Plant Milks
Rice Milk in gelato
Rice milk is a plant-based milk made from milled rice whose starch is enzymatically hydrolyzed into simple sugars and maltodextrins. In gelato it serves as a light, naturally sweet, lactose- and nut-free liquid base with very low fat and protein.
Balancing parameters
Per 100 g of product, verified against independent food-science sources (listed below).
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Solids | 10.7% |
| Water | 89.3% |
| Sugars | 5.3% |
| Fat | 1% |
| MSNF | 0% |
| Protein | 0.3% |
| POD (sweetening power) | 3.2 |
| PAC (anti-freezing power) | 8.5 |
Typical use: 40-65% of the recipe (as the liquid base)
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Open the balancerHow to use it in gelato
Use rice milk as the primary liquid base in vegan or lactose-free gelato, replacing dairy milk. Its carbohydrate is hydrolyzed rice starch, so it delivers gentle natural sweetness (POD approximately 3 per 100 g) and a modest anti-freezing contribution (PAC approximately 8.5 per 100 g), lower than dairy milk on sweetness but similar in freezing depression. Because it is almost fat-free (about 1 percent) and protein-poor (0.3 percent), it gives thin body and weak emulsification, so pair it with added fat (coconut, cocoa butter) and a stabilizer/protein source to avoid an icy, watery texture.
Origin & background
Rice milk was first commercialized in 1921 when the Vita Rice Products Co. launched Vita Rice Milk in San Francisco, California; the earliest printed use of the term appeared in Maria McIlvaine Gillmore's 1914 book Meatless Cookery. The first widely popular brand, Rice Dream, was launched by Imagine Foods of Palo Alto, California, in 1990.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- https://www.nutritionvalue.org/Beverages%2C_unsweetened%2C_rice_milk_nutritional_value.html (USDA FoodData Central, Beverages, rice milk, unsweetened)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_milk (composition table cited to USDA; commercialization history)
- https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrition-facts/171942/wt1 (USDA unsweetened rice milk profile)
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0268005X24011160 (enzymatic starch hydrolysis of rice milk: glucose, maltose, oligosaccharides)