Get your sweet tooth ready for OSU’s annual ice cream conference

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — For the ice cream-obsessed, there’s a two-day event later this month in downtown Portland.

You’ll get the chance to not only taste the frozen sweets but learn from experts about how to make it at Oregon State University’s fifth annual Ice Cream Conference.

It’s all taking place at the OSU Food Innovation Center , where Director of Product and Process Development Sarah Masoni said ice cream lovers should get their tickets soon since the event is expected to “sell out fast.”

“Yeah, we’ll have tons ice cream. Actually, at the ice cream conference, we usually have ice cream during breaks, ice cream at lunch, we have to taste ice creams and then we finish the day with more ice cream,” Masoni said.

Masoni is the one to thank for creating the tasty tradition. Through a grant from the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association, she was able to go to the Penn State ice cream school in January of 2018.

“Then in that November of 2018 was the very first ice cream conference. So I started numbering ’em because Penn State numbers theirs and they’ve been doing theirs for over 100 years,” Masoni explained. “So I thought, well, if we start numbering ours, maybe that would be kind of an ice cream legacy that I could have put in place here at the Food Innovation Center and for Oregon State University.”

It’s a legacy cradled in the cone of a mission to serve the public.

“Yep. State university, our responsibility is transfer information out to the public, so having these types of classes really make it easier for people who are interested in starting businesses or if you’re just fascinated by ice cream and you make it at home, there’ll be lots of information, lots of ice cream to taste,” Masoni said.

Bring an appetite for eating and learning. Over the course of two days, the OSU Ice Cream Conference schedule includes hearing from dairy science professionals with OSU as well as experts like Dr. Doug Goff from Canada’s University of Guelph. Since 1987, he’s been teaching that school’s more-than-100-year-old annual ice cream technology course .

There’s also the chance to see how the frozen treats are made at local businesses.

“We’re going to go tour two famous ice cream companies here in Portland. One is called Ruby Jewel Ice Cream Sandwiches and the other is Salt & Straw. So if you’re really fascinated and want to participate, I’d recommend getting your tickets because we’ll sell out fast,” Masoni said.

This year’s event is sponsored by the Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission and will have a focus on cane berries (raspberries and blackberries).

The OSU FIC Ice Cream Conference is held at the Meier & Frank Building downtown on Oct. 22-23. Tickets are $350 and are available at this link .

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