Ice cream is a delicious frozen food that is a real treat when it’s homemade. Making ice cream at home can be a fun family project with a job for everyone. If you have a hand cranked or electric ice cream freezer, everyone can enjoy a tasty dessert right from the freezer.
The most important ingredients in ice cream are:
• Milk solids, often added as nonfat dry milk, give body to the mixture and allow better whipping.
The most important ingredients in ice cream are:
• Milk solids, often added as nonfat dry milk, give body to the mixture and allow better whipping.
• Cream, with its higher butterfat content, gives richness and smoothness.
• Eggs, acting as a stabilizing ingredient, provide good texture as well as flavor and the whites are a good whipping agent. Because of the risk of harmful bacteria in raw eggs, you must use pasteurized eggs in uncooked ice cream mix.
• Sugar gives sweetness and minimizes crystallization by lowering the freezing point temperature.
• Gelatin is a stabilizer that binds water to keep ice crystals small.
• Flavorings are added in small amounts and have no effect on the freezing process.
• Fruits are sugared and retard the freezing process, and thus should not be added until the mixture is about half frozen.
Equipment and Supplies
To make homemade ice cream, you need a variety of equipment, including ice, rock salt and a freezer. Metal freezers are preferred, but must be kept clean to prevent rusting. The capacity of the ice bucket should be about two gallons. The mix container will hold about one gallon. You will need at least 20 pounds of ice for each gallon of ice cream and about five pounds of rock salt.
Preparing the Mix
Equipment and Supplies
To make homemade ice cream, you need a variety of equipment, including ice, rock salt and a freezer. Metal freezers are preferred, but must be kept clean to prevent rusting. The capacity of the ice bucket should be about two gallons. The mix container will hold about one gallon. You will need at least 20 pounds of ice for each gallon of ice cream and about five pounds of rock salt.
Preparing the Mix