the company on April 1, 1919. Kruse refused to accept a salary for his first few months in the position so that the company would not be placed in further debt.[3] Under his leadership, the company expanded its production of ice cream to the local area and soon became profitable. At his suggestion, the company was renamed Blue Bell Creameries in 1930 after the Texas Bluebell, a wildflower that is native to Texas, which, like ice cream, thrives in summer.[1][2]
In 2006, annual sales exceeded $400 million.[9]
Blue Bell retains control over all aspects of its business, primarily to ensure quality control and the use of the freshest ingredients available.[6] The Kruses claim “the milk we use is so fresh it was grass only yesterday.”[8] The company uses milk from approximately 60,000 cows each day, and the cream used during each day’s production run is always less than 24 hours old. All production and packaging takes place within Blue Bell facilities, which are able to produce over 100 pints per minute.[8][10] Drivers of delivery vehicles personally stock store shelves so they can ensure it is handled properly.[4]
Blue Bell holds impressive sales figures, being the third best-selling ice cream in the United States, behind Breyers and Edy’s/Dreyer’s, despite being sold in only 23 states.[11]
People living outside the sales area can have the ice cream shipped to them, and former U.S. President George W. Bush often had the ice cream shipped to Camp David during his administration.[14] The astronauts aboard the International Space Station were also treated to Blue Bell in 2006 and 2012 “to help out (the crew’s) happiness quotient.”[15]
Unlike competitors which have reduced their standard containers to 48 fluid ounces (1.42 L), Blue Bell continues to sell true half-gallon (64 fl oz/1.89 L) containers, a fact it mentions prominently in its advertising.[20]
R.W. Apple, Jr., of The New York Times claims that “[w]ith clean, vibrant flavors and a rich, luxuriant consistency achieved despite a butterfat content a little lower than some competitors, it hooks you from the first spoonful. Entirely and blessedly absent are the cloying sweetness, chalky texture, and oily, gummy aftertaste that afflict many mass-manufactured ice creams.” [8]
In 2001, Forbes named Blue Bell the best ice cream in the country.[21]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Bell_Creameries
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