The homemade ice cream thread

[kccougar]

I should also get my Mom's recipes. Her traditions, unless I have a couple of the dates mixed up:

Memorial Day: Strawberry
July 4th:Chocolate Chip
July 24th: Lemon w/ fresh raspberries
Labor Day: Peach

[MarkGrace]

We just got our ice cream maker in the mail yesterday. Exciting!

[Chachi]

We also transfer leftovers to a plastic container. We do have to let it sit out, but with this scoop, it's not that bad.

Here's my recipe. I am not a fan of the recipes with eggs, just because I don't want the added steps.

2 cups sugar
3 pints cream
1/2 gallon whole milk
dash of salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 large box of vanilla instant pudding

Mix all ingredients in mixer until smooth. Chop, or grate any add-ins and add to mixer slowly. For the strawberries, I place them in a blender and pulse until I have the right size chunks. Pour into ice cream container and follow your mixers instructions.

OPTIONAL ADD-INS:
crushed oreos
grated candy bar
small berries, whole
chopped peaches
chopped strawberries
1 small can chocolate syrup
Madagascar Vanilla Bean
eggless cookie dough

Eggless Cookie Dough:
1 1/8 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup softened butter
3/8 cup sugar
3/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I use mini for cookie dough ice cream)

Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in a mixer until creamy. Add milk and beat well. Add in the salt, baking soda and flour. Mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

[USUC]

Mama's Fruit Ice Cream Recipe

3 cups milk
3 cups sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 to 3/4 cup lemon juice
3 cups fruit puree

Heat milk and sugar together until sugar is dissolved (no need to bring to a boil). Place sugar-milk in refrigerator until cold. Combine and mix all other ingredients and put in ice cream machine of your choice. It makes 4 quarts.

Some notes -

Very ripe, almost mushy, apricots are the best to use. So much flavor. It blows peaches out of the water as far as taste go. Strawberries and raspberries are excellent choices as well. But any fruit puree will work.

Vary the amount of lemon juice depending on the type of fruit you use and how tart you want it. My mom uses in between 1/4 to 1/2 cup for her apricot ice cream. When she uses bananas its between 1/2 to 3/4 cup. All a matter of preference. Experimenting is in order.

[Portland Ute]

I've been reading this thread this evening and I'm wonder if the OPPPOSITE of air wouldn't make better, smoother ice cream.

Consider this: Make a nice dense custard recipe and then have some sort of a contraption that would suck the air out of the canister.

Wouldn't the vacuum mixed product produce a denser, creamier, less crystaline texture? Something along the lines of a frozen custard from Nielsen's?

I notice that leftover Nielsen's is rock hard after sitting in the freezer. But, that doesn't mean to me that it's not good.

[LA Ute]

I've been reading this thread this evening and I'm wonder if the OPPPOSITE of air wouldn't make better, smoother ice cream.

Consider this: Make a nice dense custard recipe and then have some sort of a contraption that would suck the air out of the canister.

Wouldn't the vacuum mixed product produce a denser, creamier, less crystaline texture? Something along the lines of a frozen custard from Nielsen's?

I notice that leftover Nielsen's is rock hard after sitting in the freezer. But, that doesn't mean to me that it's not good.

Yum, Neilsen's. BTW, what you are describing is gelato, which does not have as much air pumped in. It's pretty good stuff.

What's the difference between gelato and ice cream?

[W]hile ice cream legally has a minimum of 10 percent fat, gelato is made with a greater proportion of whole milk to cream, so it contains more like five to seven percent fat.

But don't expect to be able to get Italian gelateria-style results by making a gelato recipe in your home ice cream machine: Alon also said that gelato is churned at a slower speed than ice cream, so it's denser because not as much air is whipped into the mixture. (Gelato contains about 25 to 30 percent air, while ice cream can contain as much as 50 percent air) Finally, while ice cream is typically served frozen, gelato is typically stored and served at a slightly warmer temperature, so it's not quite completely frozen.

As for that amazing, rich flavor, Alon says, "Since there's not as much fat in gelato, it doesn't coat the mouth in the same way. So the flavors are more intense."

[Portland Ute]

Yum, Neilsen's. BTW, what you are describing is gelato, which does not have air pumped in. It's pretty good stuff.

What's the difference between gelato and ice cream?

Right. But isn't custard the same?

I didn't realize that "ice cream" by definition has air pumped into it.

[Chachi]

I am bumping this one up to help those that have had a hard time producing the impossibly smooth premium ice cream from the grocery store. My favorite mag is Cook's Illustrated. Lo and behold this issue solves this very problem! Over several months, Dan Souza makes batch after batch in his canister-style ice cream maker. He sought out expert advise and soon realized that he didn't have access to their "magic powders" or commercial grade machines that produce ice cream in 24 seconds. I'll post the recipe below since you need to have a paid subscription to view the recipes on their website.

Why this recipe works:The quicker it freezes, the smoother the ice cream, so we sped up the freezing time of our homemade Vanilla Ice Cream recipe by starting with a colder base. Supplementing the sugar with corn syrup gave us a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe that produced ice cream that froze faster, remained hard at home-freezer temperatures, and was devoid of large ice crystals.

VANILLA ICE CREAM
makes about 1 quart

2 tsp. of vanilla extract can be substituted for the vanilla bean; stir the extract into the cold custard in step 3. An instant-read thermometer is critical for the best results. Using a prechilled metal baking pan and working quickly in step 4 will help preven melting and refreezing of the ice cream and will speed the hardening process. If using a canister-style ice cream machine, be sure to freeze the empty canister at least 24 hours and preferably 48 hours before churning. For self-refrigerating ice cream machines, prechill the canister by running the machine 5-10 minutes before pouring in the custard.

1 vanilla bean
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. salt
6 large egg yolks

1. Place 8- or 9-inch square metal baking pan in the freezer. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using tip of paring knife, scrape out vanilla seeds. Combine vanilla bean, seeds, cream, milk, 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar, corn syrup and salt in medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is steaming steadily and registers 175 degrees, 5-10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.

2. While cream mixture heats, whisk yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk 1 cup heated cream mixture into egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and registers 180 degrees, 7-14 minutes. Immediately pour custard into large bowl and let cool until no longer steaming, 10-20 minutes. Transfer 1 cup custard to small bowl. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap. Place large bowl in refrigerator and small bowl in freezer and cool completely, at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours. (Small bowl of custard will freeze solid.)

3. Remove custards from refrigerator and freezer. Scrape frozen custard from small bowl into large bowl of custard. Stir occasionally until frozen custard has fully dissolved. Strain custard through fine-mesh strainer and transfer to ice cream machine. Churn until mixture resembles thick soft-serve ice cream and registers 21 degrees, 15-25 minutes. Transfer ice cream to frozen baking pan and press plastic wrap on surface. Return to freezer until firm around edges, about 1 hour.

4. Transfer ice cream to airtight container, pressing firmly to remove any air pockets, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours. Serve. (Ice cream can be stored for up to 5 days.)

Adding Mix-Ins to Homemade Ice Cream-just a few ground rules

FREEZE FIRST-to keep mix-ins from raising the ice cream's temp, freeze them for at least 15 minutes before adding them to the ice cream maker.

STRAIN TINY BITS-shake chopped ingredients like chocolate and nuts in a mesh strainer to remove small particles that can detract from the ice cream's smooth consistency.

ADD JUST ENOUGH-add no more than 3/4 cup of coarsely chopped mix-ins per quart of ice cream to provide textural contrast without dominating the ice cream. Scale down to 1/2 cup when using potent ingredients such as crystallized ginger or peppermint candy.

WAIT UNTIL LAST MINUTE-add mix-ins during the final minute of churning to ensure even distribution without interrupting the freezing process.

[falafel]

Thanks Chachi! And just in time!

[Portland Ute]

If you want some really smooth ice cream, use liquid nitrogen.

I have a neighbor that does this frequently. It takes about 3 minutes to put the ingredients together and the ice cream is instantly ready with the nitrogen.

There is now a chain of stores that does this, but I'm not the biggest fan of their ice cream flavors.

[TripletDaddy]

What ice cream maker do you use? I forgot.

[Babs]

Why do I get the impression you must be really hard to live with?

[UtahDan]

At first I though the thread title said "Homicide Cream." Glad to me wrong about that one.

[YOhio]

Why do I get the impression you must be really hard to live with?

It would be horrible to live with someone who regularly makes artisan bread and ice cream from fresh berries. I don't know how Mrs. SG handles it.

[Babs]

It would be horrible to live with someone who regularly makes artisan bread and ice cream from fresh berries. I don't know how Mrs. SG handles it.

I know. And imagine having the ice cream right there and being told you can't eat it because the berries aren't spaced quite evenly just yet.