Originally Posted by PWMTrav

The challenge to making good gelato in the US is in the dairy products. For whatever reason, the dairy products themselves taste different in Italy. I don't know enough to articulate why, but my guess has always been the prevalence of UHT pasteurization here, versus lower temperatures (and longer time) used in Europe. Or what they feed the cows, what they do and don't inject them with, etc. It's not to say we have inferior dairy in the US, but it does taste different.

I make ice cream and gelato at home. I am by no means an authority or a professional, but I am persistent. I can make something that tastes like the good stuff in Italy, but it's expensive for me to make - mostly because the grass fed local dairy products that taste right cost more than the factory farmed stuff, which is to be expected. At scale I'm sure prices come down, though. For ice cream, where I'm usually also using eggs, it gets even worse unless you have a good source. FWIW, I'm not using raw milk since I have a little kid who's going to eat this stuff, but I've had the best luck with whatever the non-UHT pasteurization process is called.