Ice cream maker
Last year, we bought a Deni ice cream maker. We've used it several times, and it never seems to freeze the ice cream properly. It gets the mixture to a semi-slushy consistency, and it's all downhill from there. Is there a home ice cream maker that any of you would highly recommend? It is, after all, ice cream season.
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I just checked the batch of watermelon sorbet I'm making; with an ounce of clear rum in the mix, it started to freeze at 28F.
Two suggestions that should solve your problem:
Freeze the bowl for 24 hours minimum. Mine lives in the bottom of my freezer (covered with ClingWrap to keep it clean) so it's always ready to rock.
Chill your mix to *at least* 40F before churning. If you've got room, put it in the freezer until it begins to freeze. Two reasons: The colder it is when you start, the quicker it will freeze, the smaller the crystals will be and thus the better the finished texture. Plus there's only so much thermal energy those bowls can absorb so the colder the mix, the harder it will freeze.
And a trick I've been playing with: Right after I start the machine, I put a wide, flat glass storage container in the freezer (mine are made by Pyrex and have plastic lids). The combination of the thermal capacity of the heavy glass plus the large surface area help bring the temperature down relatively quickly which seems to do good things for the finished product.
You might be able to use this cream cheese technique to get a smoother result with the ice cream maker you have. Jeni's is designed to work with a Cuisinart. I really like the Lello, it was a wedding gift from my Italian grandmother, who had one and swore by it. It is expensive, but I think worth it.
However, by the next day it's too hard, unless you use the aforementioned vodka trick. Just wanted to mention, you can also play with other alcohol you might have around - for instance, a small amount of Kahlua in coffee or chocolate ice cream, Grand Marnier in fruit flavors, Amaretto or rum is nice with coconut, etc.
In Star Wars Empire Strikes back when cloud city was evacuated.
One of the extras is seen rescuing his ice cream maker.
Voted the Best Reply!
For me, the old fashioned crank freezer makes waaaaaaaay too much for anything other than a large gathering, and the crank is not for old hands... When I was a little girl my aunt had one, and on "Special" occasions my uncle would take the time to make ice cream for us. Maybe twice a summer. I have ice cream in my freezer almost all the time, year round. The modern way is much more practical, imho.
You might not like the answer but the big ones that use rock salt and ice are the only way to go for good home ice cream. Look for 'old fashion' models, with a metal container and get the electric motor unless you have slave labo----ahh kids, to turn the crank.