Cooking Ice Cream Machine

[LockShockBarrel]

Does anyone else have one? I just got one and made my first batch with it. I even bought the Ben and Jerry's book to go with it.

I read the reviews for the model I got (its a cuisinart) and the most common complaint is that even after churning the mix is still kind of soupy. It says to chill the mix first, which I did, but I still ran into this problem. I'm thinking maybe I should chill it in the freezer rather than the fridge, but I was curious if anyone else had a machine or if they've found tricks to make good ice cream. It tastes good (too good really...) but the texture isn't right. I decided to through my soupy result in the freezer anyway because I wasn't going to throw it out, and it tastes fine, but there's a bit of a crunch to it, the ice crystals are too big.

 

[greeneeyes]

Does anyone else have one? I just got one and made my first batch with it. I even bought the Ben and Jerry's book to go with it.

I read the reviews for the model I got (its a cuisinart) and the most common complaint is that even after churning the mix is still kind of soupy. It says to chill the mix first, which I did, but I still ran into this problem. I'm thinking maybe I should chill it in the freezer rather than the fridge, but I was curious if anyone else had a machine or if they've found tricks to make good ice cream. It tastes good (too good really...) but the texture isn't right. I decided to through my soupy result in the freezer anyway because I wasn't going to throw it out, and it tastes fine, but there's a bit of a crunch to it, the ice crystals are too big.

I have the Cuisinart one as well and have no problems with it. I keep the drum in the freezer at all times so I'm ready to go! Your mix has to be super cold so chill it a few hours after mixing or throw it in the freezer. If you use the freezer keep an eye on it so it doesn't start to crystallize. Another thing is to make sure your cold ingredients are very cold when you start. You have to proof the mix after it's done churning (you don't eat it right from the maker) so pop it into a plastic container (I use the quart containers I get from the Chinese restaurant when I get soup) and freeze for a few hours. Give it another try and good luck.

FYI those machines are good for making your Disney Dole Whips at home.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Everything I used in the mix was right out of the fridge, and after it was all mixed together I put it back in the fridge for like 20 minutes, which I'm thinking just was not enough. I felt it and I guess I didn't think it was going to get much colder in the fridge. Next time I'm going to put it in the freezer for awhile and just watch that it doesn't get TOO cold. I had the bowl in the freezer about 24 hours (it was brand new so it was the first freeze). Like I said, I wasn't going to throw it out but it wasn't right. It had thickened up from when I put it in but wasn't what I should have ended up with. It still tastes darn good though, especially since I kind of "experimented" with the recipe. Tell me more about this home made dole whip..!!

If you're interested, this is what I made:

The Ben and Jerry's book has recipes for "Sweet Cream Bases", used for different things. I used Sweet Cream Base 1, which is the richest, and called for with a lot of the fruit flavored recipes. It's 2 eggs, 3/4 cup of sugar, 2 cups heavy or whipping cream, and 1 cup of milk. Beat the eggs until lightened, then slowly add the sugar and continue whipping until light and fluffy (but not meringue), then adding in the cream and sugar.

For flavor I based it off the Wild Blueberry ice cream recipe in Ben and Jerry's book, but did Raspberry Lemon instead. I used a normal sized container of raspberries and 2 lemons (which I peeled and cut the wedges out with a paring knife, and also squeezed the rest of the lemon and peel to get all the juice), and just shy of 1/4 cup sugar to macerate them in. After they were macerated, I pureed them with an additional 1/2 cup of sugar. The Wild Blueberry recipe called for 1/2cup lemon juice but I figured I had that by squeezing the rest of the lemon in. I added the pureed mix into the sweet cream base.

The result is creamy but tart, surprisingly not heavy and quite refreshing. It almost tastes like the half way point between sherbert and ice cream, tartness wise.

 

[greeneeyes]

This is a copy cat version since Disney uses a commercial mix for theirs

Dole Whip

1 quart Dole pineapple juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups heavy whipping cream
3 cups sugar
Milk


Mix the pineapple juice and sugar, making sure that the sugar is dissolved.
Next add the cream and vanilla.
Pour the whole mixture into a 4-quart ice cream maker.
Add milk to finish, filling to the fill line.
At this point simply follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.
When the ice cream is ready you can serve it as is or you can stick it in the freezer for a while and let it set up a bit.

If you haven't been to our Disney recipe thread you should stop by and see what there is to offer...it's right here in the cooking forum and there is an index as well.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Yikes I'm going to have to reduce that recipe, my machine only holds a quart and a half!

 

[greeneeyes]

Yikes I'm going to have to reduce that recipe, my machine only holds a quart and a half!

Yeah, I should have added that I did it in batches

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Well I tried again today, and the texture seems like it'll turn out right this time. I was going to do key lime but the store was out of juice, so I got normal lime juice and just added a little bit of lemon to it so it's still nice and puckery. I put the mix in the freezer for about 45 minutes before I put it in the machine. When I took it out of the machine after 30 minutes, it was definitely thicker, more like really soft soft serve, not the slightly thicker soupy stuff I had the first batch. Fingers crossed.

 

[denisem]

A few years back I made an easy recipe called "Six Threes Ice Cream" from allrecipes.com that was wonderful! People with smaller ice cream makers made it "Six Ones":

Ingredients

3 cups sugar
3 cups cream
3 cups milk
3 bananas, mashed
3 oranges, juiced
3 lemons, juiced

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and cream until sugar is dissolved. Mix in the milk, mashed bananas, and fruit juices.
2. Pour mixture into ice cream maker. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions, about 45 minutes.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Did you find it really sweet? I'm not trying to sound like a jerk or anything but from the book I've been following that is a lot of sugar for a recipe with bananas in it, so I'm just curious if it was a sugary taste to it. Thanks for posting it.

 

[denisem]

Funny, I remember it as being on the tart side. I think the amount of sugar is to balance out the lemon juice. You could probably start with less sugar, and adjust it after tasting.

Now I want some homemade ice cream!

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I've really only just started with this whole ice cream lark, and have been following the Ben and Jerry's book. They have this table about fruit to sugar ratios...basically the tarter the fruit, the more sugar you add. They say not to add any additional sugar with banana because they're naturally so sweet, but I think what I didn't take into account with the recipe you posted is that most of the "bases" for ice cream have sugar in them. So I was thinking 3 cups of sugar IN ADDITION to what was in the "base", not as a total if that makes any sense.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I forgot to add that I bought blackberries tonight to give that flavor a try. I'm trying to recreate the blackberry ice cream we had at Artist Point!

 

[LockShockBarrel]

Well the blackberry was...bittersweet. It tastes really good but I forgot one thing- seeds. I replaced the milk in my base recipe with light cream to make the final product even richer and creamier which worked, but I never stopped to consider how seedy blackberries are! If/when I make this again, I'll get some cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer and take out most of the seeds.

I look at everything as a potential ice cream flavor now, and I'm debating between a Goya pineapple passion fruit nectar flavor or a Bolthouse Farms mango lemonade flavor.

 

[marlyjuice]

I have one too

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I just made the best batch yet. Loganberry!!!

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I'm gonna work on a new batch tomorrow, and I'm heading away from fruit! I decided to try S'more flavor, using chocolate as my base then adding in some smashed up graham crackers and marshmallow fluff.

Even though I look at everything as ice cream potential I had a heck of a time trying to decide on a flavor... until I found an old menu from this place that used to be around here that had over 135 milkshake flavors. I can't believe I didn't think of using this place for ideas sooner! Now I have a ton of ideas...

Bahama Mama- rum, coconut and citrus flavor
Butter Toffee
Chai
Cherry Cola
Creme de Cocoa
Creme de Menthe
Fuzzy Navel- peach, orange and vodka
Lemon
Mudslide- run, coffe and chocolate
Pina Colada
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Raspberry Lime
White Russian
Chocolate Macadamia

 

[jms920]

I remember reading one that called for fat free half & half and splenda. Guess I'll have to google to find it. I didn't have an ice cream maker then.

Making me hungry for some homemade ice cream NOW! LOL

JoAnn