superamerica gas stations stock dry ice by me - anyone needing dry ice can try one by them.

seebee wrote:Gorack -
Interesting. I'm gonna be rocking some coconut milk ice cream myself. Very interested in consistency after the long freeze. Suggestion for you: I do a mole ice cream pretty frequently. Cinnamon, cocoa, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, and dried ground pepper. The sugar and cream kind of dampen the heat, so you really need to add more of a heat component than you'd think if you want any sort of "burn." I'd suggest a blend of chiles to accomplish a layered heat effect and be mindful of the flavors they will add. Pequin will add real top end heat without really messing with the flavor, but things like habanero, jalapeno, ancho, and aleppo will alter the flavor. In my experience, I would use habanero by itself for the distinct, fruity, taste it has. Also, if you want some frozen lime leaf, perhaps in trade for a few small tastes of your final products in a dixie cup, let me know. I have a quart sized ziplock of leaves in my freezer, and if you are in FP, I'm not too far, and wind up in Forest Park visiting friends on a pretty regular basis.

The consistency last night was still really good. It was definitely a bit on the firm side but not nearly like the blocks of ice I ended up with making sorbets. It basically was like the texture of ice cream that comes in a box.

I actually think this firmer texture will lend itself well to fried ice cream. The flavor will work really well for that too I think. I'm going to make another batch tomorrow night and then fry some up either Thursday or Friday. I'll post how that goes.

I love the idea of a mole flavored ice cream as I love mole. I had the thought of trying to add adobo sauce into the mix as I really like that flavor and it has a bit of a kick to it.

We can definitely do a culinary exchange of sorts. Let me know when you'll be in the area and I can let you know what batch I'm on. I'll pm you my info to get in touch.

Sundevilpeg - steeping the coffee right in the milk sounds like a good idea. With the tea I was just going to use green tea bags right in the coco milk. I think that's what I'm going to try in my batch tomorrow.

Thanks for the advice on this, it's really helping me work through some ideas on what to try. When I sat down last night and ate a big bowl of this ice cream smothered in hershey's chocolate I was in heaven. I haven't been able to eat ice cream in years.

My wife actually said she preferred it without the chocolate sauce or anything else on it. She loves it just plain. It is pretty damn good.

Gorack:

Next medium for you to try: almond milk, jacked up with some good almond extract and that vanilla bean. Light brown or turbinado sugar works very nicely with this flavor profile. YUM. Have fun! (though I suspect you already are. )

I put 5 green tea bags in the coconut milk while it simmered last night. I'll be running that through the ice cream maker tonight. I'm going to fry some of this batch I think. (If it lasts long enough)

I plan on trying some almond milk variations soon. I just need to get over to the bigger grocery store to pick some up. I want to make a chocolate variety and there's some chocolate almond milks that I really like.

I'd also like to see if I can make 8th Continent's chocolate soy milk into ice cream. I love that stuff. I'm just not sure if the fat content will be high enough. Though I've read about adding avocado into your mixtures to boost the fat content.

I'm still working my way through this stuff (and yes it's fun ) and the coconut milk seems to be a good base to kind of get a handle on what I'm doing. The consitency was still good last night. A bit on the firmer side but you could still just spoon it right out of the container.

I can't wait to try other some things with this. I almost want to get a second bowl so I can trade them out of the freezer and not have to wait 3 or 4 days between batches.

The green tea variation came out really good. You can totally taste a subtle green tea flavor over the coconut.

I also fried 4 ice cream balls from my first batch last night. I took one bite and just had and evil genius laugh go through my head.

I used the technique in the video part way down the page at this link

http://johndlee.hubpages.com/hub/How-to ... -Ice-Cream

Putting the ice cream balls through the egg wash for a second coating of flakes really did the trick. These came out just fantastic. I'll be making more in the next couple of days and will try to remember take a picture before I devour them.

Thanks to seebee for dropping off some frozen lime leaf this morning. Those will be going in the next batch with a vanilla bean.

sundevilpeg wrote:Re: the coconut milk variations, if you can find kaffir lime leaves at a SE Asian market, infuse your simmering sugar/milk mixture with 3-4 whole leaves (they are in two parts/lobes). Throw half of a split vanilla bean in there, too. Chill the vegetation in the mix, and strain before freezing. Oooow-weeee! Good eats.

I bought a couple of vanilla bean pods from While foods. I assume I just slicing it lengthwise and using half of it in the coconut milk?

I've never used vanilla beans before and considering what they cost I want to make sure to do it right.

Also, reccomendations on what to do with the other half are certainly welcome.

Thanks

I bought a couple of vanilla bean pods from While foods. I assume I just slicing it lengthwise and using half of it in the coconut milk?

I would suggest cutting the bean crosswise in half across the middle, then splitting the half lengthwise and adding it to the milk. That will help keep the other half fresher and less likely to dry out, and less messy with seeds smearing. You can wrap the unused half in foil and freeze for a while until you want to use it.

I more or less agree with Rickster's instructions up to the freezing part - I've found that vanilla beans dry out and freezer-burn terribly in frost-free refrigerators, as nearly all are anymore.

I would take the half-bean that you use, split it lenghtwise, and add to the cocomilk as is, without scraping. I keep my whole beans in a glass jar with a screw top, and I generally just wrap the unused half in plastic wrap, and store in the jar at room temperature. Also, don't pitch the used beans - rinse well in a colander, air dry, and store in a jar of granulated sugar, for virtually instant vanilla sugar.

Wrapped tightly in plastic and foil, I haven't had a problem with freezer burn. I've had more problems keeping beans from drying out in jars. Which method is better would probably depend on how long you're going to keep them.

Thanks for the advice. I'll probably use the other half for another batch of ice cream within a week so I can just jar store it with the tin foil I think.

I'm glad I can use them a couple of ways. Once the sugar is made I could use that in the coconut milk as well and see how that turns out. I'll post updates. I'm going to make the coconut milk infusion tonight and run it through the ice cream maker tomorrow.

Thanks again!

The last batch of plain coconut ice cream I made froze quite a bit harder than my previous batches. It was still edible but was just overly firm.

Last night I realized why. I've been using Goya coconut milk. I had to buy more last weekend and I didn't notice that what I grabbed this time has "No gums, thickeners or stabalizers added."

So, if you plan to try this use the regular Goya coconut milk not the "No gums" one.

I realized this last night while making the lime leaf/vanilla bean mixture. I ended up using a can of each as I only had one can of the regular stuff on hand. Hopefully this keeps a bit better consistency than my last batch. I'm running it through the ice cream maker tonight so I won't know for a couple of days how hard this one is going to freeze. Fingers crossed.

You could always use corn syrup instead of sugar, or add a little alcohol (maybe a coconut liqueur) to raise the freezing point and make it a bit softer straight out of the freezer.

I'm glad you brought that up as I've been wanting to make a pina colada version with pineapple and rum. But, I have no idea how much rum I should use. I'm using two 13.5oz cans of coconut milk so what like 3 or 4 oz. of liquor?... 10?

I also didn't know that corn syrup will help with this so I'll try that. I usually use 3/4 cup of sugar. Kind of wondering if I use the same amount of corn syrup or less or more?

I appreciate the help and advice.

The vanilla lime version I ran through the maker last night had a really pronounced vanilla flavor. I only ate a couple of bites of it after it spun but man was it good! Hoping the consistency stays decent.

Could anyone here recommend an ice cream maker? I have a Donvier machine but I'm looking for one that doesn't require pre-freezing the metal core. There seem to be several Cuisinarts in that category, and maybe others? Thank you, as always.

I had Lello 4090, and it was outstanding. It's not cheap, though.

Meijer has dry ice.

Last night, I decided to try an experiment. I poured a scant quart of Oberweis egg nog and a good glug of brandy into the Cuisinart bucket, and let 'er rip.

The result was absolutely delicious, and I'd highly encourage you to try it for yourself!

(p.s. You need the brandy, or perhaps rum, or maybe a splash of vanilla extract, or some other bit of alcohol, to keep it from freezing into an impossibly hard lump later on.)

I don't have a home ice cream machine, but I am watching this thread in anticipation of getting a Kitchen-Aid ice cream bowl attachment next summer.

I like this eggnogg flavor idea very much--eggnogg is one of my favorite flavors. Thanks for posting this.

It makes me think that Bailey's Irish Cream would make a good ice cream flavor too.

Katie wrote:I don't have a home ice cream machine

For $20, you don't have to wait till summer.

Has anyone tried making a malt or shake with sorbet? What was it like?

Pie Lady wrote:Has anyone tried making a malt or shake with sorbet? What was it like?

That's a slushie.

I have read this whole thread and some of the others, and looked at dozens of recipes, and there are a lot of conflicting opinions. None of them quite cover exactly what I'm after. I'm planning to make some fruit ice creams (peach and blueberry, separately or together), and I don't really have the time or patience to do head-to-head comparisons, so I hope some of you have. :-)

What I want:

Creamy texture, intense fresh-fruit flavor, storability.

Questions:

Eggs or no eggs?

If eggs, raw or cooked?

If no eggs or raw eggs, does it still need to cure?

Stabilizers or no stabilizers?

Best ratio of milk to cream?

Cooked fruit or raw?

Add the fruit to the base, stir it in when partly frozen or some combination?

Best sweeteners?

Discussion:

I would normally make a custard base, but I came across this article that suggests Philly style is better with fruit. I'm also intrigued by Ben & Jerry's recipe that calls for whole raw eggs. (I am not worried about the health implications of raw eggs.) That has the advantage of being trivially easy and fast: No cooking, no waiting (except for macerating the fruit).

By "stabilizers," I don't mean commercial ice-cream stabilizer, but supermarket ingredients or liquor. I'm not always happy about the mouthfeel of stabilized ice creams -- some of them seem gummy, especially if gelatin or something like that is used.

Kennyz's gorgeous looking blueberry ice cream upthread cooks the fruit and adds it directly to the base before churning. Ben & Jerry's macerates raw fruit, adds the liquid to the base and stirs the pulp in at the end. I want the ice cream itself to be fruit flavored, not vanilla ice cream with fruit bits, although I wouldn't mind some fruit bits if they can be kept from turning into hard icy chunks. I'm a little concerned that cooking the fruit might take away some of the fresh-fruit flavor I'm looking for.

I have available: white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, corn syrup and maple syrup. I'm inclined against anything but white sugar -- corn syrup contributes to gumminess, I think, and the others all contribute unwanted flavors for what I'm hoping to achieve in the way of pure fruitiness. I'm willing to go out and get some agave syrup if somebody recommends it highly. Honey might go well with peaches, and I'm also thinking of a honey-peach-bourbon combo, but I want a pure peach as well.

The ice cream is unlikely to be eaten too quickly, so I need to be able to keep it frozen without too much deterioration.

If it matters, I will be churning the ice cream in a canister-style electric ice-cream maker.

Cooks' Illustrated did a big thing on this, and I think their articles are good about how and why they made the choices they did. You are going to want to do different things if you are eating it all today vs if you will be eating it over the course of a week.

I wrote to Ben and Jerry about the safety of raw eggs when their cookbook came out, and they wrote back saying (more or less) "this is for home consumption, not for commercial use"

I started out using eggs, but found that the philly style worked well if I was going to eat most of it sooner rather than later. I have not had any success with large chunks of fruit not turning into superhard lumps if left too long (other things too, get weird if in too large chunks, like basil). I generally use a little corn syrup and a little vodka (or appropriate alcohol) just so that the icecream itself won't freeze so very very hard with big crystals, but remember you're not using a commercial freezer that gets it really really cold really really fast. Unless you have unusual machinery the majority of your freezing happens after churning, when it's in the fridge.

My two cents:

Eggs or no eggs? If eggs, raw or cooked?

I always use eggs because I like the custard taste and mouth feel (I use the creme anglaise method).

Best ratio of milk to cream?

2:1, heavy cream to whole milk

Add the fruit to the base, stir it in when partly frozen or some combination?

I'm not sure exactly how this would work with fruit, but I've good results with steeping things in the base to impart flavor (works great for mint ice cream). Essentially you bring the milk, cream, sugar and your flavorings to just below the boiling point, let the mixture steep covered for thirty minutes, then strain out the flavorings. I would probably pre-muddle the blueberries to release some of their berry goodness.

I'd then add back in a few blueberries and peach pieces at the very end of the freezing process just to make things interesting.

Just tried out an idea I had, and it worked out so well I wanted to share it: I whizzed up a big avocado, half a can of coconut milk, about the same amount of cream, half a cup of sugar, juice and zest of a lime, pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla in the blender, then spun it in the ice cream maker.

Would probably work great as popsicles, too.

Hi,

Via my cookbook club, I have Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home. Jeni Britton Bauer is a Columbus, Ohio ice cream icon who has several stores in the Columbus area.

I am 100% sure I have had her ice creams during my visits to Columbus. I will be there next week and make a point to try them.

She has ice cream recipes where she uses unexpectedly cornstarch, cream cheese and light corn syrup in the base. She also has frozen yogurt recipes with cream cheese (Organic Valley is preferred), heavy cream, milk and corn syrup.

I strained yogurt today to make a few recipes tomorrow. I do expect I will need to up the sugar, because she indicated a preference for less sugar than American's prefer. One recipe for a rhubarb ice cream begins with a baked rhubarb compote with half pound rhubarb and 1/3 cup sugar. I have a feeling this will be tarter than I prefer.

I look forward to trying her different approach to ice cream making at home.

Regards,

mamagotcha wrote:Just tried out an idea I had, and it worked out so well I wanted to share it: I whizzed up a big avocado, half a can of coconut milk, about the same amount of cream, half a cup of sugar, juice and zest of a lime, pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla in the blender, then spun it in the ice cream maker.

Would probably work great as popsicles, too.

That sounds fantastic.

Leah,

I've gone down another rabbit hole so I've churned only Philly-style ice cream this past week a la Jeni Britton Bauer and David Lebovitz.

Britton Bauer wants to get the water out so to that end she uses cream cheese, a slurry with either corn starch or tapioca starch as well as corn syrup/tapioca syrup to insure a smooth feel. Her method is also dead bang easy if you want ice cream the same day. She has you dump base into a ziploc bag then cool it with an ice bath before churning.

Lebovitz's peach ice cream doesn't even cook the cream, so it too is pretty easy.

I've also churned CI's custard based ice cream, last month, but alas I was still on dessert sabbatical/moratorium so can't tell you how it turned out.

I trust CI so I use, even in the other recipes, their temperature specs when the ice cream is in the churn. I also love Britton Bauer's parchment over the ice cream to keep ice out.

Enjoy!

pairs4life wrote:Britton Bauer wants to get the water out so that end she uses cream cheese, a slurry with either corn starch or tapioca starch as well as corn syrup/tapioca syrup to insure a smooth feel.

From reading her book, the cornstarch and tapioca starch are "natural thickeners absorb and hold water." ... "Any water that dreams of roaming unbound and transforming into nasty, long ice crystals has no choice but to bind to the cornstarch.

The use of cream cheese is for its casein protein content "(Achieved by adding acid to the milk), helps bind the ingredients and gives ice cream body."

I also love Britton Bauer's parchment over the ice cream to keep ice out.

I read somewhere in her instructions it was an air barrier.

***

I don't read too many cookbooks this thoroughly. There is so much information in the early parts of this book, it is like reading a recipe preamble from Cook's Illustrated on why they choose one method, ingredient or technique over another.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Britton Bauer wants to get the water out so that end she uses cream cheese, a slurry with either corn starch or tapioca starch as well as corn syrup/tapioca syrup to insure a smooth feel.

From reading her book, the cornstarch and tapioca starch are "natural thickeners absorb and hold water." ... "Any water that dreams of roaming unbound and transforming into nasty, long ice crystals has no choice but to bind to the cornstarch.

The use of cream cheese is for its casein protein content "(Achieved by adding acid to the milk), helps bind the ingredients and gives ice cream body."

I also love Britton Bauer's parchment over the ice cream to keep ice out.

I read somewhere in her instructions it was an air barrier.

***

I don't read too many cookbooks this thoroughly. There is so much information in the early parts of this book, it is like reading a recipe preamble from Cook's Illustrated on why they choose one method, ingredient or technique over another.

Regards,

Agreed. It really makes ice cream feel as easy as scrambling a couple of eggs. I'm trying other recipes now and then I will decide what my best practices will be. But certainly, for anyone who wanted success out of the gate this book seems to be a winner.