The Drunken stepFORUM - A place to discuss your worthless opinions - FOOD

Homemade Ice Cream (or frozen custard since it has eggs)

RAW EGG ALERT!! If you are afraid of RAW EGGs, don't eat this. And no, temper the mixture, it totally ruins the texture of the ice cream.

Makes about 1 gallon

6 Eggs
2 c granulated Sugar
1 cn (14-oz) Eagle Brand Sweet and Condensed milk
4 c Half and Half
2 tbsp Vanilla (really betwen 1.25 and 2 depending on your taste)
Milk

Blender - 5 cups at least
Hand Mixer - Electric is best
Large container which can be sealed. I use a 1 gallon tupperware container.
Ice Cream freezer - The kind that uses rock salt and ice. This will not work in those new "freeze the bucket" ice cream makers. It's just too thick.
I use Rival's 4qt electric version. About $20. Similar to
http://housewares.about.com/od/icecr...icecrm8804.htm
7lb bag of ice at least!
Bag of rock salt. 2lbs is usually what I use to make a batch.

This usually requires two steps in a blender due to so much liquid.

In a bowl, break egg yolks and whip with a fork just like you would for an omelette.

In blender (5cup minimum) put two cups half&half and start on "soup" setting. That's like 5 of 15 on my blender. Through open top, slowly pour in 1 cup sugar (about 1/8cup at a time). Blend till no granuals can be felt between fingers (turn off blender before dipping fingertip!!). Usually about 3-4 minutes. Start blender again and add last cup of sugar as before. Next pour in Sweet and Condensed milk while blending. Add as much of the last two cups of half&half as possible.

Now, split the mix. Pour half into a large container of at least 3qts.

Back to the blender. Start blender on "soup" and add last of half&half. Slowly pour in eggs. I use a spoon or something and hold it against the egg bowl so the eggs don't slop in to the blender all at once. Trick I learned to pour liquids from one glass to another too. Blend mixture well, but you don't want it frothy or whipped.

Think fully melted milkshake.

Now, pour this "batch" into the previous batch. Get an electric hand mixer and on medium setting, mix everything well. While mixing add vanilla. Personally, my family uses 2 tbsp, but some like less vanilla. Keep in mind, this is VERY rich in flavor, so more vanilla is wise.

Once mixed well, you need to chill in the bottom back of your fridge for at least 3 hours. You want this REALLY cold. Not frozen though.

Put the freezer in your sink. Pour the mix into the freezer's tub and fill with whole milk to the fill line.

Now the blade in and the lid on. NEVER remove the lid from this point on. If you get any of the ice/salt brine in the tub, it ruins the ice cream.

Put a couple handfulls of ice on both sides of the tub then pour maybe a half-cup of rock salt over the ice. Repeat layers till you're just below the edge of the lid.

Now here's a trick I learned as a kid. To quicken the process pour a cup or two of COLD (VERY COLD) water over the ice/salt. Yes, you'll need to add more ice, than cover with salt. However, the point is that you want a FREEZING cold brine mix. The water will become colder than 32degrees without freezing because of the salt. This is very important and part of the normal process. By adding water now, you don't have to waste time waiting for the ice to melt and then that brine get below freezing again.

Once you have the ice/salt/brine done, put the motor on and lock in place. Plug it in and hang out while it turns the tub (not the blade). At 70-75f, you'll need to add more ice/salt 3 or 4 times. Plenty of brine will drain out the freezer's drain hole, which is why I do this in the kitchen sink. The freezing takes about 45 minutes to an hour. I wash the gallon container I used for cooling the mix so I can put the ice cream in it after the churning.

As the process occurs, you'll need to stay close incase the tub "binds" and stops. You have a minute tops before these new motors burn out as they don't have a clutch.

So unless you want to buy another mixer, don't sit this on the back porch and go watch TV.

Now this is hard to explain, but I let it bind five or six times before I give up
restarting the motor. To restart, unplug as soon as it binds. Then wiggle the tub counter-clockwise and clockwise a bit. You should feel it loosen up. What usually happens is that some ice gets wedged between the tub and the bucket. Plug it back in and wait for the next bind. Usually time to add ice/salt too.

As the mix freezes, if you have a clear lid, you'll see it roll over the top of the blade. It'll get to the point that it looks like it's not rolling much. That's
usually close to the thickness where the machine will bind and you can't get it to unbind. When there, you're going to have to work fast for the next part.

Remove the tub, wipe off the ice/salt-brine. Quickly now! Take the lid off and pull out the blade, cleaning it off as you go - don't waste any :)

Transfer the ice cream into your lidded gallon container and if you have a deep freeze, put the container in the bottom of it. For me, this is very important to the texture of the ice cream.

Slow freezing will cause it to have crystals like the frost you get when you leave a freezer open too long. Freeze at least eight hours.

Once frozen, this stuff is like hard clay. It's very hard to scoop. So I put it in the kitchen freezer for a day. It'll still be hard, but not enough to prevent
scooping. Use a heavy duty scoop or blade though.

Being that this stuff is VERY rich, you'll only serve 3 or 4 golf ball sized scoops per person. Also, it's VERY cold and most people are shocked that even though it seems like it's melted a lot, it's cold enough to shock the tongue. However, it melts in the mouth like no other ice cream I've had. Nothing else has the texture this does and that texture is part of the experience.

I wouldn't keep this ice cream for more than a week though. It starts to taste odd about then and quickly gets worse.

Lastly, if you haven't noticed, this recipe has RAW EGGS in it. DO NOT FEED TO BABIES or pregnant woman. Eat at your own risk, but I've eaten this stuff 5+ times a Summer since I was three years old and I only have a few minor twitches :)