Alex Rast wrote:

Kate Connally wrote:
> >Why would you have to chisel it out? If it's kept at the
> >proper temperature for ice cream it shouldn't be too hard.
> >But given that most home refrigerator freezers are not
> >set for proper ice cream temp all you have to do is zap
> >it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and it becomes
> >perfectly scoopable and the correct "hardness" for eating
> >and enjoying the maximum flavor.
>
> But any time you use any heating device to "soften" ice cream (including
> setting it out on the counter), you're going to get uneven heating, and
> generally some melting.

That does not really happen. If you do it right
there is no melting, just softening - enough to be
easily scoopable. And another way to soften is to leave
it in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour or so - not out on
the counter.

> Personally, I prefer no melted ice cream
> whatsoever. (Yes, this means using a chilled bowl, and in the case of
> eating it out of the container, wrapping paper towel around the container
> so that the heat of your hands won't melt the ice cream).

I use a towel or something around the container when I
eat out if it, but it's to keep my hands warm, not to
keep the ice cream cold.

Me, I actually give my bowl of ice cream some more time
in the microwave after scooping it to cause some melting
(it's okay here because I'm going to eat it, but it wouldn't
be okay if it were the whole carton of ice cream from which
I was going to take a portion and then put the rest back
in the freezer). I like to have my ice cream about the
consistency of frozen custard (soft-serve) which I feel
to be ideal for texture and flavor. I then sort of mash
the melted part into the still fairly solid part until
I get that texture. Currently I'm keeping a pint of Haagen
Dasz on the door of my freezer and since my fridge is
really old and inefficient the stuff on the door doesn't
get too cold. Thus the HD is perfectly scoopable, but
still very firm, and needs no microwaving. However I did
this with some cheap air-laden, fat-poor supermarket
ice cream the other day and it became so soft it was
almost runny. In fact towards the end of the carton all
the ice cream "sank" to the end that was down! Yuck. I
would have kept it in the other part of the freezer but
it was there was no room for it.

> > Again - don't know or
> >care about the fat/air ratio. But whatever it is they
> >do works for me. In my experience more fat is better,
> >within, of course, reason.
>
> This is what I meant with the frozen butter example. Where does that point
> of "reason" lie? Why not determine what for you is the optimum percentage,
> rather than say "more fat is better" - which doesn't give you very clear
> guidelines for perfecting your recipes according to your preferences?

Who goes around measuring the percentage of fat
in the ice creams they eat or make? (Besides you,
of course, obviously.) Who would want to go
to all that trouble? I know which ice creams to buy
that have the texture I like. I have discovered this by
trial and error over the years. So, for the most part,
when I can afford them, those are the ice creams I buy.
As for the ice creams I make, I know what recipe makes
the best base and that is what I use. Therefore I don't
need to know what the percentage of fat or air is in any
of these.

> >Yeah, if you want to mortgage your house to buy a vanilla bean.
> >Do you know how much those things cost???? Yikes!!!!!
>
> $ 1.59 in the bulk bins at my local co-op. And the beans are super-fresh
> and plump.

Where the hell do you live????? Vanilla at my local
co-op bulk foods place is outrageously expensive and
they are way cheaper than supermarkets. They keep the
vanilla beans under lock and key rather than putting them
out in the bulk spices section because people would steal
them. They're worth their weight in gold. Are you seriously
telling me that you can get one whole vanilla bean for $1.59?

> Even if they were up at $5-6, I would consider this a relatively
> trivial expense (after all, how much, really, is $5.00?)

Well, to me it's a lot. Must be nice to be rich.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?