Icecream

Ice cream is a delicious and delicate desert that most of us have become fond of through childhood exposure. Who doesn't love ice cream (other than people with a disdain for lactose)? It's smooth, creamy, and sweet. It comes in a variety of flavors and textures and it just tastes so damn good!

Store-bought ice cream can be pretty tastey but it's way to expensive for my tastes. I hate shelling out $5 or more to get a quart of the good stuff and I hate buying cheap stuff even more! There's just no middle ground for ice cream. It's either pricey and delicious or cheap and disgusting. Having good taste is not easy.

I decided to go out and get an ice cream maker and undergo the scientific process that produces ice cream. Of course I'm speaking of endothermics. Combining water and salt to produce a liquid that's colder than the regular freezing point of water! Now that's science!

I went to the grocery store in search of an ice cream machine that could do my bidding. There were a lot of models that required ice and salt in order to function but I just saw that as being a pain in the ass.. Instead, I opted for a gel-canister model that simply requires the gel-insulated bowl to kept in the freezer for 6-8 hours before using. This comes in handy unless you need to make a few in a short amount of time.

Anyway, I've spent a good amount of time reading about Ice Cream. From recipes to techniques. There are a lot of different ways to tackle this frozen desert. I wrote down a number of different recipes and headed to my drawing board where I then combined the knowledge from all the different recipes into one and then tweaked the end result to fit my tastes. Many of the recipes required tempering egg yolks but I found this to be a pain in the ass. The eggs are used as a short cut method to obtain an ideal texture. They are not neccessary.

I will not reveal my custom tuned recipe but I will reveal the process that will produce results that tempered egg yolks attempt to duplicate. First off the cream mixture, sugar, and flavorings (all natural and organic) should be slowly brought up to 175 degrees farenheit on the range. Once that temperature has been reached, turn off the heat, and allow the mixture to come down to room temperature at its own pace. Once at room temperature the mixture should be covered and placed in the fridge for 8-16 hours before mixing. It's stupid amount of time but I promise that the longer you wait the more you'll be rewarded. The colder liquids will form tighter knit ice crystals than a room temperature liquid will. This will create a velvety smooth texture when churned in the machine. Booyah! Eggs are no substitute for this process.. Simply a decent imitation.

There you have it.. Ice cream science.

If you want to know more about ice cream there are plenty of recipes on google.com. Find one that fits you...

PS. Never ever ever ever ever ever buy generic ice cream. It's crap. It's full of things that don't make sense. Why would you want that?