Made my first ice cream this week - strawberry. The family liked it. Used the recipe from the Cuisinart book.

Thanks!

I made quite a few ice creams lately and while the flavors are good, a few of them have come out oddly dry. Still creamy, but sapped of moisture. Could this be from overchurning?

Pie Lady wrote:I made quite a few ice creams lately and while the flavors are good, a few of them have come out oddly dry. Still creamy, but sapped of moisture. Could this be from overchurning?

Do you let them ripen before eating them outside of the freezer?

Yep. At least a day.

Well, overchurning will push your ice cream towards butter. Have you tried tasting it as it's churning, to see the differences along the way? If that's not it, then maybe it's time to try another recipe, or at least start tweaking your ingredients. I can't say that I've ever had "dry" ice cream, and I'm not sure exactly what you're describing.

mamagotcha wrote:I can't say that I've ever had "dry" ice cream, and I'm not sure exactly what you're describing.

It sounds like Astronaut Ice Cream.



http://www.astronauticecreamshop.com/home.php

That would have been neat. But no, it doesn't break up into chunks or taste like styrofoam. It's creamy when it comes out of the ice cream maker and looks like thick soft-serve, but when it melts on the tongue, it's more like the frost on the inside of old freezers. It's not freezer burned, it's fresh. And I use only full-fat ingredients, yolks, etc. not Egg Beaters, etc.

Like freezer frost? You mean icy and grainy? I'd try a little alcohol, a pinch of xanthan gum, or tinkering with the sugar content. Also, you want your mix to be really cold before you freeze it, and get it to the coldest part of your freezer.

mamagotcha wrote:Well, overchurning will push your ice cream towards butter. Have you tried tasting it as it's churning, to see the differences along the way? If that's not it, then maybe it's time to try another recipe, or at least start tweaking your ingredients. I can't say that I've ever had "dry" ice cream, and I'm not sure exactly what you're describing.

^^^^^^^^^^^^ Agreed.

Pie Lady wrote:That would have been neat. But no, it doesn't break up into chunks or taste like styrofoam. It's creamy when it comes out of the ice cream maker and looks like thick soft-serve, but when it melts on the tongue, it's more like the frost on the inside of old freezers. It's not freezer burned, it's fresh. And I use only full-fat ingredients, yolks, etc. not Egg Beaters, etc.

Recipe please. Wait, are you churning in an ice cream maker?

Indeed, the ice-and-rock-salt electric type. I can't remember the recipes offhand but I can look 'em up when I get home.

Here's the one that confounds me the most. I will have to re-try a couple of ice creams to see which was the dry one, but this sorbet is dry too. Comes from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home:

1 pineapple, 1-1/2 pounds
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
3 tb water
1 tb paprika, dash of cayenne

Puree pineapple, measure 3 cups. Cook sugar, corn syrup, water and spices to a boil, stirring until dissolved. Cool. Combine pineapple puree with sugar mixture; chill completely. Freeze in machine; freeze in freezer for 4 hours.

Delicious, but dry.

Well if you have a nice juicy pineapple that recipe is going to come out wetter than if you have a dry and less ripe one.

It was nice 'n' juicy.

I just overchurned a batch of ice cream this week, not by a lot, but enough to notice... and now I think I understand what you are saying, Pie Lady. There's kind of a funky mouthfeel that I suppose someone could use the word "dry" to describe (I think of it more as "waxy"). So I'll agree with your original assessment, that you may have overchurned your ice cream. Maybe try intentionally UNDERchurning your next batch, let it finish freezing in your freezer, and see if the mouthfeel changes.

By the way, the batch I messed up? We are still eating it all because it is SO GOOD! I made a vanilla base, then did a small batch of what was essentially bananas Foster (three ripe sliced 'naners, maybe half a cube of butter, and maybe a quarter cup of brown sugar, all simmered until it's nice and gooey), then added a big glop (another quarter cup?) of peanut butter and stirred until it was mixed in. I dumped that in the vanilla base, used the stick blender on it, and poured it into a ziploc and floated it in a bowl of ice water. Then I spun it in the Cuisinart, and towards the end, I dribbled in a handful of chocolate chips melted with a spoonful of coconut oil (this makes the "magic shell" stuff you can drip on finished ice cream, or you can slowly add it to your spinning ice cream to make stracciatella, tiny chocolate flecks).

mamagotcha wrote:I just overchurned a batch of ice cream this week, not by a lot, but enough to notice... and now I think I understand what you are saying, Pie Lady. There's kind of a funky mouthfeel that I suppose someone could use the word "dry" to describe (I think of it more as "waxy"). So I'll agree with your original assessment, that you may have overchurned your ice cream. Maybe try intentionally UNDERchurning your next batch, let it finish freezing in your freezer, and see if the mouthfeel changes.

I also wondered if it was an odd taste/texture as soon as it churned or once it had been ripened in the freezer. PieLady, what are you covering the ice cream with in the freezer?

Mamagotcha: I thought I did underchurn a bit on others, and it was a wee bit gritty and melted really fast - it wasn't thick and creamy. Delicious, but subpar. There must be a really fine line to walk! In all the books I've been reading lately, no one mentions overchurning. And yours does sound heavenly!

Pairs: Diddly. I just slap it in plastic Chinese takeout quarts (and in this case, Glad tupperware, the 5x5" size, cuz I ran out.

How long did you churn it? Cover ice cream with parchment or plastic wrap in freezer. I know Jeni says to do this.

pairs4life wrote:Cover ice cream with parchment or plastic wrap in freezer. I know Jeni says to do this.

I even do this with store-bought--it really helps fight freezer burn and the change of texture that occurs from it.

I know. I'm really lazy about that.

I can't remember how long I churned the sorbet. I should do another week of ice cream and jot down all the details, timing, etc. in a chart and report back. I am running low, after all.

How long do you guys churn your sorbet/Philly-style/French? If I didn't mention it before, my machine is like this one: http://www.hamiltonbeach.com/ice-cream- ... 8330r.html

Usually 27 minutes but I use a thermometer and check the temp. But I have a 1qt machine. If it tastes "dry" before you freeze it then I suspect you are over-churning it.

What temp do you stop at?

I made this the other day as my last non-holiday ice cream of the year. It may be one of the best ice creams I ever tasted. And it remains creamy instead of rock-solid after a two-night stay in the freezer! So apparently, all you need to do is add malt to everything, which ain't such a bad idea. I did not put in the malted milk balls, as they are icky poo.

http://ruhlman.com/2007/05/david_lebovitzs/

I'm planning to make chocolate ice cream for Thanksgiving using the recipe from the Perfect Scoop. I want to churn the ice cream after Thanksgiving dinner to amuse the kids. Would it be safe if I make the custard tonight and refrigerate until after dinner Thursday?

That would be fine. I suppose if there are acidic ingredients you might not want to leave it in the metal container, but otherwise sure.

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I'm planning to make chocolate ice cream for Thanksgiving using the recipe from the Perfect Scoop. I want to churn the ice cream after Thanksgiving dinner to amuse the kids. Would it be safe if I make the custard tonight and refrigerate until after dinner Thursday?

I never had a problem making a chocolate gelato mix and keeping it for a day or so in a stainless steel container. If there is an acid involved (why?) like lemon zest (maybe) then just add it before you churn. It won't 'marry' as much, but should still work.

Sure, why not? I know some restaurants will allow their ice cream to melt each night so they can spin it fresh the next night.

mamagotcha wrote:Sure, why not? I know some restaurants will allow their ice cream to melt each night so they can spin it fresh the next night.

We did that for awhile. the problem is it tends to incorporate to much air into the mix. (All the bubbles don't pop overnight.) We found it was better to make smaller batches.

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I'm planning to make chocolate ice cream for Thanksgiving using the recipe from the Perfect Scoop. I want to churn the ice cream after Thanksgiving dinner to amuse the kids. Would it be safe if I make the custard tonight and refrigerate until after dinner Thursday?

Yes. You give the flavors a chance to set up. I always aim for at least one night between making the base and churning. If I am in a hurry, I know I can do 4 hours, or even Britton Bauer's ice bath method to get their faster. That said, most modern churners produces a soft custard that is better frozen for a few hours before serving.

Can you finagle,the schedule so that the turkey is in the oven, then the kids watch the ice cream churned, then they help pack it into containers ( of course while tasting the custard) then it gets popped into the freezer and then moved to the fridge to soften a bit once the turkery is on their plates?