Ice Cream that Can Be Frozen

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PianoAl

Cook
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
71
I know the title seems strange, but here's my issue:

We make ice cream using the recipe below. It's basically just heavy whipping cream with the sweetener and flavorings.

It tastes great. However, if we put any of it in the freezer for eating later, it's hard as a rock. True, we can defrost it, and it's not bad, but I'd like it to be like ice cream you buy in the store.

What changes would I make to the recipe to make it act like store-bought ice cream?

Thanks.



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Choc. Chip Ice Cream

Don't forget to start the coffee!

2 c Heavy whipping Cream
24 drops liquid splenda
.5 tsp Vanilla
.5 tsp Torani Hazelnut
1 square unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 Macademia nuts chopped

It takes about 25 minutes. You don’t need to wait for the ice cream maker to stall, stop when the ice cream sticks to the paddle.
 
I have just started making ice cream at home and I'm still using the recipes in the instruction booklet. The following ingredients make ice cream that is no harder or softer, after storage in the freezer, than store bought ice cream.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups granulated sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

I wonder if the use of sugar instead of Splenda makes a difference. They do have slightly different properties.
 
Some of the low carb ice cream recipes call for vodka, sort of an antifreeze.

I would add a shot and see what happens.

Good luck!
 
Ah, vodka. Nice idea.

Yes, the freezer temperature is OK.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Discuss Cooking mobile app
 
Lack of sugar is the problem. I took a class from Harvard University edX online called Science and Cooking. This very question was one of the assigned labs, and we were required to do a full lab report and all of the necessary chemical equations. I'll summarize.

Most of us are aware that combining salt with water lowers the freezing point of the water. This is why ice cream makers always tell you to add salt to the ice. But sugar also lowers the freezing point, just not as much.

The water in the cream will freeze to a solid at temperatures most of us maintain in our home freezers. But by adding the right amount of sugar, you lower the freezing point just enough to keep it from freezing completely solid at those same temperatures. If you froze your ice cream at very sub-zero temperatures, it would still freeze rock hard, just as if it didn't have the sugar.

Since you didn't use sugar in your recipe, you didn't get the same drop in freezing point. Liquid Splenda has its own specific heat, but not the same as sugar, so the change in freezing point is different. Without knowing the specific heat of liquid Splenda, one can't calculated how much you would need to lower the freezing point.

There are other things that you can add to change the freezing point. Aunt Bea suggested vodka. Alcohol will work, but you have to be careful. Alcohol's freezing point is so much lower than that of water, that the drop of the point of phase change will be much greater than using sugar. Too much, and you'll just get slush that won't completely freeze in your freezer.

I hypothesize that solid Splenda would react differently as would other brands of sweeteners. But without knowing their chemistry, you can't know which would solve the problem, or in what quantities.

If you read the labels on commercially produced sugar-free ice creams, you'll notice they rely heavily on emulsifiers; guar gum, carageenan, food starch, cellulose, etc. These all become more necessary when you remove the sugar.
 
Excellent info. I'll try erythritol next time, and some booze if that doesn't do it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Discuss Cooking mobile app
 
Also, add a packet of dissolved gelatin to your ice cream base. For my base, I use a natural emulsifier - egg yolks. I use eight egg yolks in a quart of homemade ice cream. Sugar alcohols act much the same as does sugar. But be aware that many of them can cause diarrhea. I use two parts corn syrup to 1 part granulated sugar in my ice cream base, with a ratio of whole milk to heavy cream of half and half.

When I changed my base recipe by using corn syrup, and unflavored gelatine, my ice cream became much smoother, and had a good consistency after freezing.

Remember to take into account any extra water added by putting in coffee, or macerated fruit. Semi-soft sauces such as chocolate fudge (really a ganache) don't affect the texture of the end product, if swirled in after the ice cream is made.

If you use only milk, and freeze your ice cream well in the maker, you will have gelato, which has a more intense flavor than does ice cream. Also, you don't freeze gelato as cold as you do ice cream, which makes it creamier in texture, and intensifies the flavor still more. Also make it less callorie dense.

Hope that helps.

Seeeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I checked the freezer temp, and it was indeed a bit too low (about -8 degrees F--thanks, Andy), and I fixed that.

And yesteday I made this, using erythritol instead of Splenda:

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

2 cups HWC
.75 cup erythritol
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 drops green food coloring
2 squares of unsweetened chocolate

It tasted great, as always. The texture was a little fluffier than usual. Really good stuff.

I put what we didn't eat in the freezer, and I checked it this morning. The result:

Hard as a rock. Nothing like store-bought ice cream.

So, I'll try the vodka thing next.
 
P.S. Not only is it hard, but if I chip some off, it flakes like plaster. I can defrost it on the counter for 30 minutes, and it's okay then, but I'd prefer it to work right from the freezer.

So, I'll try the vodka thing and the other suggestions next.
 
I work for the largest Ice Cream manufacturer in the US. A few facts. We store our Ice Cream at -20 F. Yep, -20. The big difference that you cannot duplicate in a home freezer is the amount of air we inject. Take a container of ice cream and let it melt and see how much you have left. One of the things that we do not allow is our ice cream to get warm. Once it starts to melt, you loose the air and then when it re-freezes you get Ice crystal and that crunchy feel. Net net - home made ice cream will always freeze hard.
 
I work for the largest Ice Cream manufacturer in the US. A few facts. We store our Ice Cream at -20 F. Yep, -20. The big difference that you cannot duplicate in a home freezer is the amount of air we inject. Take a container of ice cream and let it melt and see how much you have left. One of the things that we do not allow is our ice cream to get warm. Once it starts to melt, you loose the air and then when it re-freezes you get Ice crystal and that crunchy feel. Net net - home made ice cream will always freeze hard.

Mine was no harder than the Blue Bunny Vanilla sitting nest to it in the freezer. To get more air, I run my ice cream maker at it's higher speed. I think the corn syrup helped the texture, as both gelatin and eggs freeze solid if in the freezer. Corn syrup become semi hard, but still flows, albeit very slowly.

I'm not exactly sure why my home-made ice cream has the right texture, I just know that my playing around with it worked, and I have repeated it multiple times.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
I work for the largest Ice Cream manufacturer in the US. A few facts. We store our Ice Cream at -20 F. Yep, -20. The big difference that you cannot duplicate in a home freezer is the amount of air we inject. Take a container of ice cream and let it melt and see how much you have left. One of the things that we do not allow is our ice cream to get warm. Once it starts to melt, you loose the air and then when it re-freezes you get Ice crystal and that crunchy feel. Net net - home made ice cream will always freeze hard.

Whipping in more air is also what makes ice cream cheaper. Premium ice creams have less air, not more. More air is called 'overrun' in the industry, and it's not a desirable thing. Cheap manufacturers selling more air is precisely why many of us prefer to make our own. The Blue company also uses more milk/less cream for a lower fat content and lower cost. They make up for it by adding more sugar. Fat doesn't freeze as hard as water, so they have to add more sugar both to compensate for the texture issues and to add back some missing flavor. I also used to work in the ice cream industry - but for a small batch processor. The blue company couldn't hold a candle to our stuff. Bigger doesn't mean better.

Rich & dense - that's what we look for.

Chief is right - corn syrup, maple syrup, agave syrup, honey can all help PianoAl with his ice cream, but he apparently is trying for a sugar-free ice cream. More air won't help with that. He needs to add an ingredient that will lower the freezing point. The artificial sweeteners he has at his disposal aren't helping. Adding alcohol will help.

Homemade ice cream, made properly, freezes no harder than a good premium ice cream. And there's no comparison to the Blue company stuff.
 
You are right on, Silversage. I notice some super cheap "ice creams" no longer call their concoctions ice cream as it doesn't meet the minimum requirements for that title. 'Frozen dairy dessert' just doesn't cut it.
 
Seems to me that gelato has less fat in it as well. It is also served at a warmer temperature so that it is not rock hard, and also creates the sensation of more intense flavor because it's easier to taste things that are warmer.

As an experiment, drink a glass of milk at 32.5 degrees, then a glass at 40 degrees. The warmer same milk tastes much richer at a warmer temperature.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
When I put gelato in my freezer, it as hard as ice cream out of the same freezer. Someone, I think Bakechef, said it had to do with the milk powder in gelato.
 
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