Information about Milkshake

A milkshake is a sweet, cold beverage which is made from milk, ice cream or iced milk, and sweet flavorings such as fruit syrup or chocolate sauce in Canada, most regions of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Milkshakes are usually served in a tall glass with a straw, and whipped cream may be added as a topping. Three popular milkshake flavors are vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.

Full-service restaurants, soda fountains, and diners usually prepare and mix the shake "by hand" from scoops of actual ice cream and milk in a blender or drink mixer using a stainless steel cup. Fast food outlets do not use actual ice cream, but manufacture their shakes in milkshake machines which freeze and serve a premade milkshake mixture. Throughout the United States, especially in fast food and casual dining restaurants, a milkshake may be referred to as a shake.

Types

Hand-blended

Hand-blended milkshakes can be made from any available flavor of ice cream and additional flavorings, such as chocolate syrup and malt, can be added prior to mixing. This allows for considerably greater variety than is available in machine-made shakes that are generally available in only three flavors at most.

Several decades ago, milkshakes were made without ice cream,^[1] a practice which is still continued in some parts of the UK, Australia and New England. Milkshake-like recipes which use yogurt, crushed ice, and fresh fruit and which are made without ice cream are usually called smoothies. When malted milk is added, a milkshake is called a malted milkshake. They are also called thick milkshakes in the United Kingdom, a frappe (pronounced "f - rap") in parts of New England and Canada, and a cabinet in Rhode Island.^[2] In Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, coffee syrup or coffee flavored ice cream is used to make the local "coffee frappe" or "coffee doorknob" shake. Milkshakes with added fruit called batido are popular in Latin America and in Miami's Cuban expatriate community.^[3] In Nicaragua, milkshakes are called leche malteada.^[4]

Some US restaurants serve milkshakes with broken cookie or candy bar pieces or alcoholic beverages. The grasshopper milkshake, which includes broken chocolate cookies, creme de menthe liqueur, and chocolate mint ice cream, includes both of these additional ingredient types. BLT Burger in New York sells a $5 Twinkie Boy shake, which is made with a Hostess Twinkie, vanilla ice cream and caramel syrup. The BLT restaurant sells $10 spiked shakes, which contain liquor such as whisky or Kahlua. The Purple Cow restaurant also serves milkshakes with alcohol, as well as making unusual shakes such as the "Peanut Butter and Jelly milkshake."^[5] Baskin-Robbins sells milkshakes that contain chunks of candy bars or small pieces of candy, such as its Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Shake and the Heath Bar Crunch Shake.^[6]

The UK chain Shakeaway offers over 100 different ingredients to which can be added to milk and ice cream-based milkshakes, including oreos, strawberry trifle, peanut butter, Tic tacs and even cucumber.

Fast-food and pre-made

Fast-food milkshakes such as strawberry shakes are made from "milkfat and nonfat milk, sugar, sweet whey, high-fructose corn syrup, guar gum, monoglycerides and diglycerides, cellulose gum, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, citric acid, E129 and artificial strawberry flavour." The "artificial strawberry flavour" is made from over forty ingredients, the first ten of which are "amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, [and] cinnamyl valerate." ^[7] So that these artificial flavorings will be "believable" to customers, fast-food restaurants have to add the "starches, emulsfiers, stabilizers, sugars and fats" to create the "correct ‘mouth feel’"^[8]

Milkshake (American/fast food) Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 0 kcal   0 kJ
Carbohydrates     18–27 g - Sugars  18–27 g Fat 3–9 g - saturated  2–5 g - monounsaturated  1–3 g   - polyunsaturated  0–1 g   Protein 3.5 g Pantothenic acid (B5)  0.5 mg  0% Calcium  130 mg 0%
100 g corresponds to 95 ml. Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

To increase the speed of production, most fast-food restaurants serve milkshakes made in automatic milkshake machines, which are stainless steel cylinders with beaters that use refrigeration coils to freeze pre-made milkshake mixtures into a drinkable texture. The smallest automatic milkshake machines are counter-mounted appliances that can make a single milkshake flavor using a five liter stainless steel tank. Large restaurants that want to offer multiple flavors can either use a big floor-mounted multi-flavor machines which has multiple five liter stainless steel barrels or use carbon dioxide-based machines that mixes the flavors while the milkshake product is dispensed. Some fast-food restaurants use "thick milkshake" machines, which are single-flavor machines that have a larger (12 liter) stainless steel tank.

Pre-made milkshakes made from milk mixed with sweetened flavored powder or concentrate, which is usually called "flavoured milk" are available in grocery stores in North America and the UK. Common brands include Nesquik, Crusha and Dinkum^[9] for the mobile vendor market in the UK. Bottled milkshake is also common, commonly being sold in 330ml, 500ml or 1 litre bottles. Milk Chug, Gulp!, FRijj, Yazoo, Big M, and Mars are well known brands of bottled milkshake. Ben & Jerry's has taken three ice cream flavors — Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey and Chocolate Fudge Brownie and used them to make $1.99 US bottled shakes.

Utah shakes

In Utah, numerous locally-based diners sell "milkshakes" (or often just as "shakes") that are made from ice cream without adding any additional milk whatsoever, with textures often thicker even than Wendy's shakes. The ice cream is whipped and served in a large tall cup with a spoon as a beverage. Because the ice cream is still mostly solid, it is often filled significantly above the top of the cup in what is called an "above-the-rim" or "over-the-rim" shake. The above-the-rim section is intended to be eaten first before it melts and overflows the cup. Above-the-rim shakes have notably been sold by Arctic Circle Restaurants.

History

1880s-1930s

When the term "milkshake" was first used in print in 1885, milkshakes were an alcoholic whiskey drink^[10] that has been described as a "...sturdy, healthful eggnog type of drink, with eggs, whiskey, etc., served as a tonic as well as a treat".^[11] However, by 1900, the term referred to "wholesome drinks made with chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla syrups." By the "early 1900s people were asking for the new treat, often with ice cream." By the 1930s, milkshakes were a popular drink at malt shops, which were the "typical soda fountain of the period...used by students as a meeting place or hangout."^[11]

The history of the electric blender, malted milk drinks and milkshakes are interconnected. Before the widespread availability of electric blenders, milkshake-type drinks were more like egg nog, or they were a hand-shaken mixture of crushed ice and milk, sugar, and flavorings^[12]. Hamilton Beach's drink mixers began being used at soda fountains in 1911 and the electric blender or drink mixer was invented by Steven Poplawski in 1922. With the invention of the blender, milkshakes began to take their modern, whipped, aerated, and frothy form. Malted milk drinks are made with malted milk powder, which contains dried milk, malted barley and wheat flour. Malted milk powder was invented in 1897 by William Horlick as an easily digested restorative health drink for invalids and children, and as an infant's food.

The use of malted milk powder in milkshakes was popularized by the Chicago drugstore chain Walgreens. Walgreens' employee Ivar "Pop" Coulson made a milkshake by adding two scoops of vanilla ice cream to the standard malted milk drink recipe (milk, chocolate syrup and malt powder).^[13] This item, under the name "Horlick's Malted Milk," was featured by the Walgreen drugstore chain as part of a chocolate milk shake, which itself became known as a "malted" or "malt" and became one of the most popular soda-fountain drinks.^[14]

The automation of milkshakes developed in the 1930s, after the invention of freon-cooled refrigerators provided a safe, reliable way of automatically making and dispensing ice cream. In 1936, inventor Earl Prince used the basic concept behind the freon-cooled automated ice cream machine to develop the Multimixer, a "... five-spindled mixer that could produce five milkshakes at once, all automatically, and dispense them at the pull of a lever into awaiting paper cups."

In the late 1930s, several newspaper articles show that the term "frosted" was used to refer to milkshakes made with ice cream. In 1937, the Denton Journal in Maryland stated that "...For a "frosted" shake, add a dash of your favorite ice cream." In 1939, the Mansfield News in Ohio stated that ".. A frosted beverage, in the vernacular, is something good to which ice cream has been added. Example par excellence is frosted coffee--that hot, tasty beverage made chilly with ice and frosty with ice cream."^[15]

1940s and 1950s

By the 1950s, popular places to drink milkshakes were Woolworth's "5 & 10" lunch counters, diners, burger joints, and drugstore soda fountains. These establishments often had neon light signs, "checkerboard"-patterned linoleum floor tiles, chrome barstools, vinyl booths, formica counter-tops with coin-operated jukeboxes, a board of daily specials, a counter top donut display case, and prominently displayed behind the counter, a shining chrome or stainless steel milkshake mixing machine.^[16]

These establishments made milkshakes in Hamilton Beach or similar styles of drink mixers, which had spindles and agitators that folded air into the drinks for "smooth, fluffy results" and served them in 12 1/2-ounce tall, "y"-shaped glasses. Soda fountain staff had their own jargon, such as "Burn One All the Way" (chocolate malted with chocolate ice cream), "Twist It, Choke It, and Make It Cackle" (chocolate malted with an egg) "Shake One in the Hay" (a strawberry shake) and a "White Cow" (a vanilla milkshake).^[17] In the 1950s, a milkshake machine salesman named Ray Kroc bought exclusive rights to the 1930s-era Multimixer milkshake maker from inventor Earl Prince, and went on to use automated milkshake machines^[18] to speed up production in a major fast-food chain.

In the 1950s, milkshakes were called "frappes", "velvets," "frosted [drinks]", or "cabinets" in different parts of the US. A specialty style of milkshake, the "concrete" was "...a milk shake so thick that the server hands it out the order window upside down, demonstrating that not a drop will drip." In 1952, the Newport Daily News in Rhode Island contained a "Guide For Top Quality ICE CREAM SODAS CABINETS MILK SHAKES", which shows the use of the term "cabinet" in print. An article from 1953 in the Salisbury Times (in the state of Maryland) suggests that shakes can be made in a jar by shaking well. The article states that by adding four large tablespoons of ice cream, the drink becomes a "frosted shake."^[19]

2000s

In 2000, the US Agricultural Research Service developed reduced-sugar, low-fat milk shakes for school lunch programs. The shakes have half the sugar and only 10% of the fat of commercial fast-food shakes. Schools need a milk shake machine or soft-serve ice cream machine to serve the milkshakes. The milkshakes also have added fiber and other nutrients, and they have much less lactose, which makes the shakes appropriate for lactose intolerant people.^[20] In the 2000s, milkshakes began being used as part of the new trend of boutique-style "spa dentistry," which aim to relax dental patients and reduce their anxiety. Spa dentistry uses aromatherapy, massages, music playing through headphones to reduce patient's tension. At the end of the a filling or root canal in a spa dentistry treatment, patients are given an icy milkshake "...to soothe mouth soreness and delay the desire for heavier foods while the effects of the anesthesia dissipate." ^[21]

In 2003, a "fast-food chain that wanted to improve milk shake sales and profits" initially tried using focus groups to find out what factors in milkshakes attracted customers (e.g., price, amount of chocolate), but the profits did not increase. The restaurant hired researchers to study why customers purchased fast-food milkshakes, as a way of finding out which factors would help the restaurant to increase sales. The researchers found that, contrary to their expectations, that "...nearly half of all milk shakes were bought in the early morning", and usually, the "...shake was the only item purchased, and it was rarely consumed in the restaurant." The researchers determined that most of the customers were buying a milkshake to sip slowly during their "long, boring commute." They wanted a food product that could be consumed with one hand, and that wouldn't risk soiling their hands or work clothes (a danger with toast and jam or sausage and egg bagelwiches). The researchers concluded that good strategies for increasing sales for this target market would be to make the milkshakes thicker and longer-lasting, add in fruit chunks (to make drinking it more interesting), or adding in an express self-serve line for milkshake customers ^[22]

In 2005, the traditional home of the milkshake, the family restaurants and 24-hour diner-style restaurants that were the "staples of 1950s and 60s America [such] as Denny’s, Big Boy and the International House of Pancakes" were supplanted "...in terms of revenue for the first time since the US census started measuring this in the 1970s. The shift means the burger, fries and milkshake ideal evoked by the sitcom Happy Days is losing its hold on the American appetite." Instead, US consumers are going out to casual dining restaurants such as Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden and the Outback Steakhouse. ^[23]

Despite the downturn in family restaurant business, the US sales of milkshakes, malts and floats rose 11% in 2006, according to the industry research firm NPD Group. Christopher Muller, the director of the Center for Multi-Unit Restaurant Management at Orlando's University of Central Florida states that "Milkshakes remind us of summer, youth — and indulgence," and "they're evocative of a time gone by."^[6] Muller states that milkshakes are an "enormously profitable" item for restaurants, since the fluffy drinks contain so much air. The market research firm Technomic claims that about 75% of the average-priced $3.38 restaurant shake in 2006 was profit. An executive from Sonic Drive-In, a US chain of 1950s-style diner restaurants, calls shakes "...one of our highest-volume, revenue-producing areas."^[6]

Part of the increase in milkshake sales reported in 2006 may be due to the increasing availability of innovative chef-designed milkshakes in high-end restaurants. In 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that chefs from "hipster hangouts and retro landmarks" are using "macerated farmers market strawberries, Valrhona chocolate and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla" to make new milkshake flavors. Other novel ideas offered in LA-area restaurants include milkshakes made with toasted pecans, saffron-rose water or orange-blossom ice cream, taro root, vanilla beans steeped in rum, Valrhona chocolate and Grey Goose vodka, and vanilla custard mixed with Russian Imperial stout. ^[24]

See also

• Blender (device)
• Smoothie
• Malted milk
• Malted shakes
• Chocolate milk
• Hot chocolate
• Nesquik
• Ovaltine
• Syrup
• Soy milk
• Rice milk
• Frappé
• New England cuisine
• Milkshake (song)

References