Homemade ice cream is fresh, delicious and...fun to make. Plus, you can customize your flavors or use the best quality ingredients you can find. But it can be difficult to give ice cream the perfect firm yet creamy texture that is the hallmark of good ice cream. Follow these tips to improve your own ice cream making technique.
Start with the best ingredients
Ice cream is only as good as the ingredients used to make it. So if you can afford it, buy organic milk and creameggs from free-range chickensand make sure everything is as fresh as possible. If you add flavorings or ingredients, such as chocolate, vanilla or fruit, choose high-quality products. For example, real vanilla, or even real vanilla beans, make much better vanilla ice cream than imitation vanilla.
Save fat and calories for later
If you're like most people, try to watch what you eat and buy low-fat versions of cheese, milk, and other foods. But ice cream relies on a high fat content to create a creamy consistency that doesn't turn icy and gritty in the freezer. Once you get good at itlaf isyou can experiment with using low-fat dairy products such as half-and-half in place of heavy cream, but keep in mind that the texture and flavor won't be nearly as rich and delicious as a full-fat version. On healing? Make ice cream an occasional treat and serve yourself a smaller portion.
Know when to add flavorings
Flavorings, especially extracts or alcohol, should be added when the cooked cream has cooled. Do not add them to the custard while it is hot or the flavors will diminish and not be as pronounced. You can even wait to stir until just before pouring the ice cream base into the ice cream maker.
Let the custard cool thoroughly
Many ice cream recipes call for making a boiled cream from eggs, sugar and milk. Once you've made the cream, it's important to chill it in the refrigerator until it's as cold as possible before adding it to the ice cream maker. Some experts even recommend letting the mixture age in the refrigerator overnight, which allows the mixture to aerate as much as possible in the maker, resulting in the creamiest and smoothest ice cream.
Freeze the bowl
Speaking of freezing, if you use the type of ice cream maker that comes with itwith a freezer bowlBe sure to freeze this bowl for at least 24 hours before making ice cream. If the bowl isn't cold enough, chances are your ice cream will never freeze.
Start the engine first
Especially if you are using an ice cream maker with a freezer bowl, it is important that you turn on the motor before pouring it into the ice tray. The bowl is so cold that the mixture will freeze instantly on contact, so you want it already moving so the ice doesn't freeze to the bowl in chunks.
Use Mix-Ins with care
Adding candy pieces, nuts, or dried or fresh fruit to your ice cream can add a whole new dimension of flavor and texture. Mix-ins should be small, about the size of a chocolate chip, so that the ice cream maker can incorporate them into the frozen ice cream. Let them cool thoroughly before adding them to the ice cream and only add them when the ice cream is already completely frozen. The ice cream maker won't take more than a minute or two to stir them in.
Keep it creamy
A common complaint about homemade ice cream is that it becomes hard and icy when stored in the freezer. There are several ways to prevent your ice cream from freezing in the freezer. David Lebovitz, author of the book The Perfect Scoop, recommends adding a few tablespoons of alcohol (such as a fruit liqueur for fruit-flavored ice cream or vodka if you don't want an alcoholic taste). Sugar, corn syrup or honey, as well as gelatin and commercial stabilizers, can help your ice cream maintain a softer consistency. The ice cream will also stay softer if you store it in a shallow container rather than a deep container, and cover the surface of the ice cream with plastic wrap to prevent ice crystals from forming.
With a little practice and allgood recipes(regardless of whether it is classicalVanillaor an adventurous flavor like Ovaltine ice cream), you're well on your way to making itdelicious homemade ice creamthat your friends and family will love.
Strawberry ice cream recipe
FAQs
Keep It Creamy
Sugar, corn syrup or honey, as well as gelatin and commercial stabilizers, can all keep your ice cream at a softer consistency.
How to make homemade ice cream creamy and not icy? ›
So you can up the fat in your ice cream by substituting cream for milk or half-and-half in recipes. Even more effective, is that you can also add more egg yolks if making a custard-based ice cream, which will increase the creaminess due to their emulsifying properties.
What additive makes ice cream softer? ›
In Lebovitz's book, he states that adding just a bit of alcohol to your ice cream base results in a better texture when it's churned because alcohol doesn't freeze. The alcohol prevents some of the ice crystals from forming, which makes the ice cream softer and therefore more scoopable.
What is the secret ingredient to ice cream? ›
The cream cheese helps create an ice cream with a denser, smoother texture. As explained by TASTE, cream cheese acts as a stabilizer in ice cream, preventing water from seeping out of the milk and cream as well as preventing the formation of ice crystals that detract from ice cream's creaminess.
What can I add to homemade ice cream to make it thicker? ›
Adding thickening agents, such as egg yolks, cornstarch, gelatin, tapioca starch, or even Junket tablets, enhances the texture and elevates the overall ice cream experience. Remember, making homemade ice cream is as much an art as it is a science.
Why put eggs in homemade ice cream? ›
Eggs are used in ice cream to add a rich flavor and color, in- hibit ice crystallization, and also to help stabilize or emulsify the fat and liquid so the resulting product is smooth and creamy. Commercial manufacturers use pasteurized eggs, stabilizers, and other ingredients to produce a safe and acceptable product.
What sugar is best for ice cream? ›
Most home ice cream recipes call for simple table sugar, which is chemically known as sucrose. But in pro kitchens you have more options. Liquid sugars like invert sugar, corn syrup, honey, and glucose syrup all add body, creaminess, and stability to ice cream, and a little goes a long way.
How to stop ice crystals in homemade ice cream? ›
Chill Your Base Well
The initial mixture should be very cold before it hits the ice-cream machine; ideally, you'll want to refrigerate it overnight. It'll need less churning time this way, and that will keep ice crystals from snowballing.
Why add vodka to homemade ice cream? ›
Vodka lowers the freezing point of the ice cream thereby eliminating the formation of large ice crystals. It also bonds to the water and the fat making it capable of extracting flavor compounds. This results in a softer smooth creamy texture that doesn't get crunchy and that is maxed out with flavor.
How do you make homemade ice cream fluffier? ›
Butterfat also adds texture insurance against iciness, especially handy if your base has watery elements like fruit purée. Paradoxically, more butterfat also translates to a lighter, fluffier ice cream, which is why super dense gelato relies more heavily on milk than cream.
Put simply: stabilizers are ingredients that add viscosity. The more viscous a liquid is, the “thicker” it is. In other words, they thicken water. The most common ones used in ice creams are guar gum, cellulose gum and carob bean gum.
What are the 3 most important ingredients of ice cream? ›
If you have ever made ice cream, you already know what goes into it, ingredients such as milk, cream, and sugar. But there is one main ingredient that you may not have thought about, probably because you can't see it—air.
What is so delicious ice cream made of? ›
Filtered Water, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Organic Sunflower Oil, Rice Starch, Pea Protein, Sea Salt, Guar Gum, Natural Flavor, Vanilla Bean Specks, Locust Bean Gum, Vanilla Extract, Annatto Extract (For Color).
What makes ice cream stay creamy? ›
Ice cream manufacturers often rely on added ingredients to keep their products creamy. Many add emulsifiers (such as lecithin), milk powders, gums, and other stabilizers that bond with free water in the mixture, making water less available for crystallization.
What adds creaminess to ice cream? ›
Liquid sugars like invert sugar, corn syrup, honey, and glucose syrup all add body, creaminess, and stability to ice cream, and a little goes a long way.
What gives ice cream its creamy texture? ›
At its core ice cream is a successful emulsion of fat into water, sugar, and ice with air mixed into the batch. An emulsion is a mixture of two substances that typically separate (like oil and water). But, instead mix together to form the consistent creamy base used for ice cream. It's Science!
What makes ice cream light and fluffy? ›
The main distinction between hard and soft ice cream is its texture. Soft serve gets its characteristic lightness from its air content. Generally, soft serve has less fat and more air than hard serve ice cream. It is also served at warmer temperatures, giving the dessert its softness.
