Ice cream. While I don't necessarily review it often, I actually follow a pretty strict "ice cream a day keeps the doctor away" mantra. Wait, that isn't a mantra? Well, it is mine! And to be fair, sometimes it is froyo. My office has a soft serve machine, with DIY toppings, that I visit at least once a day, Mon-Fri. My freezer is always stocked with regular ice cream, ice cream novelties, and more. There was a time when I won 32 pints of ice cream (yes, really).
But much like cookies, I don't actually generally consider ice cream a dessert itself (unless it is soft serve froyo, in a bowl, with tons of toppings, or soft serve ice cream, in a cone, with sprinkles, on a hot summer day). But I don't just eat a bowl of hard ice cream, even with toppings, even as a sundae. For me, ice cream is a pairing, e.g., it is what I have on the side with my warm fruit cobbler. But anyway, yes, I eat a lot of ice cream.
Turkey Hill is not a local, artisan, special ice cream shop. They are just a national manufacturer of ice cream (and, ice tea?), owned by Kroger supermarket, located in Pennsylvania. Turkey Hill Dairy started in the 1930s, just a farmer selling milk to his neighbors, and expanded to making ice cream in the 1950s. They started distribution through stores in the 1980s, expanded rapidly, and were taken over by Kroger, although they say the family stayed heavily involved.
I'm a little surprised I haven't seen Turkey Hill before now, as they are the largest manufacturer of refrigerated ice tea (so random!), and the 4th largest ice cream producer (after Nestlé (which includes (Häagen-Dazs and Mövenpick)), Unilever (which includes Ben & Jerry's), and Wells' (Blue Bunny), all of which I've reviewed before. Maybe I just haven't noticed before?
Turkey Hill produces >60 flavors of frozen products in several product lines: Premium, All Natural, Stuff'd, Light, and No Sugar ice ream, plus frozen yogurt, and sherbet. They also make frozen novelties, like ice cream sandwiches, sundae cones, and ice cream cake. I tried only the ice cream (specifically, the All Natural), at an ice cream social, where the host picked Turkey Hill. I was pleasantly surprised.
"Cream, milk, sugar, salted caramel, vanilla."
First up, trendy (well, a few years ago), Salted Caramel.
I was expecting a tan ice cream, with a homogeneous salted caramel flavor. I am not sure why exactly, I guess just because that is what most salted caramel ice cream is, like, SF darling Bi-Rite, etc?
Instead, this was a vanilla (?) base with swirls of caramel throughout. The caramel was sweet, the swirl generous, but I didn't really taste salt, and this just wasn't I was expecting at all given the flavor name (to be fair, it did match the image on the front of the container).
Overall, fine, but not what I thought I was going for.
"Milk, cream, sugar, cocoa, creamy peanut butter."
Next up, Chocolate Peanut Butter.
This was a great flavor. Well, if you like peanut butter. Which I do. A lot.
I don't normally pick chocolate ice creams, but this had such a thick ribbon of peanut butter that it was irresistible. The peanut butter was thick, creamy, and, well, peanut butter-y. It tasted like a peanut butter cup, and I loved it.
Having a half gallon of this in my house would be dangerous. I don't think it would last two sittings.
"Cream, milk, sugar, chocolate chips, peppermint."
And finally, for completeness, I tried the Mint Chocolate Chip.
This was pretty classic mint chocolate chip ice cream. Decent mint level in the base ice cream, large chips of dark chocolate. Nothing to complain about. Good execution of a classic.
But much like cookies, I don't actually generally consider ice cream a dessert itself (unless it is soft serve froyo, in a bowl, with tons of toppings, or soft serve ice cream, in a cone, with sprinkles, on a hot summer day). But I don't just eat a bowl of hard ice cream, even with toppings, even as a sundae. For me, ice cream is a pairing, e.g., it is what I have on the side with my warm fruit cobbler. But anyway, yes, I eat a lot of ice cream.
Turkey Hill is not a local, artisan, special ice cream shop. They are just a national manufacturer of ice cream (and, ice tea?), owned by Kroger supermarket, located in Pennsylvania. Turkey Hill Dairy started in the 1930s, just a farmer selling milk to his neighbors, and expanded to making ice cream in the 1950s. They started distribution through stores in the 1980s, expanded rapidly, and were taken over by Kroger, although they say the family stayed heavily involved.
I'm a little surprised I haven't seen Turkey Hill before now, as they are the largest manufacturer of refrigerated ice tea (so random!), and the 4th largest ice cream producer (after Nestlé (which includes (Häagen-Dazs and Mövenpick)), Unilever (which includes Ben & Jerry's), and Wells' (Blue Bunny), all of which I've reviewed before. Maybe I just haven't noticed before?
Turkey Hill produces >60 flavors of frozen products in several product lines: Premium, All Natural, Stuff'd, Light, and No Sugar ice ream, plus frozen yogurt, and sherbet. They also make frozen novelties, like ice cream sandwiches, sundae cones, and ice cream cake. I tried only the ice cream (specifically, the All Natural), at an ice cream social, where the host picked Turkey Hill. I was pleasantly surprised.
All Natural Ice Cream
"Turkey Hill All Natural Ice Cream is churned with all natural ingredients and a little extra cream for unforgettable richness."
All Natural is actually Turkey Hill's base ice cream line. If you want higher quality or more fun flavors, go for the Premium line. If you want healthier, go for Light or No Sugar Added. And if you want decadent, Stuff'd is the flavors loaded with nuts, candies, and more.
The All Natural line has 20 flavors, basically, the standards you'd expect, although there are a few fun ones in the lineup, like Blueberry. Not many mix-ins though, for those, you need to go Premium.
I tried 3 of the All Natural selections, and they were better than I expected.
 |
| Salted Caramel. |
First up, trendy (well, a few years ago), Salted Caramel.
I was expecting a tan ice cream, with a homogeneous salted caramel flavor. I am not sure why exactly, I guess just because that is what most salted caramel ice cream is, like, SF darling Bi-Rite, etc?
Instead, this was a vanilla (?) base with swirls of caramel throughout. The caramel was sweet, the swirl generous, but I didn't really taste salt, and this just wasn't I was expecting at all given the flavor name (to be fair, it did match the image on the front of the container).
Overall, fine, but not what I thought I was going for.
 |
| Chocolate Peanut Butter. |
Next up, Chocolate Peanut Butter.
This was a great flavor. Well, if you like peanut butter. Which I do. A lot.
I don't normally pick chocolate ice creams, but this had such a thick ribbon of peanut butter that it was irresistible. The peanut butter was thick, creamy, and, well, peanut butter-y. It tasted like a peanut butter cup, and I loved it.
Having a half gallon of this in my house would be dangerous. I don't think it would last two sittings.
 |
| Mint Chocolate Chip. |
And finally, for completeness, I tried the Mint Chocolate Chip.
This was pretty classic mint chocolate chip ice cream. Decent mint level in the base ice cream, large chips of dark chocolate. Nothing to complain about. Good execution of a classic.
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