Home Made Ice Cream (2002–2012)

[newguy]

How about adding a few egg yolks, and dropping down to half and half?

[bloviatrix]

I've been having the fat issue as well and the recipe I use has 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1 1/2 cups milk plus 5 yolks. the suggestion I keep getting is that I'm overchurning my ice cream.

I haven't tried it yet, but maybe that will get rid of your problem.

Edited June 27, 2003 by bloviatrix (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

How about adding a few egg yolks, and dropping down to half and half?

Nah, the intro to the recipe in the book said that she started with eggs, but found the Philadelphia style allowed the watermelon flavor to come through more strongly.

[newguy]

I don't know if this is getting absurd, but what if you started with 6 cups of juice, and reducing to 3 cups? You'd have a more intense syrup, then try a few eggs and the remainder of the recipe?

[sabeno]

this is my first egullet communication..but if you have already heard this, I am sorry to duplicate! I think that the reason you had buttery chunks in your gelato is because you may have over-spun it. when you whip cream too much, it essentially turns to butter..ice cream is no different..I think if you were to add a binder in there like yolks, they would bind the excess water from the melon..you could make an ice cream base..like a custard over the stove..using a vanilla ice cream recipe..and then add in the appropriate flavoring..but, maybe watermelon is not intended to be in creamy desserts..but would be excellent in sorbet!

[Rachel Perlow]

I agree that over-churning is probably the culprit. Next time, I'll check it at 10 minutes (originally it churned for 20 then 15 minutes for subsequent batches) and spoon it out while still soft.

bloviatrix - besides overchurning, be sure that your batter is thoroughly chilled before freezing.

[bloviatrix]

bloviatrix - besides overchurning, be sure that your batter is thoroughly chilled before freezing.

The lack of chill for my base was the first thing I considered. But I tend to chill it overnight before churning.

Thanks for the thought.

[tan319]

I agree that over-churning is probably the culprit. Next time, I'll check it at 10 minutes (originally it churned for 20 then 15 minutes for subsequent batches) and spoon it out while still soft.

bloviatrix - besides overchurning, be sure that your batter is thoroughly chilled before freezing.

That's a good idea, Rachel.

I take my ice cream out when it mounds on a tablespoon, then let it set it up in the freezer.

Even with a pro machine, like a Taylor, for instance, when you release the mix, it has the consistancy of a sort serve ice cream. Then you let it set up in the freezer.

Let us know how it works for you.

[rdailey]

I recently made a decent batch of cinnamon ice cream that was tasty, but seemed too hard once frozen and seemed to have a slightly grainy texture. The graininess did not seem as noticeable until a couple days in the freezer. Any suggestions?

Specs - 2 cups milk, 2 cups heavy cream, 10 egg yolks, 3 oz sugar beat with the eggs, 3 oz sugar dissolved in the hot cream mixture. I chilled the custard overnight and ran through my machine for 20 minutes.

[inventolux]

I recently made a decent batch of cinnamon ice cream that was tasty, but seemed too hard once frozen and seemed to have a slightly grainy texture. The graininess did not seem as noticeable until a couple days in the freezer. Any suggestions?

Specs - 2 cups milk, 2 cups heavy cream, 10 egg yolks, 3 oz sugar beat with the eggs, 3 oz sugar dissolved in the hot cream mixture. I chilled the custard overnight and ran through my machine for 20 minutes.

dissolve 2 sheets of gelatin into the hot liquid. You will find a nice quenellable luscious quality to your problem.

[Joni]

AT what point do you add the gelatin...after if cools a bit or when it is hot?

[tan319]

AT what point do you add the gelatin...after if cools a bit or when it is hot?

As written, when hot...

[rdailey]

Thanks! - I'll give it a try

[HungryChris]

I have a Lussino model 4080 made by Musso that I bought on e-bay. It's much like a Simac in size and capacity. As I am someone who has to be careful in what I eat in order to keep my cholesterol below 200, I tend to be more of a sorbet person. I have found that a pint of fresh blueberries or strawberries put in the blender with 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of simple syrup (I use 1/2 cup of Splenda dissolved in 1/2 cup water) then put in the machine makes a very satisfying sorbet. If I make more than I can finish and try to keep it in the freezer, it's hard as a rock in a few hours, though. I think the Splenda has something to do with that. I think if I used sugar it might fare better in the freezer.

I have gotten in to the habit of just making enough for 1 dessert and it works out pretty well.

[rickster]

I wonder if the gelatin trick works with sorbet? Although you would have to heat either the puree or the syrup to melt the gelatin.

[trillium]

One thing I've found that helps to avoid butter bits in cooked ice cream bases is to take the custard off the heat right when you start wondering if it's getting there. Do not wait until it's obviously thick, just to the point where it starts to act differently. Then cool it down quickly in a water/ice bath. When I manage this I never have buttery coating problems. When I don't manage this, I do.

regards,

trillium

[bloviatrix]

I have a Lussino model 4080 made by Musso that I bought on e-bay. It's much like a Simac in size and capacity. As I am someone who has to be careful in what I eat in order to keep my cholesterol below 200, I tend to be more of a sorbet person. I have found that a pint of fresh blueberries or strawberries put in the blender with 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of simple syrup (I use 1/2 cup of Splenda dissolved in 1/2 cup water) then put in the machine makes a very satisfying sorbet. If I make more than I  can finish and try to keep it in the freezer, it's hard as a rock in a few hours, though. I think the Splenda has something to do with that. I think if I used sugar it might fare better in the freezer.

I have gotten in to the habit of just making enough for 1 dessert and it works out pretty well. 

A little alcohol will help your sorbet from getting to hard. Vodka works well.

Currently, I have a blackberry sorbet with red wine sitting in my freezer that has a nice, soft consistency.

[gsquared]

I think the Splenda has something to do with that

It sure has. The only way that I know to keep a sorbet scoopable after freezing, is to add sufficient sugar to keep the sorbet from freezing completeley - the process is admirably explained by Harold McGee in his "The Curious Cook". He states that the sugar molecules are the most prevelant substance in an ice mix other than water. These molecules prevent, by their sheer number, the water molecules from joining up in a solid frozen mass. This is the same principle used by antifreeze substances in your car. He goes on to provide tables for the sugar and acid required for medium-sweet fruit ices, sweet water ices nd sweet fruit ices for just about any soft fruit you can think of.

The interesting thing is that he also states that the fact that sugar has this effect, is simply because it it happens to be so prevalent in an ice mix - the same result could theoretically be achieved by adding a largish quantity of any other "foreign" (i.e. other than water) substance. I would assume that the quantity of "foreign" molecules added by your Splenda is relatively small. The question therefore is, using any artificial sweetener in an ice, what could one add to provide the required "buffering" and yet not influence the taste? We need something that, even in a relatively large quantity of, say, 8 or 9 tablespoons to 1.5 cups of fruit puree, would be totally taste-neutral. Hmmmm........

[Michael Laiskonis]

The interesting thing is that he also states that the fact that sugar has this effect, is simply because it it happens to be so prevalent in an ice mix - the same result could theoretically be achieved by adding a largish quantity of any other "foreign" (i.e. other than water) substance.

This is something that professionals are aware of, and typically refer to as dry extract. Pastry chefs and ice cream manufacturers base their formulas on a target percentage of dry extract, usually in the range of 30-35% of the total weight. To acheive this, and balance out the sweetness, they will use ingredients like powdered glucose and dextrose (half the sweetness of sucrose) and dry nonfat milk, among other things. These kinds of additives work quite differently than what we tend to call stabilizers- gums, pectin, or the gelatin already suggested. These are used in minute quantities and act more as emulsifiers. Colloidal suspension is something that most of us don't need to worry about, at least when producing ice cream at home. But boosting the dry extract of our ice cream and sorbet bases is easy and will provide immediate and tangible results in texture and freezing point.

[gsquared]

Michael, given that you can only use an artificial swetener, what would you use as a dry extract in a sorbet/fruit ice?

[Michael Laiskonis]

To be completely honest, though I have an open mind, I don't have much use for artificial sweeteners, so it has never come up before. Perhaps a bit of research and label reading of any commercial low sugar products will yield some answers...

I never paid close attention when it was released, but isn't one of the selling points of Splenda its equal volume replacement with sugar?

[gsquared]

Michael - you are correct, Splanda is equal measure with sugar. This therefore means, HungryChris, that you probably did not use enough of hit - here are Harold McGee numbers for strawberries:

Sweet fruit ice: 1.5 cup of strawberry puree, 11 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons water

Medium-sweet fruit ice: 1.75 cup of strawberry puree, 6 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons water

[Rachel Perlow]

I have added the recipe for Watermelon Ice Cream with Chocolate "Seeds" to RecipeGullet.

Edit: After remaking it with the half and half, I decided to list light cream in the recipe as the half & half is not creamy enough.

Edited July 11, 2003 by Rachel Perlow (log)

[Suvir Saran]

Can someone give a recipe for home made ice cream using whatever quality ingredients, but not much other than a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for appliances.

Is there a recipe for any such ice cream?

What are some pointers one ought to keep in mind when making this?

[Schielke]

You should be able to take most ice cream recipes and instead of freezing them in an ice cream machine, use a container in the freezer that you stir every 10-15 min until it gets hard. This will most likely produce larger ice crystals than if made in a machine, but it should be ok.

Ben