Making ice cream at home is a super great DIY activity. Unlike the commercial ice cream, it allows you to use your preferred flavors and additives to prepare it to your likeness. Since you have full discretion over your time and other resources, you can repeatedly familiarize yourself with all procedures and additives. Eventually, you can learn the correct timing, techniques, and quantities that you need to use to achieve the perfect firmness and the creamy consistency which characterize any perfectly made ice cream. So, if you love ice cream and you would like to try making it, read these tips to get the guidance you need.
1. Get The Best Ingredients
The quality of your ice cream will depend on the elements you will use to prepare it. The main ingredient which you need is sweetened cream and milk. Milk fat will provide the ice cream with creaminess and maintain its melting characteristics. Ensure that your ice cream’s milk fat content ranges between 10 to 16% milkfat for quality results. This fat quantity will give your product milk richness, smoothness, and flavor. You can also use skimmed milk to add up the solid content, and more body to the ice cream.
Besides milk, you can also include eggs and flavors. Eggs aid the fats and cream already in the ice cream to give it a creamier texture. The egg yolks are also known to improve the ice’s stability and make it less prone to melting in the transition of removing it from the freezer and moving it to your mouth. Flavors and colors keep your craving at bay. If you are preparing it for commercial purposes, you will add flavor like vanilla, which almost everyone generally loves. The colors for your ice cream should also be tempting enough for you not to resist gulping it.
After gathering all the necessary ingredients, follow the following guidelines to make the perfect ice cream.
2. Use The Right Fats And Prepare The Custard
It is time to go against your low-fat diet requirements to achieve better preparation results. As a rule of thumb, ice cream requires high–fat content to form that creamy texture and avoid getting too icy and gritty in the freezer. You will need a heavy cream to get an excellent result. If you are on a diet, you can always serve yourself a small portion or make your ice cream consumption an occasional treat. You can try low-fat versions like cheese after being an ice cream pro, but the chances are that you may never achieve a texture that is as rich and delicious as full- fat versions.
Also, learn how to prepare the custard from milk, sugar, eggs, and any other high-fat cream. Ideally, you should allow the cooked custard to chill in the freezer until it’s cold enough to be transferred to the ice cream maker. Also, note that flavor additives should be added after the custard has cooled. Otherwise, the hot custard will deteriorate the flavors and make them less pronounced. The idea is to allow the custard to age and become more aerated for the smoothest and creamiest results.
3. Add Mix-ins To The Ice And Make It Creamy
If your ice cream maker’s model uses a bowl, freeze the bowl for a day-long before you make the ice to facilitate quick freezing of the ice. You should learn how to add mix-ins like dried, fresh fruit, nuts, and candy pieces to taste and flavor to your ice cream in the maker. Generally, the mix-ins should be small, featuring the size of chocolate particles so that the maker can incorporate them into the frozen ice with ease. It will take the maker less than a minute to mix well-frozen mix-ins with ice thoroughly.
Lastly, remember to make your yogurt creamy. A common complaint among most homemakers is that their ice cream gets hard and icy when frozen. If you are one of them, there are various techniques you can employ to keep your ice cream from extreme freezing. You can add a few tablespoons of alcohol like a fruit liqueur to your ice cream to give it a softer consistency. Alternatively, you can use corn syrup, gelatin, or other stabilizers to ensure that your ice cream stays soft. You can also avoid crystals’ formation by storing your ice cream in a shallow container and covering it with a plastic wrap.
A perfectly made ice cream is a rich source of calories, carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals, such as sodium. By following the above guidelines, you can rest assured of getting the above nutrients in addition to quenching your thirst and doing away with your craving for ice cream.
