Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?
I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
consistency,
not soupy and runny!
Thanks!

You won't get that consistency until you freeze it in a block.

"Terry" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?
> I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
> consistency,
> not soupy and runny!
> Thanks!
>
>

Terry wrote:

> Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?
> I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
> consistency,
> not soupy and runny!
>

I have been happy with my Cuisinart, Ice cream making requires advance
planning. The freezing bowl has to be in the freezer for a good two days
before use. The custard mix has to be made well in advance and properly
cooled. The colder it is before going into the freezer bowl the better
your ice cream will be. It also works better when made on cooler days.
It is all about getting a cold custard frozen quickly and churning it to
get that nice consistency.

I'll cast another vote for the Cuisinart. Simple to use and you can get a
pretty good consistency out of it. As posted, advance prep and lots of
cooling make for a superior end result.


bob

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Terry wrote:
>
> > Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?
> > I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
> > consistency,
> > not soupy and runny!
> >
>
> I have been happy with my Cuisinart, Ice cream making requires advance
> planning. The freezing bowl has to be in the freezer for a good two days
> before use. The custard mix has to be made well in advance and properly
> cooled. The colder it is before going into the freezer bowl the better
> your ice cream will be. It also works better when made on cooler days.
> It is all about getting a cold custard frozen quickly and churning it to
> get that nice consistency.
>
>

On Sat, 3 Jan 2004 09:14:30 -0500, "LIMEYNO1" >
wrote:

>You won't get that consistency until you freeze it in a block.
>
>"Terry" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
>> Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?
>> I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
>> consistency,
>> not soupy and runny!
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>
YOu have a lot of ice cream makers to choose from, depending on our
budget & storage space.

You can get a simple hand crank (which can still set you back
handsomely), but then you need to deal with ice and salt & the
physical effort.

There are variations on the original Donvier, which require keeping a
dual-walled container in the freezer for at least 24 hours before ice
cream is made. These can vary from hand crank to electric, cheap to
pricey.

You can get an all-in-one refrigerant unit which contains a chiller
and churn. These are the most expensive and bulkiest, but will give
you the closest ice cream to store bought. To my mind, this is the way
to go, but these units are the size of a mini-microwave and cost
hundreds. I advise also acquiring a strong and willing husband to cart
it back and forth from the basement. The latter is a key ingredient to
success.

You can pick up any of these above types on eBay. I suggest reading up
on them & watching for a week or two before deciding/bidding, just to
get an idea of what they go for.

Regardless of what kind of machine you buy, to make good ice cream,
you need to make your custard with good ingredients - whipping/heavy
cream, egg yolks, sugar and first rate flavoring agents (vanilla, good
chocolate, etc). It is like any food that you want to prepare well.
Use quality ingredients, apply some common sense, decent tools and
acquired skills and you will do yourself proud.

Ice cream need to be "cured" after it is churned. It needs to be
packed in tubs or the churn wrapped and insulated to allow the
ingredients and flavors to mellow and the consistency to fully
develop. This helps it turn from a soft serve consistency to a harder,
freezer-pack one.

Boron

On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 12:48:27 GMT, "Terry"
> wrote:

> Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?
> I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
> consistency,
> not soupy and runny!
> Thanks!
>

A $20 electric model works just fine. Soupy & runny means
you didn't do something right. Barring messing up the
recipe, you probably didn't let it run long enough and/or
didn't repack the freezer with ice & salt. Follow the
directions included with your model and it will turn out
okay.

Remember you'll need lots of ice and some rock salt, after
it's set you should pack the ice cream into the refrigerator
freezer to "ripen" or harden if you don't like it soft.


Practice safe eating - always use condiments

On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 15:38:16 +0000, Bob Westcott wrote:

> I'll cast another vote for the Cuisinart. Simple to use and you can get
> a pretty good consistency out of it. As posted, advance prep and lots
> of cooling make for a superior end result.

I have a Cuisinart and have done magic with it, however there are limits
to its usefulness. Any recipe that creates more than 1.25L (about five
cups) will run the chance of not freezing far enough. Its 1.5L capacity is
only good for frozen Margaritas, since the bowl will melt at normal room
temps before you can get enough crystals and air into the mix for a
resonable ice cream state.

Also, it's impossible to heat clean the bowl, so you have to use solvents
to remove any bacterial growth. This, for me, is a bottle of Everclear.
Remember that milk is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and all it
takes is a small infection in your primate or mix to ruin a batch. Heat
clean the plastic parts and disinfect the bowl after every use.

Finally, the biggest complaint is that after a week of 48-hour
turnarounds, the bowl needs to be brought back to room temp and re-frozen.
Continuing to use it at this break-neck of a pace leads to a weaker freeze
in the cold pack.

So I'm continuing to use my Cuisinart over the winter, but will probably
get a self-contained unit in the spring.

(caveat: I've used mine a LOT. If you're just making ice cream casually, a
Cuisinart or its close relatives will probably work just fine.)

> bob

--
-Brian James Macke
"In order to get that which you wish for, you must first get that which
builds it." -- Unknown

In article .net>,
"Terry" > wrote:
>Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?

I have the Krups, and am really happy with it.

>I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
>consistency,
>not soupy and runny!

What you need to do is make the ice cream according to the
recipe and the machine instructions, then leave it in the
freezer for at least an hour or two.

--
Mark Shaw contact info at homepage --> http://www.panix.com/~mshaw
================================================== ======================
"[The Blues] is the kind of music that doesn't
mince words -- it gets right to it." -Bonnie Raitt

Santa bought me a Breville one for Christmas. I'll keep you posted.

Raelene
xxx


"Terry" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Have been thinking of buying an ice cream maker. Any recommendations?
> I want one that makes ice cream similar to store bought, with a firm
consistency,
> not soupy and runny!
> Thanks!


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