>> [MUSIC] Thank you. That's warm.
It's a fresh waffle cone.
[MUSIC] Aggie Ice Cream.
What goes into making an Aggie Ice Cream cone?
[MUSIC] There's a story to uncover here.
How do we go from this,
[NOISE] to this? We're going to find out.
[MUSIC]
To South Cache Valley,
proud home to the very cows that
bring you Aggie Ice Cream.
[MUSIC] We're at the Caine Dairy Farm,
a major backbone of Utah State,
focused on teaching and research.
I'm told that there are some exciting innovations
happening here with these cattle.
[MUSIC] How's it going?
>> Hello, Gage.
I'm John Wallentine,
we're going to turn you into a dairy farmer today,
and the first item of business is in here.
>> Awesome. [MUSIC]
>> This is our little practice cow here named, Bessie.
>> All right.
>> That's what you're going to be doing today.
Actually, Gage, we're just kidding,
we're not going to have you inseminate a real cow today.
>> I'm no stranger to getting my hands dirty.
In fact, look how cute I was.
[MUSIC] My parents were both raised by cowboys.
It's just in my blood.
As I got older though, I stopped
hanging out with animals so much and
turned my focus towards something more
important to me, spuds.
>> Okay, Gage. This is where our newborn calves are kept.
They're kept here for the first couple of months,
and what we're going to do is feed one of them.
[MUSIC] These calves drink
a bottle of milk morning and night.
We give them milk, grain,
water, and a nice dry place to lay down.
We keep them separated so that they stay healthy,
they don't pass on any sickness to the neighbor calf.
The healthy calves grow up to be
healthy cows that produce more milk.
>> They get a little aggressive.
>> Yeah, they like the milk.
[LAUGHTER] We expect them to
grow up anywhere from two to three pounds a day.
>> All right. I think it's done.
>> Yeah. There you go.
>> All right. Good job. Thank you
for letting me feed you. You're going to lick me now?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> You're her new best friend, Gage.
[NOISE] That calf can eat you alive.
>> All right. Bye. [MUSIC]
>> [MUSIC] The next thing we're going to do is go over to
our milking barn and
learn how to milk a cow with a robot.
>> Okay. [MUSIC]
>> [NOISE] We've had the barn now here for
about three years, milking with robots.
You can see it's a little
different from what you normally
might be used to if you've ever been on a dairy farm.
One robotic milker will milk about 60 cows.
Cows get to come in on their own,
on average about three times a day to be milked.
The computer that runs the robot will
quickly determine which cow is in
the robotic stall there,
then it will clean the cow
up before it puts the milker on it.
That's a laser telling the robot right where to go.
>> My dad always says it smells like money.
>> One thing that the Jersey breed is known for is
the high butter fat and protein percentage in their milk.
That is very good when it comes to making ice cream.
>> These are happy cows.
>> Real happy. [MUSIC] [NOISE]
As the cows are being milked,
this is where the milk is.
My only cow joke is
a false side where two cows are serving
ice cream at an ice cream parlor
and this little sign says,
"Thanks for not tipping."
>> [LAUGHTER] That's good.
>> Pretty bad, isn't it? [LAUGHTER]
>> It's a dad joke and I like it [LAUGHTER] [MUSIC]
>> This precious cow's milk gets shipped
across Cache Valley to various creameries,
but the milk we're following
goes to our very own Aggie Creamery,
where USU has been turning it into ice cream since 1921,
back when USU was on
the frontier of ice cream in the West.
Back then, the creamery was
actually in the basement of Old Main.
Be still my heart.
Gustav Wilster was the mastermind who
lead USU into a new era of
frozen dairy products after
World War 1 and the invention of the freezer.
From flavor engineering and
quality testing to commercial production,
Gustav carried out a vision to
make famous Utah ice cream and send
students around the country
equipped with knowledge to start their own creameries,
among which now include
Casper's Ice Cream and Farr's Ice Cream.
[MUSIC]
Dave Irish,
the food scientist currently
behind the Aggie Ice Cream and the man
responsible for your very own
True Aggie Night ice cream flavor.
[MUSIC]
>> This is the transition that takes place from
the farm and the milk arriving here at the dairy plant.
[MUSIC]
>> [MUSIC] When we put milk,
cream, non-fat dry milk, sugar,
corn syrup solids, and if it's chocolate ice cream,
chocolate powder, into these tanks and mix it up,
that's called ice cream mix.
Then we send it to the pasteurizer.
It gets heated, and homogenized,
and become safe to eat.
We create a matrix and we put it in this tank,
and over a little bit of time,
that makes the best ice cream
because that allows everything to come together.
You have to do a minimum of four and a half hours.
We do it overnight.
>> Okay.
>> That's why ours is better.
>> You can't say they have the best ice cream.
>> No. Step up there. [MUSIC]
>> It doesn't smell that good.
It smells okay. [LAUGHTER] It's so cool.
>> You need to taste it,
then it'll play a different tune.
>> Does it taste good in there?
>> No, the taste is tremendous.
This is where we decide the flavor.
>> Okay.
>> In today's production, we started with lemon custard.
Then we ran huckleberry,
and then Aggie space debris,
and we'll finish out with True Aggie Night.
>> True Aggie Night's the way to go.
>> It's a great flavor.
>> My favorite. [MUSIC]
>> They come out in every 1.25 seconds.
It's all hands on deck.
We got to have people put in caps in,
put the lids on, and taking care of the product.
Now, you got to be faster.
>> Faster? Okay.
>> Yeah. You got to go faster.
>> There's a reason I stopped
working in food after high school.
I actually do have a question
that I didn't tell him I was going to ask.
>> Okay.
>> My freshman year, other than getting in
a bell tower and my other goal is to try
every flavor of Aggie Ice Cream in one sitting.
>> Yeah, okay.
>> Is that possible?
>> For sure. [MUSIC]
>> I don't know. Vanilla and chocolate
might take the cake. Those are pretty good.
>> It's evidence that you tasted them all.
>> True Aggie Night remains my favorite.
Cookies and cream is a classic.
Huckleberry is good. Shout out to Idaho.
Chocolate chip cookie dough is good.
Aggie Space Debris, I really like that one a lot.
Aggie ROTC and Praline Pecan are my favorites.
Everything else is still pretty good.
Works wonderfully. After we've
seen all the work that goes into making Aggie Ice Cream,
I think we all can have a greater appreciation for it.
I hope you all come and join me
in. Let's get a cone together.
But my real dream is two years from now,
to come back in the hopes that,
that ice cream here will be made from the milk of
a baby cow that I made friends from the
other day. That's the dream.
What a day. I know
I'm wearing red and that's normally a no-go at USU.
Today as we're filming,
it's the opening day for baseball
and I want to support my Chicago Cubs.
I promise, this is the only time you'll see me wearing
this sweat shirt during an Aggies Underground episode,
I promise.
Go Aggies always,
not affiliated with the University of Utah at all.