Every number the app shows you, in plain words. What each term means, and what to do when a recipe reads too low or too high. Built for gelato chefs, not data people.
Open the appA balanced gelato recipe keeps each component (sugars, fats, milk solids, total solids, PAC and POD) inside a target range. The range depends on the recipe type (Gelato, Sorbet, Base, Sugar syrup): a sorbet and a milk gelato are "balanced" at different numbers. The gauges turn green when a value is inside its range and red when it falls outside. You do not chase one perfect number. You nudge the whole set into their green zones.
The percentage of the recipe made up of sugars (sucrose, dextrose, invert, etc.). Sugars control both sweetness (see POD) and how soft the gelato stays at serving temperature (see PAC). Too little and the gelato is hard and bland; too much and it is sticky and never firms up.
If it is too low: Add sugar (sucrose or dextrose) or reduce water.
If it is too high: Reduce sugar, or add non-sugar solids or water to dilute it.
The percentage of fat, mostly from cream, milk, butter or nut pastes. Fat carries flavour and gives a rich, creamy mouthfeel. Too little reads as icy and thin; too much coats the palate and mutes flavour.
If it is too low: Add a fat source: cream, butter, or whole milk.
If it is too high: Replace some cream with milk, or cut the fattiest ingredient.
MSNF (Milk Solids Non-Fat) is everything solid in milk except the fat: proteins and milk sugar (lactose). It binds free water, gives body and smoothness, and helps the texture. Too little and the gelato is weak and watery; too much and it can taste "milky-powdery" or turn sandy from excess lactose.
If it is too low: Add skimmed milk powder (SMP) or more milk.
If it is too high: Reduce milk powder or milk; too much lactose can go sandy.
Solids contributed by non-dairy, non-sugar ingredients: cocoa, fruit pastes, nut solids, fibres, stabiliser carriers. They count toward Total Solids and affect body and flavour intensity.
If it is too low: Add the flavour base that carries them (e.g. cocoa, paste).
If it is too high: Reduce the paste or cocoa load.
The "neutro" is the stabiliser and emulsifier blend. In very small amounts it holds free water, slows ice-crystal growth and keeps the texture smooth and stable in the display case. Dose by the maker's recommendation; too much turns the gelato gummy and chewy.
If it is too low: Add a little stabiliser (follow the dosage on the pack).
If it is too high: Reduce the stabiliser; excess makes it gummy and chewy.
Total Solids is the sum of sugars, fats, MSNF, neutro and other solids: in short, everything in the mix that is not water. It is the single best indicator of body: too low and the gelato is icy and empty; too high and it is heavy, pasty and slow to freeze.
If it is too low: Add solids (sugar, milk powder, fat) or cut water.
If it is too high: Add water or milk, or reduce the solids.
PAC (Potere Anti-Congelante, anti-freezing power) measures how much the sugars lower the freezing point of the mix. It decides scoopability: low PAC freezes hard like a brick, high PAC stays too soft and melts fast. Different sugars pull PAC differently: dextrose and fructose raise it more than sucrose for the same sweetness.
If it is too low: Too hard: add dextrose, fructose or invert sugar, or cut water.
If it is too high: Too soft: swap some high-PAC sugar for sucrose, or reduce sugars.
POD (Potere Dolcificante, sweetening power) measures perceived sweetness, with sucrose as the reference of 100. Two recipes can have the same Sugars % but different POD, because dextrose and maltodextrin taste less sweet than sucrose while fructose tastes more. POD lets you tune sweetness without wrecking PAC.
If it is too low: Not sweet enough: add sucrose or a little fructose.
If it is too high: Too sweet: swap some sucrose for dextrose or maltodextrin.
Water is the counterpart of Total Solids: the two always add up to 100%. It is the water that freezes into ice crystals, so managing it (with solids, sugars and stabiliser) is what keeps the texture smooth rather than icy.
A recipe is marked "Balanced" (green) when every balance value (sugars, fats, MSNF, total solids, PAC, POD) sits inside the target range for its type. If even one value is out of range it shows "Needs Review" (amber): open it and look for the red gauges.