I don't make much homemade ice cream anymore. However when I want it, $15.00 a gal is what I would pay. By the way, Eagle Brand condensed milk is the best for good ice cream.

That's a pretty hefty price for ice cream. I have used condensed milk in other dessert recipes, but not ice cream. Do you have the recipe to share? I would imagine other milk is added to it.

Bejay

We have one of those Cuisinart 1.5 qt makers, and the basic recipe is a pint of whipping cream, a pint of milk, sugar, and flavoring. Its pretty good stuff.

We don't eat as much ice cream as before obtaining this, even with athletic teenagers, because they have to remember to freeze the container first, and then they have to remember to remind me to buy the whipping cream.

My machine has a self contained freezer unit that plugs in. It only makes a quart at a time, and would probably cost more due to the electricity used. Because I am lactose intolerent, and cannot deal with most store bought, and lactose ice cream isn't low/no sugar, I usually have to make it from treated milk, and add texturizers like a little xanthum gum, and of course artificial sweeteners. A company a while back was offering a powdered mix product that you added eggs and dairy to, it was called Keto. Eagle brand is the sweetened condensed milk. Here, I can't stomach that unless its mixed heavily with other things to disguise its odd canned taste. It does make great Key Lime pie though. Ideally, a fat free, no lactose, artifical sweetened ice cream would be good, but would probably taste terrible and have the texture of an ice cube.

Bejay, what kind of ice cream were you buying and what were you using it for? When I worked at Starbucks I liked taking home expired cream to make banana ice cream and peanut butter ice cream, which are not usually sold plain. However, in the past year or so I have really enjoyed eating Ben & Jerry's, and I love most of their new flavors (Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, Cinnamon Buns, Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler, also Chunky Monkey which isn't new). The fancy flavors seem more worth the health tradeoffs of all that saturated fat.

If you're saving that much (about half price, right?), I think it's worth it, especially if you would be buying basic flavors like vanilla. I think it's even more worth it if you're making unusual flavors. I can't see why it wouldn't be worth it unless electricity is outrageously expensive or you think store-bought tastes better.

Melissa

STEVE'S FAMOUS BANANA ICE CREAM
(collected from the internet)

2 c. heavy whipping cream (1 Pint)
1 cup whole milk
1 inch split vanilla bean (optional)
2 eggs (whole)
1 c. sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 peeled bananas (medium)

Add whipping cream, whole milk, and vanilla bean in a pan and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Stir constantly and do not cover.

In a separate bowl mix the eggs and sugar until well blended.

After the cream and milk has been simmering, take out the vanilla bean and add the egg/sugar mixture to the pan, maintaining the simmer and the stirring.

When this begins to thicken (approx 3-5 minutes) remove from heat, cover with saran wrap (tight to the mixture), and put in the fridge until completely cool.

Once cool add the bananas (diced), the mixture, and the vanilla extract into a blender and blend for 4 minutes on high or until it looks slightly frothy.

Immediately (do not let mixture settle) put this in your ice cream machine and chill per the machine's instructions. It will make just under 2 quarts, perfect for a 2 quart machine and to add in fixings per your pleasure (chocolate chips are great).

If you have a 1 quart machine either 1/2 the ingredients or re-whip the 2nd half and process two batches.

Submitted by: Steve Mast

Notes from Melissa:
I have always loved this recipe, but the most recent time I made it I thought it was too custardy. I probably cooked it a little too long (for kids' safety you should make sure it gets to 160°F to cook the eggs). Also, next time I will use more milk and less cream (to change the taste and the mouthfeel). I think it's best if the bananas are on the far end of ripeness but not yet overripe.

Sold my ice cream concession trailer about a year and a half ago. I had two really big Amish made wooden ice cream churns that were on a wagon and had been set up for electric. Great crowd pleaser and great ice cream. I used a commercial mix that tasted just like homemade only better. When I make mine now, I use a smaller electric machine with the insert that you freeze ahead of time. I use half and half and it is economical plus you can make so many variations. I really do wish I'd kept one of those huge Amish churns, but it was a package deal - trailer, churns, wagon, freezers, supplies, etc.

Not sure what happened to my message - it rejected???

Melissa - thank you for the recipe. Will try.

Actually - I am able to buy half and half for a reasonable price. Most recipes call for whipping cream - then mix with milk anyway. So if made with half and half gives a decent end product, I figure I'm ahead - if it tastes OK, cuz I can purchase half and half for less money than whip cream and milk.

A lot of my "do-it-yourself" projects turn out to be more expensive some times than the commercial product. Someone mentioned making it with condensed milk - which I can buy for $1.00 a can. But I'm not sure of the rest of the ingredients or taste.

bcskye - you mentioned Amish ice cream. My daughter brought home a recipe and starter for Amish Friendship Bread in a bag. I'm supposed to let it "work" for about 10 days. I assume it is a lactic acid starter (such as we've been working with in sourdough bread culture), but not sure it's origin.

When it's "worked" sufficiently, other ingredients are added - some culture saved out - to pass on to someone - then baked. It is still in the process of time - doing it's fermenting - so haven't tried it.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

"Whipping" cream can be one of two types. Heavy cream which if it was beaten too much, would turn to butter. Its use is fr nice firm whipped cream. Then there is the litte bit cheaper medium cream. Then half and half which is a mix of light cream and milk. That Amish frendship bread culture is basically similar to the type used to make sourdough bread. Even for that, none of these should ever be mixed with anything by flour and water, then save the small portion for next time. 10 days is quite a lot, but it may be due to a much milder and less active wild yeast. There are actually several strains of wild yeast even for sourdough, some are milder than others, and some bubble quite a lot, whilc others are very slow to rise. Usually, most sourdough cultures you see being sold on the internet are blends, and many are very similar in their ratios of wild yeasts

Bejay, the churns were Amish made, but the ice cream mix wasn't. Those churns were gorgeous and worked so well. As for the starter for Amish Friendship Bread, I was suppose to start a batch of it a couple of days ago and had so many other things pop up that I didn't get a chance. I won't be using a pre-packaged mix, but starting my own with active dry yeast, flour, sugar, milk and a tiny amount of water. Also, allrecipes.com has some good recipes for bread made from your starter. For Christmas, my neighbor gave us a loaf of the most delicious bread that she had bought from an Amish gentleman in the area. She is also going to try to get the recipe from him. By the way, if you can't use all the starter you're suppose to take out every 10th day, you can freeze the extra in 1 cup portions then later you can thaw and use them. That would be a good safeguard, too, in case you "kill" your starter.

I received an Amish friendship bread starter too. It made three loaves or giveaway starters every 10 days, which was too much work for me, so I baked it all. Plus I was wary of having milk in the starter at room temperature. Plain sourdough seems much sturdier. The friendship bread was delicious though, hope you like it Bejay!

Melissa

bejay9: Here is one of the recipes I use.

6 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 TB flour
Pinch of salt
4 tps vanilla
l can Eagle Brand condensed milk

Beat eggs, sugar and flour, Blend in vanilla and Eagle brand and enough milk to fill container to proper level.

My little bag of Amish starter is beginning to work - puffing up the bag - which instructions say it should. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Tam (my GD) also brought home a very nice yellow rose. Looks a lot like "Peace" although not smell to it. Lovely otherwise. She wanted to know if she could get it to root. Some years ago, I rooted a deep red one (think American Beauty), from a bouquet that a co-worker received. I planted it deep in a pot with only top sticking out, then put the whole pot in a shady place - with a large soda bottle on top - (greenhouse-effect) and kept watered until it sprouted. It worked well and I had that rose for over 2 years.

Anyway - I told her this time - she should have all the fun - hope she will take an interest. Wouldn't mind a little extra help in the garden.

However, back to topic at hand. Thank you for the condensed ice cream recipe - although my cannister makes 5 quarts - so filling to the top of the can might take more milk - in relation to the condensed kind??

The freezer is a Rival electric. It works OK - but is a bit fragile. It needs to be attended to - because the spindle will strip the housing if the cream freezes too hard causing overloading.

Bejay

Careful of copy right infringement. Many rose types are restricted as to reproducing without proper licensing.

My old feeze the tank type ice cream maker somehow expanded and was totally unsable. It even trapped the plastic dasher. It was almost as if it was boiled and the heat expanded the inside like a balloon. I could also hear dry clumps inside when I shook it. After the severe expansion it did leak some odd white fuzzy stuff (probably the dried liquid). It was never exposed to heat or cold and was stored in my basement for several years, until I decided to try and sell it in a garage sale. I had to toss it out, motor and all. I also had one that the whole unit fit in the freezer and you ran an AC cord out the door. This one had a small fan and motor, but only a plain metal can inside with no thick wall or liquid. It used the cold of the freezer and the enclosed fan to get things chilled. It had an automatic cutoff once the motor labored too much. I forget the name, but it must have been 30 years old.

Ken - thanks for the heads-up on the rose "copyright infringement" - the next time the FBI comes stomping through my back yard, I'll be sure to hide my "infringements" under a garbage can.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Bejay,

Ha, I knew that would get you.. I see the tags on roses that state that stuff. Also, the newest fruit strains of Pluots, were copyrighted by Dave Wilson, and these are prized for their really sweet fruits. WIsh I had a few to try growing here.

Just a technical nit - that would be patent violation, not copyright ;-)

Of course, many other roses have been around for hundreds of years and are quite firmly in the public gardening domain. Really, those patent-rose growers should stamp their patent number on each stem if they want to be sure we know which kind is which.... ;-)

Zabby, who believes firmly in the principles of intellectual property (I'm an editor and so my living comes indirectly from copyright) but has plenty of opinions about the "patenting" of living things that she should probably shut up about on this friendly forum ;-) )

Yeah, realized that afterwards. Patents are many, and some do expire, so when they do, all the generics come out of the woodwork.

> Patents are many, and some do expire, so when they do, all the generics come out of the woodwork.

Or grow through the fence.... ;-)

Z

Bejay, I'm of the firm belief that homemade ice cream is ALWAYS worth it. :) It's one of those things that even if it weren't cost effective, I would consider worth the extra. I love homemade chocolate, peach or cookie types. It also brings back fond memories of being at my Nana's house when the "cousins" were visiting from out of state. We always made ice cream and it was a big family event since it was a hand-cranked type. My grandmother's chocolate ice cream wasn't very creamy, come to think of it. It sorta reminds me now of a fudgesicle. It was so good at the time, though. Lori

Lori - You know - I agree. If I buy ice cream - it's only a pint or 2. But having 14 half pints in my freezer at one time - now that's pure luxury.

As for being a bit icy - I note if I put the container in the microwave on defrost for a few seconds, it won't bend the spoon that way. LOL.

Actually, it is quite good - and as long as whip cream is hard to find sometimes, I'll keep making it this way. I add chocolate powder, sometimes chocolate chips, or some of my runnier type jams, and it's alway a treat.

My mom was a career type mother - so outside of her wunnerful home cooked beef stew, we rarely had home mades -like cakes, sausage or stuff that took a lot of time to prepare. Grew up in a kid's paradise, with lots of burgers and fries - which was OK too. But I do enjoy all of the skills that these forums have afforded me.

Appreciate the interest.

Bejay

Has anyone made low fat yogurt ice cream with Splenda?

A sugar substitute doesn't freeze as slow as sugar does. If you do use one, the ice cream will freeze and harden quite fast. I remember the lady who was diabetic and made Italian slush with a sugar substitute, and it was made in an old hand crank ice cream maker with the rock salt and ice. She left it a few seconds and it froze solid.

Ever notice how they have reduced the container size a few ounces. You used to het a half gallon or a quart. But now, its 58-60 ounces and 28 ounces for the quarts. They make the bottoms much deeper on the outside. Another peeve. That so called 'double churned', is really ice cream with a LOT more air pumped into it. If melted to a liqiud, a quart will just barely over fill a pint container. This is one of those items that should be weighed instead of measured by volume.

Bejay,

My mom had some great quick recipes, and the budget didn't stretch to fast food much, but I had the same experience of growing up in a house where effiency and purchased short-cuts were valued in the kitchen. No complaints; I was well fed, but the "slow food" arts, including gardening, were just not of that much interest to my mom, or even my grandmother. The latter was also a city career woman (my grandparents owned a farm that was an income and investment property; it would NEVER have occurred to them to enjoy actual farming work), who canned during the depression and had a small Victory garden during WWII because she had to. She'd be so amused to see me, born in Manhattan and raised in downtown Toronto, loving life in a town of 4,000, raising 90 tomato plants a year, and filling a pantry with canned goods.

Z

Bejay and Zabby,

I'm a third-generation working woman (working outside the home that is). My grandmother's passed-down recipes involve Velveeta, or they came off the box of some ingredient. That's where my grandfather's delicious Bisquick cookie recipe came from too, so I'm not complaining!

I don't remember exactly what we ate when I was little, but by the time I was in college, my mother would cook one week's worth of meals on repeat to please my little brother and sister. I think Monday was hamburgers, on Wednesday Brian got rice and Caitlin got tacos, Friday was takeout and Tuesday was McDonald's. Once Brian went to college, Caitlin started cooking for Mom out of the Rachael Ray cookbooks. Now my other brother Chris, who fits in the middle, cooks for Mom sometimes, and meanwhile Brian is up at college cooking vegetarian feasts with his girlfriend. Funny how it comes around. My dad has always done the weekend & holiday cooking. He learned early because his dad died so he had to help his grandmother while his mom worked.

To bring it back to ice cream, my working grandmother always had store-bought chocolate chip ice cream in her freezer, in the rectangular carton, stored inside a tupperware ice cream holder. My family may not understand canning, but they certainly appreciate what I share with them...I'm sure all our families do!

Melissa

I wouldn't base my decision to homemake anything solely on "cost". I eat for my health and because it tastes good, so I always try and make things from scratch because I have more control over both those things. You can make it taste any way you want from scratch. Plus I try and eat as few preservatives as possible because they are rarely good for you, so hand-making my ice cream would reduce those. Also, I do not do well with corn syrup and really avoid eating it if I can, and almost ALL store-bought ice cream is loaded with corn syrup. So I say absolutely make your own, whenever you can!!!
Carla in Sac

There is one ice cream locally, that has a LOT of lactose sugar. Needless to say, anyone eating that with lactose intolerence (inability to digest milk products) is in big trouble.

Belinda, funny you should ask. My girls got me one of those little Cuisinart ice cream freezers for Christmas. My first batch of anything was a couple of cups of frozen strawberries, a quart of my homemade yogurt and enough Equal to sweeten it to taste. I put everything into the food processor to chop up the frozen berries, then into the freezer, it was very, very yummy and my Dad, who is diabetic, loved it.

I liked it better with sweet cherries and some grated dark chocolate, same "recipe" but different fruit. It does freeze very hard, because of the ingredients, but I just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds like Bejay does, and it scoops right out nicely.

I also made my very favorite ice cream, it's just amazing for those coffee lovers among us, like me. It's another recipe I got from the Cooking Forum.

Espresso-Brownie Chunk Ice Cream
================================
Fatlester - Gardenweb

1/2 pound brownies cut in 1/4 inch chunks
1 cup whole Espresso, French or vienna roast coffee beans
2 1/4 cups half and half cream
3/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 cup whipping cream
.
Wrap and firmly freeze the brownie chunks. Put the coffee beans on a jell-roll pan and over them with a dish towel.
Using a veal pounder or the bottom of a heavy sauce pan, press to crush the beans thoroughly. (Do not substitute ground coffee) Transfer the crushed coffee beans to a medium saucepan. Add the half and half and heat it to simmering. Cover and simmer 10 minutes , then set the pan aside, off heat, for 15 minutes longer. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into another saucepan, pressing to remove all liquid from the coffee beans; discard the solids. Stir the sugar into the strained coffee liquid and heat it to simmering. Put the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl and slowly whisk in the coffee liquid (or put the egg yolks in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process, pouring in the coffee liquid). Cool the mixture slightly by stirring in the whipping cream. Set the bowl over ice or refrigerate until the custard is thoroughly chilled. (Can cover and refrigerate overnight).

Transfer the custard to the cnaister of an ice-cream machine. Follow manufacturer's directions and churn until the ice cream is half frozen. Add frozen brownie pieces and continue churning until frozen. Serve immediately, or transfer ice cream to an airtight freezer container, seal
and kep frozen until serving time. (Can freeze for several hours).

Annie

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