randomwalk

This is interesting. I haven't had any issues with ice crystals and I haven't used any stabilizers -- I have typically made a custard base for ice cream but have also done sorbets. The only time I get any iciness is when I scoop the (unprocessed) sides. The spun material in the middle is always near-perfect.

Wow, that looks delish! I am feeling inspired and hoping I can get my act together to try something similar.

Well, I called Ninja today, and they confirmed I need my machine replaced...but they said the charge would be $21 to send it back. That was a little frustrating, since I have been pretty darned diligent about following the instructions, etc, so I don't feel this issue is a result of the way we have been using the machine. (seems like a defect to me....) Nonetheless, I had initially ordered it from Costco, so I declined & will just do an exchange. (Thank goodness for Costco's return/exchange policy.) Hopefully things fare better with machine #2! But, this leaves me temporarily without a way to spin the frozen desserts to which I have become accustomed....!

Oh wow -- thank you so much! I had no idea. I'll try to find time to call them later this week to see what they say.

Hmm, I was just hand-drying a pint container, and I noticed some lines on the inside. They feel like etches/scratches in the plastic on the inside. It kinda seems like the blade may have run up against the inside of the jar... Anyone else seen this happen in their jars? I am kind of perplexed. The placement makes me wonder if we used it once with the jars not quite properly in, so that the pint was not perfectly centered on the blade, but that seems really hard to believe!

With one of our remaining vanilla pints, I used this approach -- use the mix-in function, but then also hand-stir in some brittle for a less even distribution. It worked really well! An excellent rendition of a favorite yet discontinued ice cream flavor.

We tried two more ice creams this weekend, both delish. #1 Blood orange ice cream (custard base) -- this was sensational. The recipe called for vanilla, and I doubled it, and it was so perfect. All four of us were really surprised, this was among the top results we've had so far. It felt like eating a creamsicle (which we love....but if you don't care for creamsicles, this would not be for you!). #2 Macadamia Brittle Ice cream. (As a kid/young adult, the haagen dazs mac brittle was my favorite ice cream, it was crushing when they discontinued it!) So, we decided to make some mac brittle, and some vanilla ice cream, and use the mix-in feature. This was also fabulous! As has been noted before, the mix-in function is extremely even, so if I had it to do over again, I think I would still use the mix-in function, but then to stir in some by hand so hopefully you could get some bites with a lot and some with less, rather than the perfectly even distribution. Right after spinning when the ice cream is soft, this might be easy enough.

Update on the chocolate -- good, intense flavor! It doesn't seem to have mattered that much that I used half milk chocolate instead of all bittersweet. Whew. However, the texture is really thick and I think it's because I let the mixture get too hot. (That happens to me sometimes -- I get the milk/cream too hot, temper the eggs, pour them into the pot, and then realize the whole thing exceeds my target of 170ish.) Too bad! But it's still really good, and should be still great for milkshakes. We also made mint ice cream this weekend, using the mint ice cream in Perfect Scoop. When I tasted the mixture, I was worried it was going to be too vegetal -- that's how we felt about the ginger ice cream from PS, it was eery because it tasted exactly like ginger but had the texture of ice cream instead of the stringy, woody texture of ginger... But, thankfully, it wasn't too vegetal at all. It felt like a very pure mint flavor, not at all artificial. Hubby declared it his favorite yet. We also put some cacao nibs on top (I think I remember Blue Dolphin doing the same and I'd been meaning to try) and it was delicious. I overcooked this mixture too, a little, but it didn't have the same effect as with the chocolate. Maybe the solids of the chocolate also play a role? Hubby said that each ice cream is better than the last, and asked me how I got so good at ice cream. 🤣 It's obviously just the ninja creami and benefiting from some good cookbooks as well as this helpful community, but it's nice to feel appreciated at home! Gosh, I'm so bad at taking pictures I almost don't want to post this!

We've been using our Creami regularly -- at least a couple of pints a month, sometimes more. A few highlights: * Sorbets!! Generally speaking, we have found the sorbets to have amazing texture. Our favorite so far has been blood orange sorbet. My dad (a chef) instructed me to first make a sugar syrup (bring it to 240F) and then add the blood orange juice. It was divine, and I think less icy than sorbets we've made without that trick. We also enjoyed lemon-lime sorbet. *Butterscotch ice cream. Hubby demanded a re-make of butterscotch ice cream (used the recipe from HMNIIC) for his birthday and he was thrilled with it (as he was the first time, hence pulling in the birthday favor). I thought it was good (great texture) but the flavor was SUPER intense. I thought it might have been more enjoyable with a mix-in, like a toffee-based mix-in, but he didn't share or leave it around long enough for me to try it out. * Chocolate ice cream -- OMG. Well, I have long not liked chocolate ice cream, but the kiddos and hubby joined forces to demand it. So, I made the basic chocolate ice cream from the Perfect Scoop, and it totally converted me. A few days later, my kiddos asked for milkshakes using that ice cream, so we did -- and it was the best milkshake I've ever had. Rich, decadent, thick & intense, it felt like the kind of thing you would get 2 ounces of at a very fancy restaurant for dessert and you'd be thrilled. I snuck my own milkshake using the remainder of the choc ice cream later that same night 🤣 (This weekend, I wanted to make the ice cream again, but I didn't have enough dark chocolate so I used some milk chocolate for about half of the called for chocolate, figuring I like milk chocolate and have a sweet tooth....I haven't frozen it yet so not sure how it'll turn out, but so far the base seems, predictably, less intense. I don't think it will be as good, but I'm hopeful it'll be good enough.) It is so much easier to make ice cream in a quart-sized volume that that's what we've been doing, dividing up the mixture between two pints. But, that means our 6 pints (4 that came with it when we purchased from Costco, and the 2 I sweet-talked Ninja into sending based on the misleading "2 free pints" offer) really don't go as far! I saw that Kohl's has a set of 4 for $30, and is currently offering 20% off, bringing the price down to $24. Sharing in case anyone else is in the market for more pints!

I have found that sometimes this happens to me, and if my ice cream is still crumbly after a respin, I either let it sit a little or scoop it. At least when this happens to me, it seems to mean the mixture is colder than usual and either sitting a couple of minutes or the act of scooping warms it enough to fix the texture. But, it doesn't sound exactly like what you experienced because you had ice. (One more thought...sometimes if my scoop scrapes the side of the pint container, it gets ice in it because the sides don't seem to get processed well.) However, one time I tried to make olive oil ice cream, and it turned out crumbly, so I re-processed. Then I scooped, and the whole thing seemed to have turned to butter! Not sure if I just exceeded the amount of fat this method can support?! I vaguely wanted to try again but haven't had the energy to do it when I suspect I'll face the same results.

I made the cinnamon ice cream from Perfect Scoop, primarily because husband *loves* cinnamon ice cream. I guess I shouldn't say I made the version from PS -- since I actually more followed the quantities in Hello My Name is Ice Cream (without any additional "texture agents") but then followed the steps for the cinnamon ice cream in PS. I wanted a less rich ice cream than I found the vanilla from PS to be. It was a success! Well -- husband said it was the best yet. It was again astonishingly smooth. Very nice cinnamon flavor. Very creamy. Neither daughter cared for it. (they made do with leftover vanilla ice cream, cherry sorbet and/or lemon sorbet). I found the cinnamon delicious but a little monolithic to have just on its own, so I dug out some of that cherry sorbet to go with, without much hope. I was happy to be proven wrong, it was actually a really nice combo. Husband had a double serving without any counterpoint, although those who know him would not be surprised. I still find myself wanting to go less rich, less cream more milk, so maybe my next step is to do a deeper dive into the ratios chapter in Hello My Name is....but that might wait for next weekend! Maybe between now and then, I can experiment more with frozen yogurt or sherbet.

Oh! Very interesting! Any additional sugar or just the vinegar? I'll have to try that next time.

Yes, no way around it, you've got to go for the 3-way comparison! I'll look forward to your results & thoughts, if you do it. I really love haagen dazs vanilla too, but it is getting pretty pricey and I am hoping to get the hang of custard bases to feel confident branching out into more interesting flavors (family very interested in cinnamon, and butterscotch). I am also really interested in something ginger, based on your (@blue_dolphin's) ginger fro-yo, particularly with the crystallized ginger bits! I was so inspired I bought a whole bag of crystallized ginger, but haven't yet had the free pints to get it going. Will need to decide btn ice cream and fro-yo.

Oh! Forgot to mention. I saved the cherry matter that didn't make it into the sorbet (for proportional reasons) -- very delicious on top of the vanilla ice cream! Also, I'm trying this cherry pit syrup using my discarded pits, although my amount of cherry pits (2oz) seems pretty laughable -- so, a teeny amount of syrup will result. But, for a product that was going to go straight into the compost, maybe it's still a good thing? I'll let you know if it was worth it.

Update on revised cherry sorbet, as well as results of a custard vanilla. Both very soft after spinning -- funny how some takes are so crumbly and desperately need re-spinning, and some are overly soft. Not sure if this is where they are in my freezer cycle or based on the nature of the frozen contents? Probably both! Cherry sorbet: Tasted suspiciously like the cherry sorbet from the previous day, despite more juice and less fruit matter. I'm guessing this was so soft both times because of the high (even in the second batch) levels of fruit matter? Does that make sense? Husband still loved it, one daughter loved it, other daughter did not. Update this morning: differences much more apparent between the two batches. Second batch icier and yet more refreshing. Not sure family's take since I am sneaking bites in the morning! 🙃 I like the refreshing nature but wish it were less icy. This feels like progress, but any further progress is probably going to have to wait until I progress from beginner to at least low intermediate! Vanilla ice cream using custard method in Perfect Scoop. The base tasted amazing after chilling, before freezing. Very soft after spinning in the creami. Too creamy for me, husband incredulous that I didn't think it was among the best ice creams I'd ever tasted. It was extremely smooth -- astonishingly so. That's an upside! I think I like a more refreshing ice cream so am going to try again with more milk / less cream. Both daughters loved it. Update this morning: more appealing with the harder freeze -- scoops like butter. Still a little too creamy, so am still looking forward to adjusting the fat levels. Went well with the refreshing icier cherry sorbet. Picture is from last night right after scooping. You can see how soft it was, significant melting within a minute or two!