by Beverley Francis

Created on: May 03, 2010

HOW TO MAKE ICE CREAM WITHOUT AN ICE CREAM MAKER

Why bother making home made ice cream when it is readily available everywhere you go? One good reason would be that the nutritional value is controlled by you. By using fresh cream, eggs and fruit you are cutting down on sugars and preservatives commonly found in commercial ice creams. This is persuasive information by itself but once you have enjoyed a dish of your favourite flavour made in your own home, store-bought ice cream will never taste the same to you and dinner guests will be lining up outside your door for your special dessert.

Recipes for home made ice cream have been published since the middle of the eighteenth century but it wasn't until the twentieth century and the introduction of freezers that ice cream making at home became practical. The only special equipment you need to make ice cream is a freezer. A deep freeze will firm ice cream more quickly than the freezer compartment of your refrigerator but either one will accomplish the task. Ice cream is best when frozen as fast as possible so turn the freezer to its coldest setting at least one hour before putting the ice cream mixture in the coldest part of the freezer.

Ice cream is whisked during the freezing process to make a smooth texture. Whisking breaks up large ice crystals and beats air into the mixture which increases the volume. The ice cream will melt a bit during this process but will firm up again once back in the freezer, the important thing is to thoroughly beat the ice cream.

An electric mixer is very useful for this process but a whisk can be used if you don't have a mixer available. The best time to beat the ice cream mixture is when the sides and bottom are firm and the middle is still soft. If you get called away or forget the ice cream and it freezes hard just put it in the fridge until it is soft enough to be whisked and put back in the freezer.

Freezing times vary depending on the ingredients: alcohol, sugar, fat and gelatins slow down the freezing process so recipes with large amounts of these will take longer to freeze and will not freeze as hard as other ice creams. These mixtures may need to be divided into smaller amounts if using a fridge freezer so that they will freeze harder.

Shallow metal containers freeze faster than plastic containers because they conduct the cold better and are useful for freezing small quantities of ice cream in your fridge freezer. Home made ice cream should be covered during the freezing

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