If you have tasted homemade ice cream, you will understand why so many people make ice cream at home with an ice cream maker. If you have been thinking about making your own homemade ice cream, then make sure you understand how the different types of ice cream makers work before you purchase an ice cream machine. Ice and rock salt ice cream makers are available in both manual and electric versions. Although you have to keep an eye on the ice and salt levels, overall it is fairly easy to make delicious ice cream. The ice and rock salt machines are ideal for those who want to make large quantities of ice cream at once. Many people prefer using a hand cranked ice cream maker rather than an electric machine. Both adults and children find churning their own ice cream to be a fun and rewarding experience. If you do not find the old-fashioned ice cream making method appealing, the electric version of the ice and salt rock machine will save you from having to mix all of the ingredients yourself.

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photo credit: Mdrewe

I ran across something interesting in the New York times today that seemed like with a little bit of work, could be replicated at home and would be a cool feature at say a Halloween party. Perhaps you could churn up some pumpkin and chocolate chip ice cream with a bit of alchemy flair. The idea comes from Lulu & Mooky’s a New York ice cream shop that whips up their homemade ice cream with little bit of added flair. Rather than using a traditional ice cream maker, they use a KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment and get this liquid nitrogen. So for Mr Tapper and Ram Chhetri, the store's owners, rock salt and ice isn't good enough. They instead go all Bill Nye the Science Guy on their favorite frosty treat.  And it's this novel application of science that, in my mind, would make this worth playing around with as a center piece for a Halloween party. Just imagine, the smoky cauldron, maybe you serve it in little carved out pumpkins or shrunken heads.

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Summer time equals cold treats like ice cream and popsicles, but if your trying to save money because of the depression, an ice cream maker might just be the ticket. But how do ice cream makers work?
An ice cream makers also known as ice cream machines and ice cream freezers all pretty much work the same way--an ice cream mixture is brought to the freezing point and at the same time, the mixture is stirred to keep ice from forming.
While there are many styles of ice cream machines, choosing one can be a little difficult. Here are some of the basic types.
The first and oldest type of ice cream maker is also the most simple. By that, I'm talking about the hand powered ice cream maker. With a hand cranked ice cream makers, there is an outer "bucket" and an inner chamber. Rock salt and ice go into the outer bucket and your ice cream mix goes into the inner chamber. All the mixing is done by you, via a hand crank which operates the stirrers in the chamber.
While a hand powered ice cream maker requires the most work, usually around 20 or 30 minutes of hand mixing,  ice cream lovers claim that these ice cream makers make the best ice cream. But if all that sounds like too much work, an electric ice cream maker can replace the human-powered stirring with an electric motor. White Mountain Freezer Company is one of the better brands for both hand cranked and electric powered ice cream makers.
The second type kind of ice cream machine is more modern and also takes a bit less work. And while quite similar in appearance to the electric models mentioned above they differ in the way they achieve their "chill." Instead of using rock salt and ice, these ice cream makers use a a double walled container that has refrigerant between the two walls. Before use, the container must be placed in the freezer for about a day or overnight, to lower the temperature of the coolant to below freezing. If you're shopping for this kind of ice cream maker, look for brands like Cuisinart and Krups.
The last type, called an ice cream freezer, is bigger and more expensive than the two other types of ice cream machines, but if you make lots of homemade ice cream, it may be worth the expense. Again these work using the same idea as the hand powered models but again these differ in how the ice cream mix is chilled. Basically an ice cream freezer has a built-in fridge that does takes care of chilling your ice cream mixture.
Some models come with a mixing bowl that can't be removed which makes cleaning hard. So you might want to take that into consideration when buying.
Besides being affordable and fun, an ice cream maker lets you control the ingredients of the  ice cream. And making homemade ice cream can bring the whole family together, at least it did in my house growing up. Still today, I have many wonderful memories of cutting up Snickers bars and watching my grandma make us homemade ice cream.

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I recently got to play around with the Cuisinart ice-20 ice cream maker and I have to say that this is a pretty decent machine. It's not as messy as my White Mountain hand-cranked ice cream freezer. So here's what I thought about this machine.
What I like: If you've read my article on how to choose an ice cream machine, then you'll recognize the Cuisinart ICE-20 as the second type of ice cream machine. That means that instead of adding rock salt and ice, there is a double-walled bowl insert that goes into your freezer. This is nice because it cuts down on the mess. It also means that you don't have to buy ice (or rock salt for that matter). It's also slightly smaller than my hand cranked ice cream maker so if space is a consideration, this might be a nice option for you. Overall it was very easy to use and clean and the ice cream tasted about the same as my hand cranked unit. Lastly, it's very reasonable priced.
What I don't like: Owning a six-quart ice cream maker, means having lots of ice cream and enough for guests as well. At 1 1/2 quarts the Cuisinart ICE-20 is about the right size for a family of three. Also the motor could be a little beefier. It seems fine for occasional ice cream making but if your making ice cream several times a week, you might look for something with a little more muscle.
How to get the most from the Cuisinart ICE-20: Your ingredients for making ice cream will be expanded in the final product. That means that you shouldn't fill the mixing bowl with more than 1 quart of ingredients. You should also give the mixing bowl plenty of time in the freezer and your ingredients should also be thoroughly chilled as well. I personally wouldn't take the bowl out of the freezer until I had all of the ingredients assembled. Always remember to hand the bowl with care. Plastics tend to get brittle when cold and so being careless could (I'm not 100% sure about that) result in a crack. Finally, use quality ingredients. I mean if your going to give yourself a coronary, do it with the good stuff or if you consider that one scoop of vanilla is around 145 calories, you could try the green tea diet and burn that scoop off in a couple days.

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Making home made ice cream, that's just as tasty as any premium store brand, can be really easy with the right ice cream machine. And not only is it delicious but because you made it at home, you control what goes into it. Of course, there are a few things to consider if you're thinking about buying an ice cream maker and that's what this article is about. Things like, how much ice cream you'll need to make, price, style ( think soft serve ice cream vs regular vs sorbet vs frozen yogurt vs gelato etc) of ice cream that your family likes, and ease of use all need to be thought about before making a purchase. And yes ease of use is a factor, some people swear by the old hand cranked ice cream machines for taste and texture but other people just don't want to work that hard.
Probably the first thing you need to think about is what kind of ice cream you want to make. While there is some crossover between ice cream machines—for example, you can make frozen yogurt in a regular ice cream maker—it’s usually best to buy the right machine for the job. So while you can buy a specially prepared soft serve mix for ice cream freezers, you’ll get the best results with an actual soft serve ice cream machine. These days, Cuisinart, and Rival are very popular while I know Alton Brown has recommended Krups in the past. When it comes to soft serve ice cream machines, Cuisinart is about the only company making a specific soft serve ice cream maker. The unit is however reasonably priced around $80 dollars. Traditional ice cream makers by the way can run usually anywhere from $39 up to several hundred for the kind which also contain a refrigeration compressor.
Next, how much ice cream do you need to make? Most home ice cream makers usually make about a quart and a half of ice cream. That’s usually enough for two or three people. If your family is larger or perhaps you making ice cream for a church social, machines that produce four or six quarts may serve you better. This limits what kind of ice cream equipment that you can get as generally the only machines that maker larger batches use rock salt and ice as the method of cooling the ice cream mix. As far as these machines are concerned, White Mountain, owned by Rival, is the standard so while you’ll see “imitation” models for less, many people swear by those made by White Mountain.
Finally, ease of use is an important consideration. By far, the messiest and most difficult to use are the hand cranked ice cream makers. But what they lack in convenience , they make up for in the quality of the ice cream—meaning that because it’s human powered, you can sense when the ice cream is starting to harden and increase the mixing speed to work more air in the mixture resulting in better ice cream. Next come the electric versions which while similar to the hand cranked models replace the people power with a motor and yes they still have the mess of melting ice and rock salt. Next are the canister-style ice cream makers which use a reusable and freezable insert. These are a lot easier to use but require that you plan ahead to give the insert enough time to chill in your freezer. Lastly, there are compressor-style ice cream makers that are the easiest of all. Ingredients go in, flip a switch and after a short amount of time voila, ice cream! Of course the biggest drawback to these is the price which usually run in the several hundreds of dollars. Italian models like those made by Musso or Simac can easily go over a thousand dollars and are probably aimed at the Ben an Jerry ice cream fanatic types.
Hopefully in this article, I’ve given you some useful tips if you’re thinking about buying an ice cream machine for home use. As for what I use, I have a couple. I use a White Mountain hand cranked unit that I use when I really want good ice cream. I also use it when I go camping which is something you can do with any other kind of ice cream freezer. And of course I also use it when I’m having guests over for dinner. The machine I use on a more regular basis is the Cuisinart Ice 20 which I’ve found to be a decent canister-style ice cream machine. Drawbacks are that it seems to be a little more cheaply made than the White Mountain but that’s to be expected considering that it’s almost all plastic. The Cuisinart is also fairly popular which is useful when shoping around because it has a lot of reviews so you can really get a sense of what other people think about it. I really enjoy making ice cream for my family. Not only do I feel good because I know what’s in my ice cream but I feel I’m passing on sense of tradition from my grandmother and other people who endured the Great Depression and now to my children who’s learning that things really do taste better when they’re homemade.

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