Home-Made Ice-cream

[jarandhel]

In the spirit of providing alternatives to highly processed and preserved foods, I was reminded tonight of an experience when I was young of making home-made ice-cream. After a brief search, I've found several variations of the method I used, and have decided to share them here. I can say from childhood experience that the method involving coffee cans definitely works. I believe the method involving ziplock bags would also work, but have not yet tried that version.

It's interesting to note that this would allow one to make much more healthy ice-cream than modern ice-cream, without processing and with greater control over the ingredients. No more corn syrup unless you choose to add it. No soy lecithin. You get the idea. This could be especially helpful to those with allergies. (And Ri, your dad may possibly have the most empty coffee cans of anyone I know, so you'd be very set for doing this if you were so inclined. ;-))


You will need (for vanilla ice cream)

2 Clean, Empty Coffee Cans with Lids (Of proportions 3 to 1... usually a three pound coffee can and a one pound coffee can.)
1/2 Cup Rock Salt, Kosher Salt, or Sea Salt
------------
1 pint Half and Half
1 1/2 tsps. Vanilla
1/3 cup + 2 tblsps. Sugar

OR

1/2 cup (125 ml) sugar
1 cup (225 ml) whipping cream
1 cup (225 ml) milk
1/2 tsp (2 ml) vanilla

OR

1 cup of very cold milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Exact ingredients seem to vary easily, and I highly encourage experimenting to find the one that works best for you. Follow the links at the bottom of this entry to sites with more info on home-made ice cream using these simple methods, and links to further recipes and more than just vanilla ice cream.

Process:

1. Put all of the edible ingredients in the smaller can. Mix well. Put the lid on the smaller can.
2. Put a layer of ice and a layer of salt in the bottom of the larger can. Place the smaller can into the larger can. Continue to pack ice and salt in alternating layers around the smaller can (inside the larger can) until you can just get the lid onto the larger can. You may want to seal the lid on with duct tape.
3. You may want to put down a sheet or towel, or wrap the larger can in a towel. Then roll the can back and forth for about half an hour.

Believe it or not, that's pretty much all there is to the process.

Alternately, ice cream can apparently be made in ziplock bags as well, though in smaller quantities.:

1. Put 1 cup milk, 1 tbsp sugar (or to taste) and 1/2 tsp of vanilla in a 1 quart ziplock bag. Seal bag and mix it until the sugar dissolves.

2. Put the small ziplock bag in a one gallon ziplock bag with 1 and a half cups rock salt and enough ice to fill up the bag. Seal the larger bag.

3. Toss or squeeze the bags for about five minutes until you have ice cream. Remember to rinse off the smaller bag before opening to minimize the salt taste.

Further information on making ice cream using these methods can be found at the links below:

1. http://www.wrgirlscouts.org/cookies.htm
2. http://ezinearticles.com/?Home-Made-Ice-Cream-Recipe-for-Coffee-Can-Ice-Cream&id=40545
3. http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/coffeecn.html
4. http://www.sendicecream.com/makicecreami1.html
5. http://frugalliving.about.com/cs/frugalrecipes/a/icecream.htm
6. http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/science/icecream051999.html
7. http://www.online-cookbook.com/goto/cook/rpage/0007B0
8. http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/coffeecanicecream.html
9. http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/icecream.html

Enjoy! And don't be afraid to experiment, these methods are so cheap and simple, and in such small quantities, that you can really experiment with flavors, ingredients, and proportions. Don't like sugar? Maybe you could try it with stevia, or honey, or other sweeteners. Don't be afraid, give anything a try and find out how well it works, it's not like you have a lot to lose with this method except the bother of expensive, artificial, over-processed store-bought ice cream! :) I'm strongly considering making a few batches next Thresholds this way. ;-)

Comments

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Well, this is much less interesting than the method of a former housemate, which involved putting his hands into dry ice. "The Basin of Pain is the most important part!" he would say.

I've lived with some strange people.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I actually know someone who would love that method. Care to share it in full? :)

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

I don't remember the details, sorry. Mostly I just remember two crazy housemates testing how long they could tolerate the cold!

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Hehe, that's ok, they probably just used dry ice instead of regular ice anyway. :)

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

I picked up a panasonic icecream maker for something like $30 a while back, it works *great*. Homemade is the only kind of icecream I can eat anymore.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

I kind of like the simplicity of these methods, as opposed to using even cheap tools designed for the job, but that's certainly another approach too. :)

[lyssabard.livejournal.com]

Eh, I am more for whatever tool works best for the skill of the user as well as the control and quality of the product. And there IS the time saving element, that is handy--which does not mean that one has to skimp on control of ingrediants or the quality thereof.

These posts have interested me, as I do a lot of my own cooking. (Ok, when I am not being lazy--though it REALLY frustrates me when I eat out, and I come out thinking, "I can make that better.")

Part of the reason I think cooking is a lost art is certainly the need society has engineered for time saving conveniences, like the microwave. Btw, used properly, and not for "high" on everything, I think they can facillitate the process of putting energy into food. Popcorn certainly comes out great! It just depends on which foods, and certainly dips using different processed cheeses can come out just fine in the microwave. Now...healthy...;)) But anyway, part of the problem being that now people have to put in so many hours at work, then come home, maybe take care of kids, other duties, etc., that they need faster methods of prepartion just to keep their days on track. Also, some may just not have learned how to cook for themselves--and the proper uses of spices, oils, temperature, etc., does take practice. Sometimes folks don't have that time.

For myself, I work to try to make that time, and balance things. When I cook for myself, I make enough for a few days to take as lunches, etc. (And it should be easier now that the Doctor is living with me.) Budgeting with cooking IS a concern--sometimes cooking good food IS expensive, and that's why resulting to doctoring up hamburger helper with frozen veggies, spices, augmenting the sauce, etc., is the best way to go. But in that case, I think that's adding to an existing base to make it better. Even if it's processed, you can work with it.

One thing I have noted this past month--my energy and emotional level when I cook. The phrase that is coming into my mind very frequently these past two weeks is, "If there is no love in what you cook, it will not be good." This has proven true when I have cooked stressed or angry; I have sabotaged myself. My intuition goes to hell. I burn things EVEN when I cook them at the right times and temps. (OH is that annoying!) So I have gone back to basic grounding techniques inherant to the art of cooking itself--the stream of water to wash the veggies, for instance--as part of the witchery in the kitchen.

I am eager to hear what you are experimenting with!

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

One of the things I've noticed since going back to cooking less with the microwave is that we really do have more time than we think. Many forms of cooking, especially using the oven, don't require you to stand by the food and chain yourself to the oven while cooking. It's easy to do laundry, work online, or take care of other chores while good food is cooking. Crock pots are also another VERY handy way to cook slowly without cutting into your time, I understand, though I haven't fully availed myself of that yet. (I don't fully trust my crock pot, it's very old and I don't like leaving it plugged in unsupervised.) I understand Ri has made very good use of his more modern one, though.

Budgeting is definitely a concern, but I think buying ingredients is often cheaper than buying processed food. And you can find good deals sometimes on foods that have been through less processing and have fewer artificial ingredients. I'm currently making Annies Homegrown Totally Naturally Alfredo Shells and Cheddar macaroni and cheese. It's made with organic pasta shells and other natural ingredients, and the ingredients list is really quite short and reasonable. I got it on sale for 99 cents a box. Normal price is about 1.99 a box. Granted, that's not quite as cheap as Kraft's 89 cents per box, but I think I can afford ten cents more for organic, especially since it also comes in more varieties than Kraft's macaroni does.

I'll post a lot more stuff up here as I have time, including more recipes. I think I'm going to be exploring this for a while, and it may help spur me to modify my diet, something I've been resisting doing for either six months or five and a half years, depending on how you count. ;-)

[lyssabard.livejournal.com]

OMG, Auntie Anne's! *SLURRRRP!* Best. Cheesey. Noodles. EVER.

Bunny Pasta :)

I caution at overgeneralizing on others' time, as I do not have kids, for one thing, and every houshold is different. Cooking does take a lot of time, so I can't say how people can always fit it in, but I do think you can learn techniques and recipes that make time in the kitchen a snap. Note Rachel Ray's 30 min. meals show. Mind, lots of her ease of preparation comes from techniques like pre-chopping her veggies and freezing them, but these are great techniques to help get folks into time saving self cooking.

I adore my crock pot, though there is a method to its madness, too. I still don't like leaving anything cooking unattended, but then, if I got a new model with a timer, I might feel differently. Slow simmer pondering stews, meats that realize their full potential with time. Lovely lovely stuff. *grin* And I have yet to make mac n' cheese in it, but my friend has a *great* recipe for it.

As for buying ingredients--again I say that's hit and miss, especially for meats, though it can be done. Unfortunately, organic meats often cost much more than the regular stuff, as do some--some--of the boxed items, because they are marketed as a specialty niche. Heh, can't win, sometimes. Farmer's markets can get you excellant deals on produce that is often marked up (organics, too) in main chain stores. Alas, this includes the lovely Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck). So again, I caution about saying that "everyone" can readily do all of these things, due to location, etc. I do agree that people can learn to make some healthier--and more budget conscious--changes if they wish.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Just replying to a few more parts of your comment:

I agree using whatever tools are best for your own skill and needs is good, but part of why I like these really simple methods is that even kids can safely do them, they require no skill at all. I did the one with coffee cans in cubscouts, outdoors in the summer, when I was probably seven or eight. It's also a good way to reuse your old coffee cans, which kinda adds to the magic of it by conserving things and finding fresh uses for them in cooking. I'm strongly thinking of starting to save glass jars when I cook, and use them for storing jams and preserves and similar items. I've never made preserves, but I understand the theory and think I would enjoy trying to make them myself.

I also agree that microwaves can be used well with some foods... but in general, I think the taste and energy level and even the healthiness of foods is probably better if you cook them using slower means. Of course, there are food items that are probably so unhealthy naturally micro-waving them wouldn't make a noticeable difference.... ;-)

I like your thoughts on emotion and cooking, and also your comments on grounding elements inherent to the art of cooking... are there others you know of, besides just washing vegetables? I noticed tonight that washing off my pasta after cooking it, while it was in the strainer, seemed to have a beneficial effect on its energy level even if it did cool it down significantly. Normally I don't bother doing that. I also noticed the strainer was easier to clean afterwards than it normally is.

[lyssabard.livejournal.com]

I think some of the techniques will become more apart knowing the science of cooking as well as it's art--and the more I learn on it, the more I can say on the matter. At the moment, I cook like my gramma--I add, dress up boxed things, adapt simpler recipes with better technique or substitute as I learn what goes well with what. I am not able to palm a cup of flour just yet...but give me another 5-10 yrs. ;)

On the pasta, rinsing pasta serves first and foremost to STOP the cooking action of the hot water. If you leave it, (and rice noodles are a great example of this), it will continue to cook and your al dente will become mush. So, in essence, it's actually lowering the level of energy in food so it does not overcook. You are also rinsing off the excess starch that comes off it from the water, which is why it was easier to clean. (ANd pasta water can be used to thicken pasta sauces.) Btw--do you know abt adding olive oil to pasta when cooking it? Helps keep it from sticking and does something else, I forget what. Old Italian grammas knew of this for years.

Kneading...I would say puts energy in. It's making gluten in dough--which is inherently a process of making things sticky. One can transfer that imagery/sybolism--and chemistry!--into "connectivity", the sharing/breaking of bread, etc. (btw, I am NOT saying this is any way traditionally ritually tied--I dislike making any pseudohistorical ritual comparisons sans real evidence--but this works for NOW. *grin* And I work in the now.) Of course, one can over knead...and then, as in biscuits , the idea being DON'T TOUCH THEM if you don't have to, least you get boulders.

I lay something on a pan for the oven--this is an offering. The dish is as good as I can get it, ready for energy, "charging", cooking. Have I layered the seasonings, meat, veggies, etc., well enough to transfer their flavors to one another? If I missed covering a part with sauce, will it dry out? Attention to detail. Focus. A moment of building and crafting.

Presentation on the plate is different, another offering--this to a person. Here is the fruit of my magic, here is its energy for you, its pleasure, its enjoyment--its purpose. Partake, experience, release.

Cutting, I think is grounding, for me. Knowing and using proper knife technique--which I will soon be able to practice in ernest, as my mom got me a set of Caphalon knives. *drools at the thought of a chef knife at LAST!* Good knives, good technique, change that energy. What was stubborn to cut is easy now. The energy can properly go into the design, shape--will is better focused with better tools. Now I can dice, juliene, etc., which will control the energy of cooking, the rate things will cook, etc. So knife does direct energy, though in a different way, even as it severes something from its original state of being.

Wow, you know, this is the first time I have THOUGHT abt what I do, and what it can mean. *grin* I am mostly intuitive in action.

More thoughts as they come. :)

Lys - who has learned a LOT from watching Food Network.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

I didn't actually know about it stopping the cooking, but that makes sense. I do need to figure out how to stop the cooking like that without rendering it cold in the process, but the alfredo wasn't that bad cool.... perhaps this is the reason for the baked pasta recipes I know, including baked macaroni.

I know olive oil can be added to pasta when cooking it, and I do this sometimes. Didn't last night. What I did do was add salt to the water before boiling the pasta... it raises the temperature at which the water boils.

Your observations are very interesting, as well... will have to think on them more. :) I very rarely watch cooking shows, most of what I know came from a tiny bit of instruction when I was young by my mother and my paternal grandmother, a lot of practical experimentation, and more than a good bit of seemingly inherited knowledge of just how to DO stuff. I've also experimented with recipes from books and such, and the occasional handed-down recipe (oddly enough, often taken from some commercial recipe originally... in one case I actually had to go and buy the product to reclaim a recipe that had been lost by my side of the family for some Christmas cookies my maternal grandmother used to make, my very favorite kind.) My mom keeps saying I inherited her mom's cooking ability, which is ironic really 'cause nobody on that side of the family except my own mother (who says she's not the greatest cook) ever let me cook with them or taught me about cooking. I was always shooed away from the kitchen as a male by the females on that side of my family.