What’s the Best Blender for Ice Cream, Gelato, Sorbet, and Sherbet?

Ice Cream vs Gelato vs Sorbet vs Sherbet - Differences and the Best Blender for Them

It’s summer! Time to have fun, feel free, and go wild! It’s also time to dig into all the fruity, creamy, refreshing yumminess of frozen treats. Frozen treats, you ask? Weren’t we talking about ice cream just there?

No, we were not. We chose to say ‘frozen treats’ because as much as we all love ice cream, it’s not the only option that can satisfy your need for a smooth and cold delight.

Ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and sherbet are all delicious treats to enjoy in the summer (and not only then). Keep reading to learn all about them, what makes each different, and what the best blender you can use to prepare fresh, healthy, nutritious versions of them at home is.

What Is the Difference Between Ice Cream, Gelato, Sorbet, and Sherbet?

Best blender for ice cream

Ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and sherbet are all sweet, ice-cold, and (most often) fruity treats. However, that’s where their similarities end and their differences begin.

While many (correctly) assume that ice cream and gelato contain dairy, many also (incorrectly) assume that sorbet and sherbet don’t. In fact, each one of these icy treats contains different ingredients, has a different texture, and tastes different and only some are recommended for certain dietary restrictions, such as dairy or lactose intolerance.

Especially if you are lactose intolerant, you’ll want to read on to learn all about what makes these tasty delights different and how you can use our best blenders to make your own at home, where you are in control of all of the ingredients.

Ice Cream

Best blender for ice cream

Ice cream is silky, rich in taste, and can be made with a wide variety of fruit, nuts, chocolate, or even mint or lavender. It’s probably safe to say it’s the most popular of all the four frozen treats we are talking about in this article.

Ice cream is made from milk, cream, egg yolks, and sugar. French-style ice cream used to be the only one containing egg yolks but they ended up being incorporated in all ice cream styles eventually, given the rich taste they helped bring out.

To make ice cream, you need to mix the ingredients and make a rich custard out of them. Once your custard base is cooled, it can be churned. You need a blender with a fairly high speed to mix the ingredients together and increase the ice cream’s volume, giving it a smoother and lighter texture.

Ice cream is served cold so that the scoops hold together, and the finished product is smooth, light-textured, and creamy.

What makes ice cream unique is its specific milk fat requirement. In order to be considered ice cream, this sweet and creamy treat must contain at least 10% milk fat.

Ice cream, therefore, contains dairy products and is not recommended for those who are lactose intolerant.

However, all is not lost. You can still find ready-made dairy-free ice cream and, best of all, make your own at home. You will need the best blender and a few recipes to get you started. Once you start mixing and matching flavours and churning your own ice cream, you’ll be free to improvise and make your own recipes.

Ice cream may also contain sweeteners and artificial flavours or even preservatives. So, even if you are not lactose intolerant, you may still want to use your best blender to make a healthy, artificial flavour, and preservative-free ice cream.

For milky, as well as dairy-free ice cream recipes, browse our best blender recipes he r e.

Gelato

You are not alone if you think gelato is simply ice cream in Italian. Well, it is and it isn’t. Allow us to explain.

Gelato does translate into ‘ice cream’ in Italian but it is also a different type of ice cream. Its taste is denser and more intense and its texture is softer than ice cream because less air is churned into it while it is freezing.

To make gelato, you must also start with a custard base. However, when it comes to the ingredients, you will be adding in more milk and less cream and eggs. If you are vegan or simply want to, you can skip the eggs altogether. To churn gelato, you will need to use a lower blender speed.

Unlike regular ice cream, gelato has less milk fat and is served at a warmer temperature so that it keeps its silky soft texture.

For delicious gelato you can prepare at home, browse our best blender recipes here.

Sorbet

Although sorbet is basically only a mix of fruit and sugar, it’s still delicious and refreshing. It’s highly recommended if you are lactose intolerant since it contains no dairy. What makes sorbet different from ice cream and gelato is, therefore, the fact that it contains no milk or any other animal products like eggs. It’s also gluten-free and low in calories depending on how much sugar is added.

To make soft, silky sorbet that is rich in flavour yourself, you’ll need a strong blender with loads of power (you can check out our best blenders here). Simply choose your favourite fruit, peel it if you need to, cut it into pieces, and throw them in the blender with some sugar or the natural sweetener of your choice. Once they are blended to perfection, you’ll need to churn and freeze the mixture.

Store-bought sorbets may also have water, flavourings, or acid added. So, making your own at home is highly advisable.

For sorbet recipes you can make in our best blenders, click here.

Sherbet

Sherbet, often mispronounced sher-bert, is a mix of sorbet and cream. Unlike sorbet, it does contain dairy, namely cream and milk, albeit only about 1 to 2%. It also contains egg whites, gelatin, and citric acid. Its flavor and texture are creamier and richer than sorbet.

For sherbet to be considered sherbet, it must contain at least 2% fat.