Good ice cream maker advice, please!

neverfullprice

Can anyone recommend a good ice cream maker which is quick and simple to use and easy to clean? And anything else that's useful to have because I don't know much about them apart from the fact that I want one!:rotfl:

easytiger66

I have been thinking of getting one also. Found this one so i am definately getting it. £17.99 reduced from £39.99 in robertdyas,in-store or online. Delivery is a bit steep,so if you have a store nearby its better to get one there.:)

paulwf

They are all fairly simple machines - basically a cooling disc and a motorised paddle - so all should work fairly well and be easy to clean. I have a Philips Delizia which has been the market leader for about a decade although they seem to have stopped making it now. It might be worth checking out Ebay as they are the sort of gadget people get as a present then don't use, completed listings on there show some bargains.

Once you have the machine experiment to get the right "base". The base is your basic ice cream mix which you can then add different ingredients to. It's far better to have one tried and tested recipe that you then add say chocolate or another time raspberries to than having a big book full of completely different recipes that you'll never master.

Usually the basic mix will need to be heated up so that it will thicken. It might depend on what recipe you use but I use arrowroot as a thickener which is added to hot (oat) milk to make it thicken. The key then is patience, the mix has to be cooled for a few hours in the fridge before churning. Everything has to be absolutely as cold as possible as the cooling discs will struggle to freeze the mix otherwise. In an ideal world I would use a machine with an electric freezing element but as those are £200 I'll get the most out of my little machine!

So, I'll chill the mix and the body of the ice cream maker in the fridge and then work really quickly to take them out, add the freezer disc and get churning asap. Don't mess about for 10 minutes or everything will start warming up. My machine takes 30-40 minutes to churn and then the mix will need finishing off in the freezer as an ice cream maker can't freeze it completely.

For really good ice cream make it 2-3 hours before you intend to serve it so it will have time to finish off in the freezer without getting too hard or forming any ice crystals. You can keep the ice cream for a fortnight in the freezer but making on the day of consumption gives the best texture.

Home made ice cream will be a bit more icy and solid than shop bought as commercial ice cream has a huge amount of air injected into it which makes it lighter (also a good marketing trick as you're buying a big tub of air!). However what you lose in texture you make up for by knowing all the ingredients are fresh and natural without any weird stabilisers or additives. It's also not the heart attack in a tub that the premium ice creams like haagen dazs can be.

Our favourite flavours are bourbon biscuit with tia maria and also gingernut biscuits with amaretto...boozy ice creams are fab! Be inventive though, coconut milk and mango works well, mint choc chip is easy, frozen fruits such as raspberry work well, and you can't go wrong with chocolate with chocolate chips.

neverfullprice

Thanks easytiger and paulwf for the machine info. So many machines out there to choose from but I always like to know what actual users think as opposed to the blurb manufacturers give out. Your info will let me get me started on my search.:)

paulwf: Thanks a million for taking the time to give so much detail on the ice cream making process. I really appreciate it as I'm a total and utter novice as far as ice cream making is concerned .I decided to get a machine after reading the list of weird and wonderful things that they oput into what should be a simple recipe. Most of your suggested flavours sound just like my kind of thing! You're a star!:T

WeegieWarrior

Aldi are doing an ice cream maker for £19.99 as a special offer on Sun, 6th. Can't post link - sorry!

skintandsad

Link, for post above:
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_14372.htm

neverfullprice

Thanks WeegieWarrior and skintandsad. I'll have a look see....:)

Michtaylor09

WeegieWarrior wrote: »

Aldi are doing an ice cream maker for £19.99 as a special offer on Sun, 6th. Can't post link - sorry!

I bought one of these yesterday and used it for the first time today. I made the strawberry ice cream in the recipe/instruction manual. It was delicious. It tasted even better than Ben & Jerry's.

It took about 10 minutes of churning and then 2 hours in the freezer. There were no ice crystals at all and the consistency was smooth and creamy. The quantities in the recipe were more than enough for 4 adults.

lill

another thumbs up for the aldi ice cream maker - I made strawberry cheese cake ice cream in mine yesterday, if anything it worked a little too well, as id read to put the ingredients in the freezer for an hour to chill before churning and had to take the lot out and mush it as it was setting to the sides too quickly for the paddle to churn.. ice cream was lush :-)

neverfullprice

Thanks mitchtaylor and lill and all.
Bought one of these but haven't had the chance to use it yet. Good to know that's it's easy to make lovely ice cream and at a bargain price , too!

gravitytolls

What about the cost of ingredients? Is it dead expensive?