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Short, plain answers to the questions every home gelato and ice cream maker runs into.

• How to balance a gelato recipeThe target ranges for fat, sugars, milk solids and total solids, how to check a recipe against them, and what to change when a number is off.
• How to balance Ninja Creami recipes (and stop powdery pints)Why Ninja Creami pints come out powdery, icy or soupy, the ranges a good Creami base sits in, and which ingredients fix each problem.
• PAC and POD in ice cream, explainedPAC is a sugar’s softening power, POD its sweetness, both compared with table sugar. What they mean, the values for common sugars, and how to use them.
• Why homemade ice cream freezes rock hard (and how to fix it)Ice cream is never fully frozen. Why yours is too hard straight from the freezer, and five ways to make it scoopable without making it sweeter.
• Which sugars to use in ice cream and gelatoSucrose, dextrose, invert sugar, glucose syrup, honey, allulose and sugar alcohols: what each does to sweetness, softness and texture, and when to use it.
• Gelato vs ice cream: what’s the difference?Gelato has less fat, more sugar and is served warmer than American ice cream. The numbers behind the difference, and what they mean for texture.

New to Scoopable? The guide walks through every feature.