The UConn Dairy Bar makes its ice cream on campus using milk from the 90 dairy cows at the UConn dairy farm. The cows, which include Holsteins and Jerseys, produce over 150,000 pounds of milk per day. This milk is used to make the ice cream basis, which is then frozen overnight before flavors and mix-ins are added. Up to 28 flavors of ice cream are offered at the Dairy Bar, which serves over 200,000 customers annually.

1. How the UConn Dairy Bar makes ice
cream
Photo courtesy of the UConn Dairy Bar
Kaleigh Ferguson

2. Step 1
The ice cream at the
UConn Dairy Bar is made on
campus at the dairy farm
located near Horse Barn Hill.
There are 90 cows used to the
make the milk who are milked
three times a day.
The cows at the UConn Dairy Farm (photo credit: Kaleigh Ferguson)

3. Step 2
The dairy cows are made up of
Holstein and Jersey cows. The
Holsteins produces 90 lbs of milk
every day while the Jersey cows
produced 60 lbs. The Jersey cows
produce milk that is high in butter
fat, which is good for making ice
cream. Since the cows produce
so much milk, the portion that is
not used to make ice cream is
sold to Agri-Mark.
Paul Bleimeyer, an Agriculture worker at UConn for 15 years, milks a cow (photo
credit: Kaleigh Ferguson)

4. Step 3
Once the cows are milked, it is
time to start the process of
making the ice cream. After a
series of mixing the ingredients
to make a basis for the ice cream
is done, the mix is frozen
overnight. When the ice cream
forms into a soft-serve texture,
different candies, and/or nuts
are added to make each
individual flavor. There are up to
three people making the ice
The ice cream factory, located right in the Dairy Bar, offers viewing windows where you
can watch the cream being made (photo credit: Kaleigh Ferguson)
cream at one time. Since the
Dairy Bar only employs two full-
time people, it is often student
employees making the ice

5. Step 4
The original Dairy Bar
was opened sometime
between 1953-1954. It
offers up to 28 flavors.
Employees at the Dairy
Bar say there is an “ice
cream demographics”.
College men often
choose milkshakes,
middle-aged women
prefer flavors like coffee
espresso crunch and
toasted almond and
children love to top their
ice cream with gummy
The UConn Dairy Bar (photo credit: Kaleigh Ferguson) bears.

6. Step: 5
The last step to the ice cream
making process is serving it.
26,000 gallons of ice cream
are made annually feeding
over 200,000 customers. In
addition to serving ice cream,
the Dairy Bar sells milkshakes
and ice cream sandwiches.
The Dairy Bar is known to
have many original flavors,
but the most popular flavor is
Husky Tracks, which is vanilla
ice cream with fudge swirl
and peanut butter cups.
The fall flavor is pumpkin ice cream, pictured here. (photo credit: Kaleigh Ferguson)

7. Sources
• UConn Dairy Bar. http://www.dairybar.uconn.edu/.
N.p., 5 Sept. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.
• UConn Dairy Bar. How to Make Ice Cream the UConn
Way. www.youtube.com. N.p., 19 Aug. 2011. Web. 1
Oct. 2012.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wJbDKVRNHw&
feature=related>.
• Mastrianni, Laura. UConn Dairy Bar Student Manager.
Personal interview. 31 Sept. 2012.
• Bleimeyer, Paul. Uconn Agriculture Worker. Personal
Interivew. 31 Sept. 2012.