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Ice Cream Making
Terminology
"Ice Cream"
Depending on who you ask, the presence of certain ingredients might disqualify a desert from being "ice cream". I tend to believe (sometimes begrudgingly) that the popular definition is "correct", in this case that ice cream is everything that a normal person might call ice cream, which includes frozen custard, frozen yogurt, and gelato.
If I am referring specifically to egg-less ice cream, I will state as such.
"Dairy"
In this note and my ice cream recipes, I use dairy to refer to the mixture of milk, creams, milk/cream mixtures (see #Half and Half), eggs, yogurt, what have you, that makes up the majority of the stuff that you put in the ice cream machine that, after churning, becomes ice cream.
Churning
Storage
Containers
Churned ice cream needs to be stored in an airtight container, otherwise ice crystals will form and ruin the texture.
Added Alcohol
The addition of alcohol before storage will lower the melting point of the ice cream, giving it a softer texture. This is especially helpful for certain recipes with large pieces of fruit or cookies, which can freeze hard and crunchy.
The recommended ratio is one tablespoon of spirit (usually vodka, brandy, or rum) to one cup of dairy. Add immediately after churning.
Recipes
Churn Time
Recipes frequently say to churn "according to manufacturer instructions" which is funny because my Cuisinart's instructions say to churn according to the particular recipe.
The secret is that it doesn't matter. The ice cream is done churning when it sticks to the hook and visually stops circulating. That is, it's done churning when it's done churning.
Recipe Scale
Recipes rarely mention what volume churn they're intended for (although they might provide an Amazon affiliate link).
I have a Cuisinart ICE-21P1, a 1.5 quart model. Cuisinart does not give direction on maximum volume of un-churned ingredients.
When making homemade-ice-cream#Mint Chocolate Chip, using three cups dairy and about a half cup of mix-ins, there was exactly enough capacity. Later when making homemade-ice-cream#Strawberry with three cups dairy and 1 3/4 cups mix-ins (at the direction of someone reporting success with the same model of churn) the batch overflowed aggressively.
Half and Half
Ice cream recipes use a ratio of milk and cream in order to control the fat content of the result. Usually just milk and heavy cream, but some evil people prescribe half and half.
I rarely consume milk or cream, and they spoil quickly, so I'd prefer not to keep on hand any more milks of varying fat content than necessary. Luckily (as might be surmised from the name) half and half can be made at home, only not from half milk and half heavy cream (which are the dairy solutions I keep stocked).
Half and half is half milk and half light cream. Light cream has about half the fat of heavy cream, so one part heavy cream to three parts whole milk is the correct ratio.
Sugar
The source I referenced while writing homemade-ice-cream#Mint Chocolate Chip directs one to pre-whisk the sugar into the dairy, but other recipe sources, including mine for homemade-ice-cream#Strawberry, just have you dump everything in the churn and hit go. I feel like this ought to be sufficient.