The Scoop on Aggie Ice Cream

 

The only thing sweeter at Utah State University than kissing on the “A” at midnight is Utah State University’s Famous Aggie Ice Cream.

A long standing Utah State tradition, Aggie Ice Cream has been an important part of social and academic life throughout the history of USU.

Aggie Ice Cream dates back to 1922 when Professor Gustav Wilster oversaw the first production and testing of Lacto Ice Cream. Wilster’s knowledge of ice cream production led to successful ice cream enterprises in the West such as Farr Ice Cream.

Aggie Ice Cream is a popular attraction in Logan that many people visit while in Cache Valley. Tours of Aggie Ice Cream’s production facility are offered during the summertime on the last Saturday of each month. These tours have been attended by people from all parts of the United States.

Whitney Robins, a senior majoring in public relations, said the first time she had Aggie Ice Cream was during Week of Welcome her freshman year.

“During WOW Week I saw they were serving free Aggie Ice Cream on the patio outside the Taggart Student Center,” Robins said. “I love ice cream and couldn’t pass it up. Since then I have been in love with Aggie Ice Cream.”

Almost every week USU students can find activities where Aggie Ice Cream is being served.

“I think I have only purchased Aggie Ice Cream maybe once or twice because I have received so much free at different campus events,” Robins said. “I haven’t tried every flavor yet, but my favorites right now are chocolate chip cookie dough and English toffee crunch.”

An average of 800 gallons of Aggie Ice Cream is produced each week according to Randall Bagley, Aggie Ice Cream’s production manager.

“Those 800 gallons are turned into 30 different flavors, which is enough to give anyone sphenopalantineganglioneuralgia (sfee-noh-pal-uh-teen-gan-glee-oh-new-ral-juh), the medical term for an ice cream headache,” said Bagley.

Aggie Blue Mint was created as part of a student flavor creation contest in 2005 and has quickly become the most popular flavor of ice cream.

Shaun Adams, a graduate student conducting food research in the nutrition and food science department works in Aggie Ice Cream production and helped develop the new flavor.

“I was in Professor Donald McMahon's dairy technology class that was responsible for the development of Aggie Blue Mint flavored ice cream that has become so popular, and it’s been great to see its popularity grow,” said Adams. “I like Aggie Ice Cream even more since I've been working with it. I see how much work goes into its production.”

There are four important keys to making quality ice cream, said Bagley. They are butterfat content, overrun, which refers to the amount of air in the ice cream, fresh ingredients and quality flavors.

“Aggie Ice Cream contains 12 percent butterfat, less air and is aged slightly longer than other ice creams, which is what gives Aggie Ice Cream its rich, smooth taste,” said Bagley. “There is a lot of research that has gone into making Aggie Ice Cream a very premium product.”

“Even after I have graduated and moved away from Utah State, I will never pass up an opportunity to stop in Cache Valley for some Aggie Ice Cream,” said Robins.