7 replies to this topic

[gingersweetiepie]

through the course of my brief pastry career, i was taught dinstinctly different things when it comes to ice cream.

one chef made ice cream bases with half and half, claiming they could be melted down and rechurned indefinitely without affecting texture.

a second chef taught me that heavy cream bases could be rechurned up to three times without a problem; i disagree.

chef #3 says she had no opinion because ice creams bases were to be made, spun and served within the span of a couple of days. she used zero stabilizers but served ice creams that sat in the freezer for up to a week.

the final chef froze whole pints of cream before even making bases (to which i laughed, and then quit)

during a conversation, someone asked "if bases can be melted down and rechurned, why not make bases in bulk and then freeze them to be thawed and churned as necessary?"

i was stumped. freezing heavy cream is a no-no but i had no answer for freezing cooked, unspun ice cream base (not that i'd do it anyway.) any ideas, opinions, answers?

Edited by gingersweetiepie, 23 August 2006 - 11:32 PM.

[chefpeon]

Not knowing any better, I froze a ton of ice cream base because I knew I would never have time to spin it all before it went bad.
When I needed it, I thawed it and churned it with no problems! Also, I use a ton of heavy cream in mine...very little half and half.

I think this is the deal:
You can't freeze heavy cream by itself.
But when the heavy cream is cooked with eggs, sugar, etc, as ice cream bases are, then you CAN freeze.
I also know (from personal experience) that you can freeze heavy cream that's already been whipped. I do this all the time because it's just too darn expensive to waste. I thaw the whipped cream in the fridge, then re-whip. It comes out great.

[gingersweetiepie]

thanks. i'm still very wary of such a practice but still unable to say why.

i come from a place where its just drilled into you: freeze nothing. it's a guiding rule that many probably wouldn't disagree with, but it still makes me a blind sheep. it's important to understand why we do things; if i have no answer for the guy's question (see above), then i have no business training anyone in the future.

[chefpeon]

Funny! I come from a place, where, if you didn't freeze anything, you'd be completely
screwed!

[JeanneCake]

I also know (from personal experience) that you can freeze heavy cream that's already been whipped. I do this all the time because it's just too darn expensive to waste. I thaw the whipped cream in the fridge, then re-whip. It comes out great.

And all this time, I've been making ganache and freezing it (don't ask me about the logic of using the cream and chocolate just to "save" the cream - there isn't any logic in this thinking)! Thanks for the tip, Annie

[chefpeon]

And all this time, I've been making ganache and freezing it (don't ask me about the logic of using the cream and chocolate just to "save" the cream - there isn't any logic in this thinking)!  Thanks for the tip, Annie

Hey no problem. Remember, if you have extra cream there's lots of things you can do with it besides making ganache! My favorite.....either a fruit trifle or an ice cream base.

[bibbotson]

One concern besides texture or flavor is health and sanitation.

The base isn't going to be reheated or cooked in any way, so the cycle of thawing and refreezing strays into the gray zone for bacterial danger. It won't necessarily be bad, and you may have seen it done or will do it in the future many times without incident. But the risk is significant and food sanitation is all about pushing risk at each stage to its minimally achievable level.

Here in New York, you'd certainly run afoul of the health inspector.

[chefpeon]

The base isn't going to be reheated or cooked in any way, so the cycle of thawing and refreezing strays into the gray zone for bacterial danger.

That would only be if you are thawing it at room temperature my dear!
It is always recommended you thaw in the fridge and there's no danger of it ever being in the "danger zone".