Debug

[0 - 3] - [Hannah] It's easier if you have two hands,

[3 - 7] but I'm lucky if I have even one hand today.

[7 - 12] My sous chef. Yoohoo! (upbeat music)

[13 - 16] - Ice cream is the perfect summer treat.

[16 - 18] Most people just go out and buy it at the store,

[18 - 21] but if you know the joys of actually making it home.

[21 - 23] - It's actually way easier than you think.

[23 - 24] My preferred method is

[24 - 27] to use our well-tested winning ice cream machine.

[27 - 29] - [Lisa] And I'm partial to deputy food editor

[29 - 33] from "Cook's Country" Morgan Bolling's super-easy,

[33 - 35] no churn ice cream which is made in our winning blender.

[35 - 37] - [Hannah] Today, we're gonna a look at both

[37 - 39] of these proven at-home methods

[39 - 41] so you can see which one is right for you.

[41 - 42] - Hannah, let's start with you

[42 - 44] and the traditional ice cream machine method.

[44 - 46] - All right, sounds good.

[49 - 52] So all ice cream machines work roughly the same way.

[52 - 54] You make a loose base, a liquidy base.

[54 - 57] It can be dairy if you're making a custard=style ice cream,

[57 - 60] coconut milk which makes super delicious vegan ice cream,

[60 - 61] or fruit if you wanna make a sorbet.

[61 - 64] So you have this liquidy base, and then you chill it.

[64 - 67] Once your base is nice and cool, you take out your machine,

[67 - 69] and there are two kinds of machines.

[69 - 71] The first kind is called the canister style.

[71 - 74] It has a removable canister that you store in the freezer.

[74 - 76] So you take your cold canister out,

[76 - 79] you put it in the machine, you pour your base in,

[79 - 82] and you turn the machine on, and the machine turns slowly.

[82 - 85] It's got a paddle inside that's gently agitating

[85 - 86] and stirring everything.

[86 - 87] This is really key.

[87 - 90] The paddle incorporates some air in there

[90 - 93] so the ice cream doesn't freeze into a solid brick of ice

[93 - 94] so you can actually scoop it out,

[94 - 96] and it gets nice and creamy.

[96 - 98] And then there's another kind of ice cream machine.

[98 - 101] This is called a self-refrigerating ice cream machine.

[101 - 104] These are the ones that have the cooling elements right

[104 - 105] inside the machine.

[105 - 107] These are nice because you don't have

[107 - 109] to take up freezer space to freeze your canister.

[109 - 112] You can make multiple batches, one after another.

[112 - 115] But there are two major drawbacks.

[115 - 118] First of all, they're big. Second of all, they're expensive.

[118 - 120] We're talking three or 400 bucks.

[120 - 122] So we tested six ice cream machines

[122 - 123] in our ice cream machine testing,

[123 - 126] some canister style, some self refrigerating.

[126 - 127] Not all of them performed well.

[127 - 130] Some of them made icier ice cream.

[130 - 132] Others were hard to add mix ins into.

[132 - 135] So in the end, we chose a winner from Cuisinart,

[135 - 138] the Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker.

[138 - 140] It was super easy to use,

[140 - 142] made beautifully luscious ice cream,

[142 - 145] super easy to add mix ins, it was lightweight,

[145 - 147] on the smaller side of things.

[147 - 148] I got it for my wedding eight years ago,

[148 - 151] and it's still working fantastically.

[151 - 152] All right, so I'm gonna show you guys

[152 - 153] how to make ice cream at home.

[153 - 156] I am making a custard one, which means it's a base

[156 - 159] of milk, cream, and eggs.

[159 - 167] So milk and cream, one and a half cups of each. (liquid pouring)

[167 - 169] A half a cup of sugar.

[169 - 171] We're gonna heat this over medium heat

[171 - 172] for about five minutes.

[172 - 175] We are looking for a temperature of 175 degrees.

[175 - 178] While the custard is heating, you also want

[178 - 181] to whisk together some of the sugar,

[181 - 184] 1/4 cup, and four egg yolks.

[184 - 185] You don't want the eggs to cook

[185 - 187] when you add the hot milk mixture to them,

[187 - 190] so we're gonna temper them by adding a little bit

[190 - 193] of the milk mixture to the eggs off of the heat

[193 - 195] and then combining everything back together.

[195 - 199] So once we've hit 175, we are going to add half

[199 - 202] of the milk-cream mixture into the egg yolks

[202 - 206] and sugar, whisking to combine everything,

[207 - 209] and then combine it back in here.

[209 - 212] And at this point, I'm gonna heat everything again.

[212 - 216] This time, my target temperature is 180 to 185 degrees.

[216 - 218] All of this sounds really hard and complicated,

[218 - 220] and the first time I read the recipe, I was like "What?"

[220 - 222] But it's very few ingredients,

[222 - 224] and the one thing you do need is time.

[224 - 226] You wanna make the custard base.

[226 - 228] You wanna give it the time to cool down.

[228 - 229] You wanna make sure you have your canister

[229 - 232] in your freezer 24 hours beforehand.

[232 - 234] But if you can remember to leave time

[234 - 236] to do those two things, the activities

[236 - 239] in between are actually pretty simple.

[241 - 243] 180, there we go.

[243 - 246] Turning off my heat, and now I'm gonna pour this whole thing

[246 - 249] through the fine mesh strainer into the medium bowl,

[249 - 254] which is set in the ice bath. (liquid pouring)

[254 - 256] The reason you do the ice bath

[256 - 258] is to get this cooling down faster.

[259 - 260] You don't want it sitting outside

[260 - 261] of your fridge for a long time

[261 - 263] while it comes down to room temperature

[263 - 265] so you can put it back in your fridge.

[265 - 268] So the ice situation in here and this double layer bowl

[268 - 270] really just helps it cool faster.

[270 - 271] Once it's cooled to room temp,

[272 - 276] then you wanna cover it and put it in the refrigerator

[276 - 278] until it hits 40 degrees

[280 - 282] Nice and cold.

[282 - 287] You need to make sure to leave the time to chill this down.

[287 - 288] It can take three to four hours,

[288 - 292] or you can just do it the day before, which is what I did,

[292 - 293] and then you'll be certain it's nice and chilled.

[293 - 295] But you just wanna make sure that it hits 40 degrees,

[295 - 299] or else your ice cream will be icy and not in a good way.

[299 - 300] I've been there. Don't do it.

[300 - 302] I'm gonna take the canister out.

[302 - 304] It's been chilling in here for 24 hours.

[304 - 311] I feel like a hoarder. I'm embarrassed about my freezer. Don't look. (terrifying music)

[311 - 315] All right, onto churn our ice cream. This part is so easy.

[316 - 319] I'm gonna shake up the base, make sure everything's nice

[319 - 324] and combined, and I'm gonna add my extracts at this point.

[324 - 326] Vanilla extract, if you're using extract instead of a pod,

[326 - 329] we like to add it right before churning

[329 - 331] so you really maximize the flavor.

[331 - 332] So I'm adding a teaspoon of that.

[335 - 340] And then, I'm also gonna add some coconut extract

[340 - 341] because the flavor I'm making today

[341 - 343] is coconut chocolate almond.

[343 - 345] I used to work in an ice cream shop.

[345 - 348] Shout out to Nona's Homemade, South Shore Boston, Mass.

[348 - 351] Out of 40 flavors, this was my absolutely favorite.

[351 - 355] I am gonna add a teaspoon of coconut extract.

[355 - 357] Extracts are added.

[357 - 359] Let's shake up my base here,

[359 - 362] make sure everything is nice and combined.

[362 - 364] Pour it in the cold canister.

[366 - 369] Here's the paddle. Paddle just perches right in there.

[371 - 373] And the cover.

[373 - 375] Cover goes in these grooves here right in the bottom.

[375 - 378] Slides right in. That's it. (machine whirring)

[378 - 380] Takes about 15 to 20 minutes.

[380 - 382] You wanna look at the consistency inside.

[382 - 385] It should look like a milkshake or like frozen yogurt.

[385 - 386] So you wanna see some thickening.

[386 - 389] And then it's time to add the add ins.

[389 - 391] So I have toasted almonds, chunks of chocolate,

[391 - 393] and dried cherries here.

[393 - 395] I've never done dried fruit in an ice cream,

[395 - 397] but that is one of the most fun parts

[397 - 398] about an ice cream machine.

[398 - 400] You can make all kinds of weird things in here.

[400 - 402] A good rough rule of thumb is about two cups

[402 - 405] of add ins for three cups of dairy.

[406 - 408] All right, so we're all done.

[408 - 409] Everything is incorporated.

[409 - 412] We've got a thick, soft serve-like mixture.

[412 - 415] So now, we just wanna scrape it out of the canister

[415 - 417] into an airtight storage container,

[417 - 418] and then we put it in the fridge

[418 - 420] to firm back up a little bit.

[420 - 421] There's nothing wrong with eating it now.

[421 - 422] You could if you like it a little softer,

[422 - 424] but I like a little firmer; it's still a little loose.

[424 - 427] So I'm gonna scrape it out into here.

[427 - 430] (upbeat thumping music)

[433 - 436] All right, so I just showed you how to make the ice cream.

[436 - 438] I have a batch here that I made yesterday,

[438 - 441] so let's check out how it came out.

[444 - 448] Mm, super delicious, super smooth and creamy,

[448 - 449] no ice crystals.

[450 - 454] Check that out there. It's absolutely delicious.

[454 - 456] Super fun doing my own flavor,

[456 - 457] and the texture is perfect,

[457 - 459] and that is really why we like this machine.

[459 - 463] Great ice cream, super easy to use, great price.

[463 - 465] But if you don't wanna buy a dedicated ice cream machine,

[465 - 467] you can also use your blender.

[467 - 469] Lisa is gonna go ahead and show us how it's done.

[469 - 473] (upbeat thumping music)

[473 - 475] - So I'm here with our no churn method,

[475 - 477] which uses a blender.

[477 - 479] This method uses our winning mid-price blender.

[479 - 482] We actually tested blenders in three categories,

[482 - 486] inexpensive, mid priced, and high end, and this model,

[486 - 488] which is the Breville Fresh and Furious,

[488 - 490] won against six competitors.

[490 - 492] And one of the key points that really made this one

[492 - 495] and a few others stand out was

[495 - 497] that they have a slow low speed,

[497 - 499] which means it starts out slowly,

[499 - 502] and it doesn't just throw everything to the walls.

[502 - 505] The other thing we loved about this was the narrow jar.

[505 - 507] A lot of the blenders that have wide jars

[507 - 508] just throw everything to the wall,

[508 - 510] and then it doesn't blend.

[510 - 511] This one also has a rounded bottom

[511 - 514] and creates a really powerful vortex,

[514 - 516] so food gets sucked down to the blade

[516 - 519] and then travels up, and you get a nice consistency.

[519 - 522] It's about $200, but it's a serious blender.

[522 - 526] It will do everything, including making no churn ice cream.

[526 - 528] This ice cream was so good and so exciting.

[528 - 531] When deputy food editor Morgan Bolling worked on it

[531 - 534] in "Cook's Country," it was the cover story

[534 - 537] for our August-September 2019 issue.

[537 - 539] Boy, that was a happy time in the test kitchen.

[539 - 543] Okay, so I'm gonna make this super easy no churn ice cream.

[543 - 545] I'm gonna make the strawberry buttermilk flavor

[545 - 547] in our mid-priced blender.

[547 - 549] Has eight ingredients total.

[549 - 550] Most of this is pantry stuff,

[550 - 553] so it's two cups of heavy cream,

[553 - 555] a cup of sweetened condensed milk,

[555 - 558] 1/4 cup of corn syrup, a half cup of buttermilk

[558 - 561] or you could substitute a 1/4 cup of whole milk,

[561 - 563] two tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon of lemon juice,

[563 - 566] a 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and then,

[566 - 569] to give it the flavor, this is 1/3 of a cup

[569 - 571] of our favorite strawberry preserves,

[571 - 572] which are made my Smucker's.

[572 - 575] Let's go. It's really easy.

[575 - 577] You're just gonna get our blender going

[578 - 584] and add heavy cream. (liquid pouring)

[584 - 586] And this processes very quickly.

[586 - 589] It only takes between 20 and 30 seconds,

[589 - 590] so I'm gonna turn it on.

[590 - 595] I'm gonna use the blend setting. (blender whirring)

[598 - 600] So that went really quickly.

[600 - 603] Actually, it was only about 15 seconds

[603 - 605] before I could see that I'm getting soft peaks,

[605 - 607] which is your first sign.

[607 - 609] And you just wanna scrape down the sides,

[609 - 611] make sure nothing's getting stuck.

[611 - 614] When you whip cream, there's either soft peaks

[614 - 616] or stiff peaks that you see called for in recipes.

[616 - 620] Soft peaks is when it's a little bit squishy and soft,

[620 - 623] just somewhat firm but not really hard.

[623 - 627] When it's at stiff peaks, it can stand up on its own.

[627 - 629] And that's just the consistency

[629 - 632] of how much air is whipped into it and how solid it is.

[632 - 634] Now all we do, this is super simple,

[634 - 636] is we just stir in the rest of the stuff.

[636 - 638] It's very easy.

[638 - 640] So I'm gonna add my sweetened condensed milk.

[640 - 642] Got some whole milk here or you

[642 - 643] would add your buttermilk here if you

[643 - 645] were gonna do strawberry buttermilk.

[645 - 647] Two tablespoons of sugar, little bit of corn syrup,

[647 - 649] tiny bit of lemon juice.

[649 - 651] It's just one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice.

[651 - 653] That keeps it a nice, fresh taste.

[653 - 656] It keeps it from getting too sweet. Salt.

[656 - 658] A lot of sweet things have a little salt

[658 - 660] because that makes it, ah,

[660 - 663] you taste the sweetness a little more.

[663 - 668] So I'm just giving it a light mix together with my spatula.

[668 - 669] And then we're gonna turn it back on

[669 - 671] in the blender for a couple seconds just

[671 - 673] to make sure it's thoroughly mixed.

[673 - 678] And that's almost it. (blender whirring)

[682 - 683] Got my loaf pan.

[683 - 685] If you have a quart container,

[685 - 689] something tall, it doesn't freeze as quickly or as evenly,

[689 - 693] and this just really makes it nice and easy.

[694 - 696] As you can see, it's got a pourable consistency,

[696 - 697] but it's fluffy.

[697 - 699] I'm leveling it out a little bit.

[701 - 703] And now all I have to do

[705 - 708] is take my third cup of strawberry preserves,

[708 - 712] and I'm gonna put that in and swirl it with a fork.

[715 - 718] That lets you get in there and move it around the ice cream.

[720 - 721] And I'm done.

[721 - 725] So I didn't have to cook a custard and chill it down.

[725 - 727] Sorry, Hannah. (laughs)

[727 - 731] I didn't have to freeze a canister in advance.

[731 - 733] I didn't have to do much besides go out

[733 - 737] and pick up some fresh heavy cream and some preserves

[737 - 740] and a couple seconds of blending.

[740 - 742] I'm putting a piece of cling wrap over it,

[742 - 746] and then you just press gently on the surface

[746 - 750] so that it's just contacting the surface of the ice cream.

[752 - 755] And you pop that in the freezer for about six hours,

[755 - 759] and you've got delicious ice cream, and that's it.

[760 - 762] Okay, so I have some of the same flavor,

[762 - 766] strawberry buttermilk, that I made yesterday.

[766 - 769] This is our winning ice cream scoop by Zeroll.

[769 - 772] It uses the heat of your hand to slightly warm the bowl

[772 - 773] and scoop the ice cream.

[775 - 778] Wow, all right. This stuff is great.

[778 - 783] It's really creamy. It's not too sweet.

[783 - 784] It's just perfect,

[784 - 787] and it's got a really nice, fresh flavor

[787 - 789] that sometimes I think supermarket ice creams

[789 - 790] really don't have.

[790 - 792] You can really taste the strawberry.

[792 - 795] The base is really delicious, and,

[795 - 797] as you can tell, it scoops up really nicely.

[797 - 800] It's not soupy, and it's not icy.

[800 - 802] - All right, Lisa, that was so much fun

[802 - 804] to watch you make that ice cream.

[804 - 806] It's so easy. All of the add ins are fun.

[806 - 808] I remember when Morgan was testing that recipe,

[808 - 811] and it was a really fun time in the test kitchen.

[811 - 813] I do think there's still a place, though,

[813 - 816] for the ice cream machine for certain people.

[816 - 819] If you want to really go wild,

[819 - 821] if you wanna do sorbets, if you wanna do frozen yogurt,

[821 - 825] if you wanna do more traditional custard recipes

[825 - 827] with eggs in them, then an ice cream machine

[827 - 829] is definitely still the way to go.

[829 - 832] That said, if you just wanna dabble,

[832 - 834] if you wanna try making ice cream at home

[834 - 837] and you already have a blender, just try the blender method.

[837 - 840] Both of these can make really great ice cream.

[840 - 841] - Yeah, definitely.

[841 - 844] If you have a blender and a couple of,

[844 - 847] handful of pantry ingredients, it's great.

[847 - 848] And it's especially good.

[848 - 850] My son is allergic to eggs.

[850 - 854] This is a wonderful, rich, creamy ice cream with no eggs,

[854 - 856] so it's also good for people with allergies.

[856 - 857] - Well, Lisa, thank you so much

[857 - 859] for talking ice cream today with me.

[859 - 860] It was so fun.

[860 - 862] - I had a great time as always.

[862 - 865] So for more information on everything you've seen today,

[865 - 867] including the recipes, check out the links below.

[867 - 870] - Yep, and if you have any ice cream questions,

[870 - 871] make sure to ask them in the comments,

[871 - 874] and don't forget to hit that subscribe button.

[874 - 877] (bright upbeat music)