Home Made Ice Cream (2013– )

[bonkboo]

Thanks @JoNorvelleWalker. What are your thoughts on using saffron in ice cream?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I've never eaten saffron ice cream nor have I tried to make it. But I plan to. However mine would be a dessert saffron ice cream, not savory.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Since a few days ago when Ruben asked about Indian ice cream I have been wanting to try Kulfi. Tonight we ate at an Indian restaurant and I had my chance. Unfortunately I did not care for Kulfi. From what I read on wikipedia I was expecting "a unique smooth mouth feel that is devoid of water crystallisation." This was not what I experienced. In fact none of us really cared for it. My grandson put his kulfi in his coffee.

Next we went out to a gelaterie to see if we could do better. The gelato was well received by all.

Finally we sampled my licorice. This was a disappointment. My grandson said it tasted like mashed potato and cauliflower ice cream. "Which is not a bad thing," he added. On the positive side there is a lot left, which was not the case when they sampled my vanilla.

[Bojana]

I can barely contain my excitement, my stella musso is alive again, it has finally been repaired. I will get it in a week time and in the meantime, I can dream of flavours to make. Anyone wants to share some lovely autumnal flavours ideas? I am thinking spices, pumpkin, caramel & nuts (always a favourite)...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Wonderful news, Bojana! I had been thinking about making coconut since this summer I've been playing with pina colada recipes, but I never got around to attempting it, and now, as you say, it's autum. Yesterday two of my coworkers were discussing salt and caramel. A couple of weeks ago I sampled salt and caramel at the local ice cream parlor, and it was pretty good.

Cardamom and saffron are still on my list to try. No flavoring at all, other than the eggs and dairy is nice. And need I mention vanilla?

[Bojana]

Given that my ice machine came back repaired at the same time with the arrival of my new vitamix, the only ice creams i could really make are modernist cuisine nut gelatos. Did pistachio and hazelnut so far, and hazelnut wins hands down. It tastes like eating nutella from the jar but knowing all fats in there are good for you.

I find that i can get a super smooth texture if i first make the nut paste, and then blend it on high with the water tapioca sugar mixture that the recipe calls for. I am doing the MC at home version but upping sugar to 18%, as per Corvitto. The original MC gelato tasted to savoury for my taste.

My FIL, who repaired the machine, is visiting in 2 weeks. I wanto to make ice cream feast for him. Will report back

[Bojana]

Last night, we had a dessert from Eleven Madison Park book, that uses two ice creams: chocolate and salted caramel. I love the book but hate its use of imperial metrics so for ice creams i use recipes from other places. Chocolate is Corvitto (amazing) and caramel is my twist on Jenny (more salt, smoked cream, xantan and dried milk powder added to original). It was a great dessert!

Edited October 17, 2013 by Bojana (log)

[bonkboo]

I tried to make Serious Eats blue cheese ice cream for New Year's Eve and failed. I can only think of the following possibilities: the first go was in a long frozen bowl that had been stored on its side. Manual says not to. Then I poured the unfrozen soup into the fridge overnight (about 18 hours) and the bowl properly seated, and tried again the next day. Would not set.

Any thoughts? Thanks

[JoNorvelleWalker]

What is in the mix?

[bonkboo]

Blue cheese, half and half, lemon juice, sugar, cracked pepper.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Nothing there that should cause an abnormal freezing point depression. My guess is your equipment is not getting cold enough for some reason. Check with a good thermometer if you have one.

Another good test would be to make a simple recipe from the instuctions that came with the ice cream maker to see how that turns out.

[timpoblete]

You may also want to check your freezer temperature setting. I recently had issues when someone turned the temperature up on the freezer.

[bonkboo]

Thanks, I will check those things.

[Perrin]

Hello,

Long time reader, first time poster.

I have a question about trimoline (invert sugar). I made some using the recipe from Chef Eddy posted elsewhere in this thread. However, it has some crystals in it. I may not have cleaned the sugar off the sides of the pan very well when I was making it. I'm wondering if I should melt it and heat it back up the target temperature again, or if a few crystals in it are no big deal?

Thanks,

Perrin

[Perrin]

Well, that didn't work. I boiled it again and it turned to caramel, and not in a nice way. I'm trying again from scratch.

Where do the rest of you get your trimoline from? I want to make some ice cream recipes from Corvitto and Laiskonis which call for it.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'm sorry, Perrin, I don't use invert sugar but I hope someone will be able to answer your question.

[Perrin]

Thanks Jo. My second try crystallized as well. Does anyone know what I might be doing wrong? Heat too high? Cooking too long or not long enough? Not cleaning the sugar off the sides well enough? I may give up and buy some at NY Cake & Baking Supply. It seems pretty inexpensive.

[Perrin]

Success! I reheated the last batch with a bit more water and kept the temperature pretty low, but high enough to boil it. I took it off when it reached 236 F. This time, it has not crystallized! I used some in a batch of Laiskonis' green tea ice cream and am making Paulraphael's vanilla with it today.

[paulraphael]

I usually get some crystals. I suspect it means some of the sugar hasn't inverted. It's never been a problem.

[Perrin]

How do people know when to stop churning the ice cream?  Do you measure the temperature or look for visual cues?  Most books say something like "when the ice cream is pulling away from the walls" but that happens after about 10 minutes in my Simac, and that can't be enough time.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I had a Simac in the 1980's.  Wonderful machine except when it came to cleaning.  I have learned that it is best to err on the side of underchurning than to risk overchurning.  With my Cuisinart I get best results at 15 minutes.  I used to measure draw temperature, now I just go by time -- no more than 15 minutes.

[Ruben Porto]

Hi Perrin,

 

A good indicator of when your ice cream is done is how wet or 'shiny' it looks. When it is done, your ice cream should have a dry look and should not have a wet shine. If you notice that your ice cream looks wet and shiny, this is a good indicator that not all of the water has frozen so leave it in for a bit longer.

 

When you remove the dasher, the ice cream should also stick firmly to it. If the ice cream drops off too easily from the dasher, leave it churning until it has a sticky consistency (so many adjectives).

 

The quantity of the mix that you put in your machine will have an effect on the churning time. The more mix you put in the machine, the longer it will take to churn. My Cuisinart ICE 30 takes between 22-25 minutes to churn a 1 litre batch and about 18 minutes to churn an 800g batch. The temperature of your freezer will also have an effect on churning time if you use a machine that requires the bowl to be frozen overnight; the colder you can get your freezer, the colder your freezer bowl will be and the faster it will churn your mix.

 

Hope that helps.

[paulraphael]

How do people know when to stop churning the ice cream?  Do you measure the temperature or look for visual cues?  Most books say something like "when the ice cream is pulling away from the walls" but that happens after about 10 minutes in my Simac, and that can't be enough time.

 

The simple way is to go by appearance. The best way is to go by drawing temperature, and to tune your recipes so that they freeze to a firm, dryish texture at that temperature. The research I've seen suggests the ideal drawing temperature is about -5°C, or 23.5°F. Just stick a thermometer into the ice cream when it starts to look right, and turn off the machine when you hit the right temp. 

 

If you do it this way, you'll minimize ice crystal size and all your recipes will be equally scopable at the ideal serving temperature of -12 to -14C.

[Ruben Porto]

It involves a bit of work Luke but the texture of the finished ice cream is definitely worth the effort. I'd recommend sticking to the exact measurements in the recipe though.

[Ruben Porto]

Hi everyone,

 

This is a bit strange but has anyone ever tried an ice cream made with insects? I know the guys at Noma in Copenhagen use ants in some of their salads but i don't know whether they've ever experimented with them in desserts. I'm considering making caramalised ant ice cream!

 

What are your views on using insects in ice cream making???