No Churn Peanut Butter Ice Cream Recipe | Handle The Heat (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making ice cream very creamy? ›

When it comes to great ice cream, cold temperatures and speed are your friends: the faster you bring your base from liquid to solid, the creamier it'll be. In a 2-quart unit, a typical batch of ice cream will take between 18 and 25 minutes to churn.

Are you chilling the mixture properly? If you're still having problems, then maybe it's an issue with the way you're preparing the mixture. Are you completely chilling the mixture before you add it to the ice cream maker? If you add warm mixture to an ice cream machine, then it won't freeze very well, if at all.

Adding thickening agents, such as egg yolks, cornstarch, gelatin, tapioca starch, or even Junket tablets, enhances the texture and elevates the overall ice cream experience. Remember, making homemade ice cream is as much an art as it is a science.

The most common ones used in ice creams are guar gum, cellulose gum and carob bean gum. They are used to reduce ice crystal growth, deliver flavour cleanly, increase smoothness, body and creaminess and slow down melting. They also help hold the air bubble structure together and give the ice cream a better texture.

Another way to slow the melting process of homemade ice cream is by adding a small amount of corn syrup or stabilizers such as xanthan gum or guar gum to the mixture before freezing. For store-bought ice cream, be sure to keep it in a well-insulated container in the freezer until ready to serve.

When ice cream's small ice crystals melt and re-freeze, they can eventually turn into large, unpalatable lumps. Your freezer should be set at between -5°F and 0°F. Ice cream is easy to dip between 6°F and 10°F, the ideal serving temperature range. Store ice cream in the main part of the freezer.

Adding a dash to your ice cream will definitely improve ice crystal formation, thickening and hardening. However, the real secret is fat content. Fat doesn't freeze, but water does. So, if your ice cream is mostly milk it has a relatively low fat content and will turn out much harder.

If you make a water-based recipe and it turns out icy, cut the water in half the next time you make the ice cream. Even better, choose a recipe that doesn't involve water at all. The more water there is in your ice cream, the more likely it will be to form ice crystals.

Why won't my homemade ice cream thicken? ›

It needs to be fully chilled in order for the ice cream to firm up. Next, make the ice cream base. I recommend doing this step anywhere from 2 to 24 hours in advance. If you do it less than 2 hours ahead, the ice cream won't thicken as nicely when you churn it.

That is, the more sugar you add, the softer and less icy your batch will be. The kind of sugar you add also matters. High-viscosity liquid sweeteners like honey, glucose syrup, and yes, good 'ol corn syrup make for a more viscous base, which translates into chewy richness in churned ice cream.

While it's churning, air gets whipped into the mixture and trapped between small, broken up ice crystals and fat globules. The more air that is incorporated, the lighter and more scoopable the ice cream will be… But also the more quickly it will melt at room temperature.

The Right Amount of Air. The critical and most surprising ingredient that grants soft serve its appealing and smooth texture is air. Ice cream is made using a powdered mixture that needs added water or a liquid base mixture.