How best to get the ice cream out of the Cuisinart ICE-20 Ice Cream Machine

[Darienne]

Since I found a Cuisinart ICE-20 ice cream machine several years ago in a Utah second-hand store for $5, our lives have changed dramatically.  Well, maybe not dramatically, but definitely for the better.  From an ice cream 'distainer', I have become an ice cream lover and am quite popular in my neighborhood, especially with the children.  Ice cream is constantly on the menu. 

 

The problem remains though: how on earth to get the churned mixture out of the inner bowl and off the dasher with any ease.  I use a large and a thin silicone spatula and a plastic putty scraper.   When my DH is around, he helps get the mixture out with his superior forearm strength, but then this morning the task was mine alone and I muttered rudely as I struggled to get all the mixture out.

 

All shared tips and tricks for this job greatly appreciated.

 

(Am waiting for the lilacs to bloom to try dcarch's Lilac Ice Cream.)

[Jim D.]

Alas, I don't have any clever ideas, just complete sympathy.  It is a very difficult task, made more so by the fact that I hear the stern voice of Cook's Illustrated warning me that every second the ice cream is not in the freezer, it is getting more icy. I find it particularly difficult to retrieve the ice cream that sticks to the outer container and that gets especially hard (and has a slightly unpleasant texture compared to the rest of the batch).  I haven't seen any warnings about what utensils can be used, so I use metal spoons and scrapers to get that off.

[paulraphael]

Is it difficult to get out because the ice cream is hard? Do you know your drawing temperature (the ice cream temperature when it's done freezing?) Generally the ideal drawing temperature is -5°C / 23°F. A mix designed to have good texture at serving temperature (about 5C lower than this) should be pretty soft at this temp ... not much harder than soft serve. 

 

The solution might be to spin for a shorter time, or to increase the freezing point suppression of your mix. Getting it out of the machine should be easy!

Edited May 21, 2014 by paulraphael (log)

[Darienne]

Thanks paulraphael, ice mentor supreme.  The mix is not hard...it's like soft serve, but the dasher thingy is a pain to scrape off with all the bits and pieces sticking out.  And I'm not much good with my arms and hands anymore getting stuff out of a straight-sided bowl.  I figured with all the engineering types on eG that someone would have some clever idea of how to do this thing easily and with grace. 

 

I already don't spin it as long as the suggested time prescribed and goodness knows, soon the problem will be keeping it cool long enough to get it churned.  I usually bungee-cord two athletic-type icing packs around the outside of the machine to keep it cool in the humid heat (which we haven't begun to get yet.)

[Lisa Shock]

For getting every last bit of stuff out of a bowl, I usually use a bowl scraper. They are flexible plastic and can really clean out things like a mixer bowl with one or two passes. They are cheap, and really work well. It's one of the few things I couldn't live without. For the ice cream maker bowl, you might have to dip it in hot water.

 

The paddle is another story. I got a skinny flexible silicone spatula a while ago that might work. First though, are you banging the paddle on the bowl to get as much as possible to fall off? Make sure to hit it a few times to get things moving. Then scrape. -Maybe look for someone wanting to lick the paddle?

[paulraphael]

I'm looking at a picture on their website. The dasher and the bowl come off, yes?

 

I don't know if this is different (or better in any way) that what you do now, but I grab a couple 1qt takeout containers and a couple of silicone spatulas and keep them handy. I pull the dasher out and with a spatula scrape all the ice cream off and into the bowl. Gravity helps. The bowl is cold, so there's no worry of anything melting in there.

 

Then I pull the bowl over to the takeout containers and use the spatulas to scoop the ice cream into them. One of the spatulas is concave, so it holds a lot. The other one is flat and is better for scraping the last of the stuff off the bowl.

 

I guess this still amounts to scooping stuff out, so maybe it doesn't help. Unfortunately I don't know of an easier or more automated way. Except ... who's eating all this ice cream? Maybe someone can be conscripted into duty?

[Darienne]

Thanks for all the help.  I'll look for one of those Ateco bowl scrapers locally.  Never thought of 'banging' the paddle.  As for lickers, I've been forewarned not to mention them but they have four legs each.  Great helpers.  And me, of course.

 

And as you say, paulraphael, it's still scooping stuff out in the end and I tend to be a lone cooking type except for the aforementioned licking buddies.  DH helps do this one when he's around.

[weinoo]

Alas, I don't have any clever ideas, just complete sympathy.  It is a very difficult task, made more so by the fact that I hear the stern voice of Cook's Illustrated warning me that every second the ice cream is not in the freezer, it is getting more icy. I find it particularly difficult to retrieve the ice cream that sticks to the outer container and that gets especially hard (and has a slightly unpleasant texture compared to the rest of the batch). 

Don't you see - it's like the chicken oyster. That's the part that the cook gets to eat immediately!

 

But it also should be - when no one's looking.

Edited May 21, 2014 by weinoo (log)

[Jim D.]

Someone (can't recall whether it was on this forum or elsewhere) said the hard ice cream on the sides of the canister can be prevented by holding the dasher firmly against the edge of the canister.  I briefly tried this once, but it did not seem to work.  I suppose the issue of the firm layer occurs because there had to be a design compromise in not having the dasher fit so tightly against the canister that the canister would not turn easily.

 

Thanks to paulraphael for the suggestion on cleaning the dasher into the canister.  I have been spooning everything immediately into the storage container (which will go into the freezer shortly), but the container is at room temperature, so I am getting unnecessary melt.

[Lindacakes]

This is quite similar to washing a food processor (i.e., 300 food processor parts, some of them like razor blades).  I avoid using the food processor because I hate washing it.  Not so the ice cream maker.

 

Banging is the best advice, as is simply learning to let go.  Do not try to clean the dasher and the bowl like you want to.  Get as much out as fast as you can, put it in the freezer and then wash the parts.  Don't think about it.

 

Alternately, lick it.  I don't like doing that, either, because it seems like too much work, too.

 

It's the price of making ice cream, I think, the worst part.

[Jim D.]

Get as much out as fast as you can, put it in the freezer and then wash the parts.  Don't think about it.

 

Excellent advice!