I decided to purchase store bought ice cream after years of just buying from places like Cold Stone. It seems to me most ice cream manufacturers have very soft ice cream now despite storing it in a freezer for a week straight. I could easily drop a spoon in the tub and watch it cut straight through to the bottom. The consistency is now kind of disgusting because it feels like I’m eating whipped cream instead of something that should be semi solid. So far I’ve tried Tillamook, Dryer’s, and Target’s in house brand and they all have that same mushy texture.
Before anyone suggests it’s my freezer, I’ve kept it relatively uncluttered and everything else stays frozen just fine. I also make sure not to purchase those tubs of “Frozen Dairy Dessert”. What happened? Is this some cost cutting measure or are customer’s preferences really going to extremely soft textures?
You may also have a freezer not working correctly: should follow OP’s recommendation of de-cluttering, but also clean the door seal and make sure it’s in good shape, and remove any ice accumulation.
Most consumer freezers will run a de-icing stage. They intentionally warm up for a little bit to melt accumulated ice. However when you melt ice cream then refreeze without churning, it freezes harder. A non-cluttered freezer should complete its de-icing without melting ice cream. A freezer with an effective door seal will have more consistent temperatures (and use less energy), without melting ice cream.
Alternatively, many chest freezers do not have a de-icing cycle so ice cream should remain softer despite the lower temperature those run at. Unfortunately I can’t claim to have verified this because ice cream gets consumed too quickly and never makes it to the chest freezer
I’m actually using a cheat freezer, it’s brand new too lol. I’m pretty sure the ice-cream gods just hate me