Here's What Happens When You Use Skim Milk To Make Ice Cream

Whether it's the jingle of the ice cream truck coming up the street, or a soft serve stand opening for the season, nothing signals that it's truly summertime like that first ice cream cone. Dessert trends come and go, but ice cream will always remain constant, and Americans show no signs of slowing down on their ice cream intake. In fact, in 2022 U.S. ice cream suppliers cranked out 1.38 billion gallons of the sweet stuff, according to the International Dairy Foods Association, and the American Census Bureau estimates that Americans eat around 20 pounds of it per person each year. With all that ice cream enjoying, it's no surprise that people have looked for ways to make the frozen treat using a variety of methods and ingredients — including some that cut down on calories. If you're thinking about trying to make homemade ice cream with skim milk, however, there are some important hurdles to keep in mind.

While you can definitely make ice cream with skim milk, the tradeoff is that the ice cream will have a different taste, appearance, and texture than ice cream made with cream or whole-fat milk. Luckily there are ways to address these issues that will ensure your skim milk ice cream is the best it can be.

Subbing in skim milk in an ice cream recipe will definitely cut down on the calories and fat if you're looking to lighten up your dessert routine. Ice cream made with skim milk saves you more around 60 calories and 9 grams of fat for every one-cup serving, which are some good numbers if you're trying to keep track of such things. There's a catch or two for making the switch to skim, however.

First, because skim milk has less fat, the ice cream's texture will be a little different — not bad, just not the same as full-fat ice cream. This is because milk fat gives ice cream its signature velvety smooth texture, which it does two ways: the fat keeps the size of the ice crystals in the ice cream small, and it also lubricates your palate so you don't perceive the crystals as much. Ice creams made with skim milk will have larger ice crystals, which will make the texture seem grittier.

In addition to texture, ice creams made with skim milk can look a little less shiny than full-fat ice cream because of those bigger ice crystals, and they can sometimes appear to be more yellow in color.

The most important difference between full-fat and skim milk ice cream is the taste. While flavorings like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, are all the same as regular ice cream, the differentiation with skim-milk ice cream is in the perception of richness and mouthfeel. Full-fat ice cream tastes more luxurious, the same way that full-fat milk seems creamier than skim milk. Full-fat ice cream can also be more flavorful because the aromatic molecules in flavorings like the aforementioned vanilla and chocolate dissolve better in fat than water.

That's not to say that skim ice cream tastes bad. In fact, a lighter flavor and texture might be exactly what you're looking for. Plus, it's easy to make your own ice cream with skim milk as long as you have an ice cream machine. The key is to make sure that it's well churned to break up all the larger ice crystals. Some recipes call for adding egg yolks to increase the richness, but that will also increase the fat and cholesterol. Instead, you can make your homemade skim ice cream more palatable by adding cornstarch, which will thicken the ice cream base the same way and allow the flavors of your ice cream to shine. Plus, you'll never break your ice cream base if you use cornstarch, which is a common problem when thickening with egg yolks. With a little practice, your homemade skim ice cream can be the perfect summer treat.