Anyone make their own ice cream?

[eliza61]

I know in reality this is such a minor complaint but I'm really tired of the horrible "frozen dairy dessert" nonsense that is passing for ice cream. Ok, so I'm use to 1/2 gallon size no longer being a 1/2 gallon but one of the things that is po'ing me is that they still charge the regular price for stuff that is cheaper to make.

I think it maybe because I'm a plain ole vanilla lover without the extras that I can really taste the difference. I went into a small store to pick up some ice cream and all the vanilla's from major brands are all frozen dairy desserts.

Does anyone make their own ice cream? how hard is it?

Thanks,

ps. yes I know it's a silly thing to complain about compared to every thing else going on in the world. So if you think it's stupid please simply pass it by.

 

[tvguy]

Not hard, but more expensive. I make Ice CREAM, and the cream will set you back more that the ready to eat ice cream. Throw in the cost of sugar and pure vanilla, it's pricey.

 

[nalajms]

It's not that hard. But if you want good ice cream, you'll probably end up spending just as much money on ingredients.

I prefer high fat, less air ice cream. And I do not like soft serve ice cream. So to make it extra creamy, you're looking at eggs (yolks), heavy cream, and whole milk.

You will need an ice cream maker if you're picky like I am. I've tried the hand crank one -not worth the effort and wastes a lot of ice & salt. If you look around, I'm sure they have some ice cream makers on sale now. Target had one that made individual servings.

But realistically, I wait for the big sales and just stock up. Good luck!

 

[wiigirl]

Really not hard...don't know if it will save you any money

 

[eliza61]

Thanks guys, really not trying to save money. I just hate that they are charging full ice cream prices for some thing that is IMO tasteless.

I guess if I liked the different flavors or different additives it would work but like I said I'm the plain vanilla gal, so you can really notice the flavorlessness (is that a word) of it.


***sighs***

 

[Handbag Lady]

I have the Kitchen Aid stand mixer and the ice cream maker attachment.

All I know is that it takes two days to make it, and I swear, it disappears within a half-hour. (One day to mix and freeze the ingredients and then to make sure the attachment is TOTALLY FROZEN. It doesn't work well if either of these two parts are not totally frozen cold.)

I tend to just make vanilla with real vanilla bean. So freaking good, I can't stand it sometimes.


And you know something? I haven't made any ALL SUMMER!!!! EGADS!!! We bought an ice shaver machine and we've been using that instead. I can't believe I forgot to make real ice cream. I'll have to fix that this coming weekend.

 

[SamSam]

I grew up on 'real' ice cream made by my grandparents, yes...using real eggs. It's still the way I make it. I use eggs, sugar, and half and half, with real vanilla added. I'm fine with half and half, in fact I prefer it to whole cream.

I love it way more than store bought ice cream.

 

[mrsklamc]

You could have some blue bell shipped to yourself. Crazy expensive but it's a full half gallon of deliciousness. The vanilla bean is one of my favorites

 

[drcmk]

Yes. Yesterday we made two quarts of vanilla and added peanut butter cup bits to one of the quarts. Get the Ben and Jerry's ice cream recipe book. It's hard to make "bad" homemade ice cream. It's easy to make, but, for me, messy. I always end up spending more time wiping up drippy ice cream than I do mixing up the ingredients.

I agree with everyone else, homemade ice cream is not cheap. I used three cups of heavy cream yesterday, one and a half cups of milk, three eggs, vanilla extract, sugar and, of course, peanut butter cups. So I spent six dollars just on the dairy products.

But the ice cream was crazy-delicious.

 

[drcmk]

I recommend the Cuisinart ice cream maker that can make two quarts at once. We've had ours nearly ten years.

 

[clh2]

I agree. Homemade ice cream is delicious! Not cheap, though!

My favorite is the Ben and Jerry's cherry Garcia. We,ve switched things up for our tastes-but YUM !

 

[DLgal]

I make my own sometimes.

When I don't have the time or inclination (most of the time) I ONLY buy Haagen Dazs. Vanilla has cream, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla. Those are the only ingredients. It's dense, not full of air. I buy the large size and it lasts a week in my house. $6.99 at Target. Totally worth it.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I have a Delonghi gelato maker (bought it during a great sale) with a self-refrigerating compressor. You just put the ingredients in, turn it on, and you have delicious gelato or ice cream in 20-30 minutes. Gelato uses only a small amount of cream compared to ice cream. Many of the recipes which come with the machine do not include eggs.

 

[PinballFamily]

Get the Ben and Jerry's ice cream recipe book.

Ditto this - and a Cuisinart ice cream maker (got ours on Amazon). DH and I were just saying yesterday that we need to start making ice cream again. We get our heavy cream at BJs - better prices than at the grocery store, but still a splurge. We also use a touch of vanilla bean paste - (jar was from Williams Sonoma?, I think) - nice bits of bean without having to scrape a real bean.

We're "plain vanilla bean" folks too, so otherwise, we stick to Breyers - basic ingredients without crap.

But if you do make your own vanilla ice cream, sometime try mixing in a smidge of honey - yum!

Good luck!

 

[pryncess527]

I love to make my own ice cream & gelato! If you have a kitchenaid mixer already, I think that attachment is a great. I keep mine stored in the freezer so it is always ready to go.

 

[amcnj]

Hi. Over the years we have made ice cream using the "latest technology" of the time, from rock salt to table salt, and now ones that freeze it without any ice and salt. I was always pleased with all the product. So I say give it a try!

And I agree with you, vanilla is how you know if the ice cream is really good or not, and there are a lot of not so good ones out there!

 

[ceemys]

I have my ice cream maker. I also bought a lot of packages on clearance a few years ago. LOL All I do is use my ice and table salt (about a 1/2 a container), add 2 cups milk to the bucket with the package powder and let it do its thing. It is soft serve and probably not "home made" but it works for us and tastes good. Plus we can make it anytime we are in the mood.

 

[diesel]

I know in reality this is such a minor complaint but I'm really tired of the horrible "frozen dairy dessert" nonsense that is passing for ice cream. Ok, so I'm use to 1/2 gallon size no longer being a 1/2 gallon but one of the things that is po'ing me is that they still charge the regular price for stuff that is cheaper to make.

I started making icecream this year after buying "Frozen Dairy Dessert" and saw all the ingrediants in it that I couldn't pronounce. So far i've made, chocolate, chocolate chip, strawberry and peach. The only one I didn't like was the peach. The fruit pieces were too big. I loved the chocolate chip the best.

 

[DaisyD]

I make it all the time. So far our fav has been peach. Wow, fresh peaches really make a difference. I use a Ben & Jerry's recipe book that gives 3 types of base recipes. One is a light, one med, and one sinfully rich custard. I use the sinful one for every kind I make. So far I've had no luck with chocolate. I've made it 4 times and it always comes out grainy. I've followed directions to the T and it still doesn't work. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Oh and I am using a Cuisinart machine. It does everything for you and I love it!

 

[crisi]

I do, but it isn't cheaper. There are some wonderful ice creams out there - but you might not find them at major grocery stores. For instance, around here the local creameries Izzys, Sonny's and Sebastians Joes all sell into high end grocery stores. There is an organic ice cream we love, but I can't remember its name (and I doubt its national). Try a co-op, a gourmet grocer or somewhere like Whole Foods.