Ice cream made by Ohio State students is available for purchase at the Union Marketplace. Photo credit: Katie Carson | Lantern Reporter
Taylor Schuh waited for the cleanliness test to tell her whether the ice cream machine was ready.
If it passed, the third-year in animal science could start the next batch. If it failed, she would have to clean the equipment and test it again before a single ingredient went in.
Schuh moved through Ohio State’s dairy lab in a hairnet and lab coat, checking equipment, assembling machinery and preparing ice cream that would later be sold on campus.
Inside the Parker Food Science and Technology Building, students help run a working dairy production lab, handling food-safety checks, inventory, equipment and batch tracking while producing ice cream for sale at Ohio State locations.
The student-made ice cream grew out of a dairy processing class in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Students had spent the previous two years developing flavors from scratch as part of their coursework, according to a January 2024 report from Ohio State News. They worked in teams to create recipes, test their products and learn what it takes to produce ice cream for commercial sale.
Before entering the lab, Schuh puts on personal protective equipment, including a hairnet and lab coat and washes her hands. She then checks equipment using cleanliness tests before assembling the machine, checking inventory and making ice cream.
Once the ice cream mixture is in the machine, Schuh labels ice cream cups while it runs. After the 12 minutes it takes for the ice cream to solidify, she cleans the equipment so it’s ready for the next batch.
“It’s slightly annoying sometimes when it’s not clean, even though I swear I just cleaned it and I have to test it and it doesn’t pass,” Schuh said. “So I have to re-clean it. It happens though, it happens.”
Richard Kirk, the dairy lab’s operations manager, said students produce ice cream under his supervision. He said the ice cream-making process involves more than running the mixture through a machine.?
According to Kirk, students monitor time and temperature during production to ensure the ice cream meets the lab’s requirements. After it comes out of the machine, students place the ice cream in containers to chill before scooping. The lab produces staple flavors, including Classic Vanilla, Chocolate Chill and Maudine’s Berry Patch.
The ice cream is sold at campus locations, including the Union Marketplace and the CFAES Cafe.
Beyond making ice cream, students learn the steps required to keep food production organized and safe, Kirk said.
Kirk added that the job gives students hands-on experience and the responsibilities that come with working in a professional setting. In addition to learning technical procedures, students must balance work responsibilities with their academic schedules and follow the lab’s safety requirements.
Students learn how to track batches, manage inventory and communicate with coworkers between shifts. Each batch receives the date it was made, so the lab can trace products if a safety concern arises.
Kirk said the work also introduces students to the logistics behind food production, from ordering the ingredients to following recipes and monitoring temperatures to meet safety requirements.
For Schuh, the job has provided skills she hopes to use in her future career as a veterinarian, including food safety, technical procedures and communication.
Schuh found the position through Workday while looking for a student job at Ohio State. She said the experience has taught her to try opportunities she might not have considered before.
“I encourage people to reach out and look for things and different opportunities because I never thought that I would be working here,” Schuh said. “I didn’t even know what this was, but I’ve learned so much, and it’s been fun.”
