Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Homemade Ice Cream without an Ice Cream Maker

I CANNOT believe it!
This actually works very well!!!

I wanted to try this recipe as I am posting it for my friends who didn't have access to an ice cream maker. Used the recipe from Family Fun magazine, and it worked great.

HOME MADE ICE WITH WITHOUT ICE CREAM MAKER
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 tbs sugar
1 c half and half**
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c kosher salt
Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
1 pint-size ziploc bag
1 gallon-size ziploc bag

**According to Wikipedia, in the United States, half and half is a very light cream typically used in coffee. Its butterfat content is about 12.5%, which makes it lower-calorie and more stable in coffee, and also used in making ice cream.

1. Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.

2. Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.

3. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, dry the outside of the bag so that the salt doesn't get into your ice cream, add mix-ins(your preference for nuts or choc. chips) and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too! Serves 1, but I shared it with two little kids.

Recipe taken from Family Fun magazine.

Note: Have the ice cream ingredients ready in a small sandwich or pint size ziploc bag.Set aside. Use a freezer Ziploc bag (gallon size) and fill it 1/2 full of ice cubes.Add 1/2 cup kosher salt in with the ice. Why SALT? Here's the answer I found from pbskids.org Salt helps ice absorb more heat energy than it would without salt. And absorbing more heat energy means removing more heat from the surrounding environment. So, while cream that’s next to ice (without salt) gets cold, the cream that’s next to a mixture of ice and salt gets very cold. And, it has to be very cold to freeze cream. Another way of saying this is that the cream needs to lose a lot of heat energy to freeze. The added salt will make sure that the ice would draw enough heat energy out of the cream to freeze it.Place small sandwich or pint size ziploc bag into the large gallon size ziploc and seal. Set the timer for 5 mins. Since I don't like cold hands, I put on a pair of oven mits, and started shaking the ice cold bag. Shake, shake, shake. For 5 mins. (Feel the burn on your triceps and biceps) Work it, work it (2 mins more....) At this point, the kids are looking at me weird. Maybe it's because I'm walking around the house shaking my bag of ice cubes and cream mixture to their Backyardigans DVD! 5 mins later, and the timer beeps. Now it's done. I pull out the little sandwich size bag of cream which turned into ice cream. Wipe off the salty water from the little bag. Feels cold and hard like ice cream.Tried it.....

Delicious!!!
I am surprised with the result! Yummy!
I just did my arms exercises and rewarded myself with ice cream too! And did I share it with the kids? A little...


More Notes: You can make different flavors by adding cocoa, matcha, or pureed fruits to the ice cream. Mine was done in 5 mins., but I've read that it sometimes take between 5-10 mins. I tried it once with half and half, and the another time with cream. Both were good, but the cream one is richer (of course!). Also used 2 big gallon-sized ziplock bags (double-bagged) for the ice cubes and kosher salt. Another way of serving it is to cut a corner off the small ziploc bag, squeeze out the ice cream onto a dish and add your favorite toppings (mine was chopped up strawberries.) Enjoy!

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

V, I am sorry to sound ignorant, but what is 1 c half and half?

Interesting...

Anonymous said...

Hahha...suits me...one with no ice-cream maker. Now I need to go buy some good quality ziploc bags :p

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Judy,
The recipe calls for 1 cup half and half which is half heavy cream and half milk. Sorry for the confusion. Try this and keep me posted on your results, ya? :)

Hi Tigerfish,
I like the Ziploc brand freezer bags for the ice/salt and use their sandwich size bags for the cream mixture. Let me know how yours turn out, ok? :)

Basting Away said...

How come you put "East Meets West Kitchen" in everyone of your photos? Probably know the answer but there is better less obvious ways to "copywrite" protect you photos.

Just wondering?


Steve

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Steve,
Thanks for stopping by! To your question, I put the name of my blog on my pictures so that I know that's the shot I posted. It's for me to keep track.

WokandSpoon said...

Wow - that's really interesting! I don't have an ice cream maker either. I'll definitely have to try this one.

Does it have to be kosher salt or can I use normal salt?

eastcoastlife said...

Yahooooo! Thanks for no need machine ice-cream! Yeah. Gonna try it when I can walk. :)

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Wokandspoon,
I have heard that you can get by with table salt, but the bigger grain salt is better. Get ready for a workout for your arms! :) Keep me posted ya?

Hi Eastcoastlife,
You are welcome! This is a fun recipe to shake, shake, shake to! :) Take care of that foot.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Oh wow, interesting! And you are showing us is doable and delicious. Hmmm...maybe I should exercise my arms too! LOL!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hey C!
Thanks! You shake one and your hubby shakes one! LOL!

Indonesia Eats said...

I love making ice cream without ice cream maker

hmmm my favorites are matcha and blueberry ice cream

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Andaliman,
Yum! Those are some of my favorite flavors too! :)

SteamyKitchen said...

What a good workout!!!! Maybe it will justify eating another bowl of ice cream.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Steamy Kitchen,
LOL! Yes, gives a new meaning to working for ice cream! :)

Beau Lotus 涟 said...

Hey my son did that at a community centre in Singapore last year. It was a Food and Science course for kids organised during the June school hols. Helps you understand how salt decreases the temperature of ice, makes it colder and slows down melting etc. And useful for folks like us who do not have an ice cream machine. Though too lazy to swing the bag. Easier to just drive to the gelato shop nearby (guilty look)...

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi beau lotus,
There's so many great programes for kids there and I can't wait to go to Singapore again! It's a nice workout for ice cream, but you have so many wonderful gelato shops in Itay! :)

Sue Sue said...

This ice-cream recipe without the ice-cream maker seems interesting. Going to try out for my kids one day.

Anonymous said...

Thank you V. You have made my day. I have to try making homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker.

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Sue Sue,
Have fun with the kids doing this, and get ready for a workout. LOL!

Hi Lee Ping
You're most welcome. Your kids are older and will be able to help with shaking the bag! :)

Anonymous said...

Dear V,

It really works and Little Dragon helped me with the shaking.
I used heavy cream instead of half and half. I took a photo of our end product.

http://tinyurl.com/2jmcrk

It looks a little liquidish but it tastes like ice cream and definitely tastes better than store bought.

Thanks for sharing!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Lee Ping,
I am glad to hear that you tried it and enjoyed it. It is great that little dragon got in with the fun too! :) Saw your picture, and it's lovely!

Cris said...

NO ice cream maker here!!! Woo hoo, I was getting jealous of some blog friends who were posting so many ice cream recipes, here's the solution!

East Meets West Kitchen said...

Hi Cris,
Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Thank you so much for posting this! I'm excited to test it out! :)
~ Joanne, Michigan

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is some good ice cream! It tastes just like store bought vanilla! But better because it is made from scratch and you know everything that goes into it! It melted really quickly though... ANd it was more icey than creamy. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Ive been looking for ways to make homemade ice cream as a alternative to christmas pudding for christmas day as my family are not fans of christmas pudding. I was going to pre-make the ice cream but now I can just give them the bags, they can pick there extra ingredience and shake there own! Brilliant! LOL

MadDiabetic said...

I had such a craving for ice cream and I am diabetic. I subbed Splenda for the sugar and it came out beautifully.

Special K said...

I am going to do this tonight...and will post it up later this week...do you have any ideas for my amazing race bars?

Riot said...

There's usually specific salt (ice cream salt) you can buy at the store just for making ice cream this way. I've never seen it but I have made ice cream this way too; it's pretty fun.

Ruby said...

Hello,

1. Can this be made with 5% half and half, to cut down on fat, or even milk/carnation milk?

2. How much does the recipe make?

2. Can I freeze it afterwards?

TIA!

Ruby said...

Hello,

1. Can I use 5% half and half to cut down on the fat?

2. Or can I use whole milk/carnation milk?

3. How much does this recipe make?

4. Can I freeze the ice-cream afterwards?

TIA! :)