1 hour ago, SeanT said:Paul - if you wanted to make the ice cream softer would you increase the sugar or the solids?
We're just talking about it seeming too hard-frozen, yes? If this is the only problem, I'd just change the ratio of sugars. More dextrose, a little less sucrose.
Is your freezer very cold, and you don't want to wait to be able to scoop? There are some drawbacks to going for too much freezing point depression. It will mean that at storage temperature, a lot of water remains unfrozen, and is free to move around and make bigger ice crystals. This is why we set things up so the ice cream has to warm up when it comes out of the freezer.
My first troubleshooting step to fix the sandiness would be to add just a bit of carrageenan. I wouldn't expect this to be necessary, but I can't think of anything else. Your formula is very similar to what I use most often, except for the stabilizer details, and I've never encountered sandiness or a short texture.
