PAC and POD in ice cream, explained
PAC 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.
Gelato makers describe sugars with two numbers. Both compare a sugar with table sugar (sucrose), which counts as 100.
- POD (potere dolcificante) is sweetness. Dextrose has POD 70: 100 g of it is as sweet as 70 g of sugar.
- PAC (potere anticongelante) is softening power: how much it keeps water from freezing. Dextrose has PAC 190: it softens almost twice as much as sugar.
Values for common sugars
| Sugar | POD (sweetness) | PAC (softening) |
|---|---|---|
| Sucrose (table sugar) | 100 | 100 |
| Dextrose | 70 | 190 |
| Fructose | 170 | 190 |
| Invert sugar | 130 | 190 |
| Glucose syrup solids (DE 40) | 45 | 80 |
| Lactose (from milk) | 16 | 100 |
| Allulose | 70 | 190 |
Small sugars (dextrose, fructose, allulose) soften more per gram than sucrose, because a gram of them holds more molecules.
How to use them
Work out the mix’s POD and PAC like any other number: grams of each sugar times its value, added up, divided by the total weight.
In 1 kg of mix, 135 g sugar and 45 g dextrose give POD (135×100 + 45×70) ÷ 1000 = 16.7, and PAC (135×100 + 45×190) ÷ 1000 = 22.1.
- POD tells you how sweet it will taste. Gelato usually sits around 16–19.
- PAC tells you how soft it will be: the higher, the colder the temperature it scoops at.
The trick most recipes use: to soften without tasting sweeter, swap some sugar for dextrose. PAC goes up, POD goes down.
A step further
PAC is a shortcut. Milk salts also lower the freezing point, and how much water is in the mix matters too. Scoopable works out the real serving temperature from a freezing curve (the Goff & Hartel method) instead of PAC alone. See why homemade ice cream freezes hard.
Sources
- Goff: Ice Cream Technology e-book (University of Guelph)
- icecreamcalc: scoopability and serving temperatures
- Carpigiani: how to balance mixes for artisanal gelato