First of all, let’s give a big round of applause (and by “big round” we mean “big bowl”) to Raspberry Duetto and Mint Chocolate Chip. They may have lost their match-ups in last week’s round of the Ultimate Flavor Tournament, but they still finished among the top four flavors and that’s something to be proud of. Both fought hard over the last few weeks and we expect, with a little off-season training and improvement that they’ll be back in next year’s tournament ready to make another run at the title.

Which brings us to our final two flavors: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and Vanilla Bean. They’re both great and both are worthy of the “Ultimate Flavor” title. But who will win? That’s up to you. Voting begins right now (on the right) and the winner will be crowned next Monday.

Once again, at the end of the tournament, we’ll give away a free one month supply of ice cream to 10 commenters chosen at random and one lucky reader will receive a ONE YEAR supply of ice cream. Also once again, here’s Ernie with his opinion of this historic match-up:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup vs. Vanilla Bean

“These two flavors couldn’t be more different, but I’m not surprised to see these two facing off in the final week. Vanilla is a classic – a staple of the root beer float or banana split and capable of being topped with just about anything – while Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup is chock full of goodies and represents the perfect marriage of two of the greatest flavors ever created by nature.

I can’t predict a winner here, but this is essentially a battle of new school versus old school. One is the product of (relatively) modern ice cream flavor technology and the other has been around since the earliest days of ice cream history. Look for this one to come down the wire, with only a handful of votes separating these two fierce competitors.”

We’ve always known Turkey Hill ice cream was #1 in the hearts of ice cream lovers throughout our home state of Pennsylvania, even if some of the bigger national brands outsold us overall. Not any more. Now, for the first time in our 76-year history, Turkey Hill is the #1 selling ice cream in Pennsylvania!

It’s an amazing honor to be the best selling ice cream in our home state and we owe that success to fans like you. You helped boost statewide sales by eight percent last year. Although we saw sales increases in Philadelphia and the mid-state, we saw most of our growth in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania (up 22 percent in those areas).

Overall, Turkey Hill accounts for 27 percent of all ice cream sold in Pennsylvania. Not too bad for a company which, as recently as the late 1970s, produced only 1,000 gallons of ice cream per day. Today we churn out over 100,000 gallons each day.

It’s hard to say what Turkey Hill founder Armor Frey would have thought if, back in the 1940s, someone had told him his company would someday hold a title like this. Actually, knowing what we know about Armor’s passion and will to succeed — a drive he passed on to his grandson and current Turkey Hill president, Quintin Frey — that prediction probably wouldn’t have surprised him one bit. �

Now we’re getting down to the nitty gritty. The best of the best. The crème de la crème of Turkey Hill ice cream flavors. Of course, we’re talking about the Ultimate Flavor Tournament’s Frosty Four. Out of 16 flavors, these are the four finest, as determined by your votes!

We’ve got a sweet flavor (Raspberry Duetto), a versatile classic (Vanilla Bean), a peanut buttery flavor (Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup) and a minty treat (Mint Chocolate Chip). Who will advance to the Final Bowl and who will go back to the freezer? Only you can decide. And just in case you forgot, at the end of the tournament, we’ll give away a free one month supply of ice cream to 10 commenters chosen at random and one lucky reader will receive a ONE YEAR supply of ice cream.

Here’s some expert analysis on the Frosty Four from a man who knows more about ice cream than anyone we know, Turkey Hill’s very own supervisor of ice cream-making operations, Ernie:

Raspberry Duetto vs. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

“It’s amazing to see a rookie flavor like Raspberry Duetto competing at this level. It’s proof of the power of Duetto and how much ice cream fans like it. Still, it’ll be tough for the newcomer to knock off a powerhouse like Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. All that chocolate, all that peanut butter. I’ll bet two scoops of Cookies & Cream that CPBC wins this match-up by a comfortable margin.”

Vanilla Bean vs. All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip

“Last week, Vanilla Bean was locked in a surprisingly close battle with Black Raspberry. Can this classic move on to the Final Bowl? It won’t be easy. In each of the first two weeks, Mint Chocolate Chip beat its competition by significant margins. This will probably be the hardest fought battle of the entire tournament and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a minty victory here. Sorry Vanilla…at least you’re still the top selling flavor in the nation!”

DORIS L. ASKS:  “How many strawberries go into one gallon of Strawberry Ice Cream?”

Great question, Doris! I’ll try to answer it, but I don’t think I’ll be able to provide an exact number. 

We use 30 pound (3 gallon) containers of strawberries when we produce our ice cream.  The strawberries are placed into a feeder and are then fed into the ice cream mix during production. There’s a bit of variation in the process, so I would imagine there’s not a precise amount of strawberries that make their way into each and every container (but every container has plenty!).  

While I can’t share the exact formula for Turkey Hill Strawberries & Cream (the competition would love to know!), I can tell you this: nearly 25 % of the product is directly related to the flavor. We use fresh strawberries which are cleaned, hulled, halved, and sugared just prior to being packaged and frozen for use at a later date.

The berries are kept frozen and thawed right before they are placed in the ice cream. This process allows us to separate the juice from the berry. The juice is used as the flavoring agent and the remaining berries are added to the ice cream after the ice cream is partially frozen, just prior to packaging.

Hope this helps and thanks for your question!
Ernie

We asked for your votes and you delivered! Over 15,000 votes were cast in the first four days of Turkey Hill’s Ultimate Flavor Tournament and eight winners have emerged from the Sweet 16 round. Those favorites will now face off as the “Delicious Eight.” The new polls are up on the right, so be sure to get your votes in to decide who makes it to the “Frosty Four!”

Remember, at the end of the tournament, we’ll give away a free one month supply of ice cream to 10 commenters chosen at random and one lucky reader will receive a ONE YEAR supply of ice cream.

As always, here’s Ernie’s expert feedback and predictions on this week’s match-ups:

Raspberry Duetto vs. Light Recipe Moose Tracks

“These are two very different flavors, except for the fact that both are lower in fat and calories than most ice creams. Both cruised to easy wins over their competition in the first round, so I expect a hard fought battle here. In the end, I predict a narrow win by Moose Tracks over the Duetto rookie.”

All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip vs. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt

“Mint Chocolate Chip had the biggest margin of victory in the first round and really looks strong in this tournament. It’s got momentum, it’s got flavor and it definitely has fans. It’ll take an upset for frozen yogurt to win this match-up.”

Eagles Touchdown Sundae vs. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

“I’ll be watching this one closely throughout the week. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup is a favorite in the tournament, but Eagles Touchdown Sundae is coming off a big upset over Phillies Graham Slam in the first round. Anything can happen here.”

Vanilla Bean vs. Black Raspberry

“Does anyone stand a chance against the vanilla powerhouse in this tournament? There are a few flavors that might be able to put up a fight, but I think this might be the end of the line for Black Raspberry. Don’t get me wrong, I love Black Raspberry, but they just look a little overmatched here.”

Wow, the Ultimate Flavor Tournament is DEFINITELY under way! So many of you have already weighed in with your opinions about who should win in the first round of the tournament and there’s still time to vote if you haven’t already. The Sweet 16 polls will close on Monday morning and the winners will move on to the “Delicious Eight.” Delicious Eight  voting will be open for one week, so visit the Ice Cream Journal again on Monday to vote for who makes it into the “Frosty Four.”

For all of our new readers who have joined us over the last few days, WELCOME! We’re glad to have you and hope that you become regular Ice Cream Journal readers. Just a reminder, you can sign up to have new Journal blog entries (we write two or three new entries each week) e-mailed to you by entering your e-mail address in the “Subscribe” field on the right.

This is it. The first annual Turkey Hill Ultimate Flavor Tournament. Once a year the power to crown one ice cream flavor as the “Ultimate Flavor” rests in the hands of the readers of the Ice Cream Journal. It’s a big responsibility, but we know you’re up for it.

Here’s how it works: Each week will feature a different series of match-ups, all voted on by you (see the polls on the right). We’ll start with 16 flavors (the “Sweet 16”) and narrow the field down every week until one flavor, as determined by your votes, is crowned the champion. Of course, there will also be prizes. At the end of the tournament, we’ll give away a free one month supply of ice cream to 10 commenters chosen at random and one lucky reader will receive a ONE YEAR supply of ice cream.

Each Monday, we’ll take a look back the previous week’s winners and losers and offer some predictions for the upcoming pairings, so feel free to check back often. And on that note, here’s an expert analysis from Ernie himself about this week’s “Sweet 16” match-ups. Take it away, Ern!

THE DUETTO MATCH-UP – Mango Duetto vs. Raspberry Duetto

“I can’t think of a better way to start the tournament than with this battle of two of our best new flavors. Either one could win here, but regardless of which one comes out on top, I expect the winner to make it into the Frosty Four and possibly make a run for the title.”

THE LIGHT MATCH-UP – Light Recipe Snyder’s Chocolate Pretzel vs. Light Recipe Moose Tracks

“This one is tough for me because ever since I’ve started my new weight loss plan I’ve really taken a liking to the entire Light Recipe line-up. I’m a big fan of both of these flavors, but based on the chocolate/peanut butter combination, I think Moose Tracks might have the edge here.”

THE MINT MATCH-UP – Light Recipe Skinny Minty vs. All Natural Mint Chocolate Chip

“A Light Recipe flavor going up against an All Natural flavor? This one should be interesting. Skinny Minty might be leaner, but that doesn’t mean it won’t fight hard for this win. It’ll be a good battle, but I expect Mint Chocolate Chip to come on out top in this one.”

THE YOGURT MATCH-UP – Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough vs. Raspberry Lemonade

“Even though they’re technically not ice cream, you can’t count out the frozen yogurt flavors in this tournament. These are two of our strongest yogurt contenders and I’m having a hard time picking a winner here. I might have to go back for a few more samples before making up my mind.”

THE SPORTS MATCH-UP – Eagles Touchdown Sundae vs. Phillies Graham Slam

“Is this a battle of flavors or a battle of sports? You’ve got football vs. baseball in a showdown of two of Philly’s most beloved sports teams. Since we’re coming up on the start of baseball season with the Phillies expected to make a strong run for the title, it looks like Graham Slam might be able to intercept this Touchdown pass and hit one out of the park for a win here.”

THE PEANUT BUTTER MATCH-UP – Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup vs. Peanut Butter Ripple

“Everyone knows I love peanut butter. Do I really have to pick a winner here? That’s like asking a Beatles fan what their favorite Beatles song is. They’re all great! If this one comes down to anything, it’s the fact that one flavor uses chocolate ice cream and the other uses vanilla. But even that doesn’t really narrow it down much!”

THE FRUIT MATCH-UP – Black Cherry vs. Black Raspberry

“Ahh, the fruit flavors. Some of the very first ice cream flavors ever created used fruit as a main ingredient. In Rome, they combined snow with fruit, which is technically more of a sorbet than an ice cream. But I digress. A winner here? I’m going with Black Cherry by a stem.”

THE BATTLE OF THE CLASSICS – Dutch Chocolate vs. Vanilla Bean

“This is the biggest battle of them all and I really think either one of these flavors could win this entire tournament. As for the winner here, it’s a coin toss. Ask me on Monday and I’ll say chocolate. On Tuesday, I’ll pick vanilla. Then on Wednesday, I’ll try both of them and call it a tie!”

Better late than never, but we just learned that this past Saturday was National Peanut Butter Lovers Day. Who doesn’t love peanut butter? On a sandwich, on chocolate or just a big spoonful on the go. Of course, it also goes well with ice cream. Even though the holiday has already come and gone, below is a listing of Turkey Hill flavors that use peanuts or peanut butter you can sample to help you celebrate in style.

Buffalo Bills Stampede Sundae (premium recipe)
Chocolate Nutty Moose Tracks (light recipe)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup (premium recipe)
Eagles Touchdown Sundae (premium recipe)
Graham Canyon (frozen yogurt)
Jets Sundae Blitz (premium recipe)
Moose Tracks (light recipe)
Nutty Caramel Carabou (frozen yogurt)
Peanut Brittle (no sugar added)
Peanut Butter Mania (light recipe)
Peanut Butter Ripple (premium recipe)
Tin Roof Sundae (premium recipe)
Moose Tracks (Creamy Commotions)
Tastykake Peanut Butter Kandy Kake (Creamy Commotions)