Why temper eggs in ice cream?

[Nevermore]

All of the ice cream recipes I read say to heat the cream separately then slowly add it to the egg mixture to temper the eggs, then heat the whole thing up to 170 degrees. I don't understand the point of the tempering step. Why can't you just heat the whole mixture to 170 together? If that's the end result then why the extra step? Can someone explain the science behind this?

I get that you don't want to scramble the eggs, but if you're not going past 170 either way, then what difference does it make?

TIA

 

[Aunt Bea]

I guess I'm not much of a rebel, I just follow the recipe.

I think that if you mixed all of the cold/room temperature ingredients thoroughly with a whisk, blender or immersion blender then heated the mixture slowly it would be fine as long as you continue stirring the mixture until it thickens.

My thought is that it would be similar to baked egg custard, custard pie, quiche, etc...

Eggs aren't expensive, give it a try!

 

[Andy M.]

Good question. I don't know the answer, but every recipe that calls for eggs as part of a heated recipe calls for tempering first. I can only assume it's necessary.

Wanna be the first to give it a try and report back to us?

 

[Nevermore]

Actually I did give it a try. I mixed all of the ingredients together and slowly brought them up to 170. My cooked egg ice cream turned out a fair bit icier than my raw egg ice cream, which was a result I wasn't expecting. I also came out with a bigger post-churning yield. The freezing process caused it to expand a lot more than when the eggs were raw. I thought heating the eggs would make it smoother. I tried to keep everything else the same, but it's possible I made a mistake elsewhere. So I was wondering if anyone understood why this happened.

In the future I'll try the tempering process and see if there's a difference.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I haven't made ice cream in years but the ice crystals may be due to freezing too slowly or not stirring/cranking the mixture enough during the freezing process.

I remember that being a problem with some of the old recipes that were made by freezing the mixture in ice cube trays and then beating it with a handheld mixer.

Practice, practice, practice!!!

Good luck and welcome to DC!

 

[Nevermore]

I finally did the full tempering process with my egg mixture, and I compared the result to ice cream made with raw eggs. Both I and my friend found the batch with raw eggs to be superior. The tempered batch wasn't as rich; it didn't leave that sweet aftertaste on my tongue that makes me want another bite. I understand some people may be concerned about salmonella, and if you feel the need to pasteurize your eggs then so be it, but if you're just looking for the best flavor, skip it.

 

[CWS4322]

Tempering the eggs is so that the eggs don't scramble. This is also why many recipes have a step to strain the custard once the eggs are added. Love making homemade ice cream.

 

[gerardj]

Tempering the eggs is so that the eggs don't scramble. This is also why many recipes have a step to strain the custard once the eggs are added. Love making homemade ice cream.

most recipes are written without understanding why they do something.
Straining is to remove vanilla bean, if the creme "needs" straining for other reasons, theres a problem that straining won't really fix.

French ice cream is based on creme anglais,
I see a trend to leave the vanilla seeds in everything, it looks like dirt.
The whole point of splitting the bean and scraping the seeds out is to discard them.

Its a bit like peeling potato, making mash and throwing the peel back in the mashed spuds.

 

[dragnlaw]

I disagree, think seeing the vanilla seeds means the cook is letting us know they used real beans to flavour. Not artificial liquid type. I also don't think it looks like dirt - just vanilla seeds. Like poppy seeds or even fresh ground black pepper.

And I believe the straining is to remove any part of the egg that did not smooth in to the rest. Such as the Chalazae.

 

[taxlady]

I disagree, think seeing the vanilla seeds means the cook is letting us know they used real beans to flavour. Not artificial liquid type. I also don't think it looks like dirt - just vanilla seeds. Like poppy seeds or even fresh ground black pepper.

And I believe the straining is to remove any part of the egg that did not smooth in to the rest. Such as the Chalazae.

I like to see the seeds in the vanilla ice cream too. When I have seen potato skins in mashed potatoes, it has been because the person who made the mashed potatoes didn't peel the potatoes before mashing them. I have done that. It saves a lot of effort.

I think that recipes that are made for everyday cooks probably do include the straining it for small bits of overcooked eggs. I imagine that it is considered a cheat in culinary school, where they are supposed to learn how to temper the eggs well enough that there aren't small bits of overcooked egg. I am pretty good at it. But, I am glad to have a "cheat" for when it doesn't work well enough, so I can serve the dish without starting over. I just don't have the energy to waste and don't want to throw out edible food, if there is a way to make it nice.

 

[Andy M.]

Tempering the egg mixture, slowly mixing in hot liquid while whisking, is done to prevent the eggs from cooking. Heating the resulting mixture and holding it at 170ºF is more to pasteurize the mixture and is unrelated to tempering.

Straining the result is to ensure no cooked bits of egg get into the finished product.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Looking at the tempering process tells the tale. Milk is heated to a bare simmer. Eggs and sugar, with vanilla are beaten together until smooth. A cup of the hot milk is slowly whisked into the egg, warming it, dissolving the sugar, and starting the thickening process. The egg mixture is now thinner, and diluted, making it easier to blend with the hot milk, which is stirred constantly over low heat, or on a double boiler until the mixture thickens, producing a creamy Crème Anglaise with no lumps. Straining is done to remove any scrambled egg that may have developed from egg adhering to the hot pan bottom. Yis then becomes the base for the ice cream. Proper churning speed is essential to control the size of the ice crystals in the ice cream. The smaller the crystals, the creamier, and denser the ice cream. Though churning to fast can introduce too much air (whipped texture)into the final ice cream.

There is a bit of art to making a great ice cream. I've made flavors from maple nut, to rich chocolate malt, to vanilla, with additions mixed in while still soft, lie cherries, berries, apple, butterscotch, caramel, cookie dough, nuts, etc. I'd love to make butter pecan, but am not sure of the ingredients. A favorite is strawberry cheesecake. My favorite though, will always be French vanilla as it's so versatile.

My most unique were corn ice cream, made by boiling corn in milk to extract the sweet corn flavor, then straining, and mushroom, made with candy cap mushrooms, which have a very strong mushroom flavor, but are not sweet. They are pulverized, then added to a sweet ice cream base, delicious.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[gerardj]

I disagree, think seeing the vanilla seeds means the cook is letting us know they used real beans to flavour. Not artificial liquid type. I also don't think it looks like dirt - just vanilla seeds. Like poppy seeds or even fresh ground black pepper.

And I believe the straining is to remove any part of the egg that did not smooth in to the rest. Such as the Chalazae.

what would you use in a cream sauce, white or black pepper.?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Proper culinary teaching is to use a white pepper in a cream sauce. Since I personally find the smell of white pepper to be similar to the smell of a horse barn, I use black pepper. I've also decided that no matter what white pepper might taste like, I don't enjoy it. I'd rather have a dish prepared "wrong" that I like eating to one prepared properly which I can't enjoy.

 

[gerardj]

. But, I am glad to have a "cheat" for when it doesn't work well enough, .

It can break before getting hot enough to scramble.
You can make a perfect sauce but if its left without cooling it down it can easily break and lose the emulsion.
But its easily fixed, just whip a blob of butter into it .