It’s my understanding that Ice Cream, at least in the US, is sold by volume, not weight, and there are standards or limitations on the amount of air that can be included or whatever.
Basically I’m trying to at least ballpark the equivalent cost of homemade vs. storebought varieties. Ended up with 2 quarts of mix (containing a 2-1 ratio of cream and whole milk, 1 and 2/3rds cup cane sugar, 8 egg yolks, tablespoon vanilla extract and half teaspoon salt)
This fills the ice cream maker a little over halfway. So this is considered a “gallon” when done due to whipping? I think the legal standard says it must weigh at least 4.5 lbs per gal. or somesuch. It sounds like there would be a lot of variability in volume and weight and percentage of butterfat etc in the storebought varieties. Some of them are mostly chemicals, and the better varieties are in the damnably expensive twee packages. This is mainly why I’ve decided to make my own, it’s easy and really good.
The last batch I used 1/2&1/2, this made a decent ice cream, easily as good or better than store bought varieties, but not quite as rich as I’d like. Using 2 to 1 should take care of that. I upped the egg yolks a bit. One recipe says she likes to use 4 yolks for every 3 cups of mix.
So after all is said and done, a “gallon”? of ice cream costs roughly $10, to include ice and salt, and materials.
Yeah not too bad. I took a gander at prices at our local grocery. They want $7.00 for a “28 fluid ounce” container of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream.
But, it appears that my overrun will not double in size, i.e. 2 quarts of mix is not equal to a gallon.
Closer to 90 ounces, say. Still it’s a considerable savings. The H-D ice cream roughs out to $20 to $25 in the equivalent amounts I’m making. Not sure what their cream % are either. At least their ingredient list doesn’t take up a whole paragraph on the side of the carton.
Eh, yeah to be pedantic I suppose that’s true. In popular usage though, everyone knows what this means. Artificial flavors, colorings, stabilizers, ersatz, fillers, preservatives, sweeteners, even seaweed extract (Carageenan).
Ice cream should not be fucked with! It’s so simple, and a passable product shouldn’t cost six bucks a pint and be labeled “special-super-duper-ultra-premium”. Dairy products aren’t “cheap” but the cheap ice cream is just rancid.
You can make ice cream without the ice and salt if you are just puttering around the house. Mix all the ingredients in a tightly-sealable container. Put it in the freezer. Every once in a while, go give the container a shake. (To be clear, vigorously move the container up and down in your hands, don’t give the ice cream a milk shake.) Saves the money, if you have the free time.
Or, invest in an ice-cream maker with a freezable ice-pack. You can’t make batch after batch (the pack needs to freeze overnight between batches), but you never have to buy salt or ice.
Yeah, and popular usage is wrong. There’s an unstated belief that those things you mention are somehow unhealthy and bad because they’re not “natural” or “organic” or something (although most of them are, in fact, found in nature) that’s become part of the gestalt, even though it’s generally false: man-made (or usually just man-extracted) food ingredients are, on average, safer for you than natural ones.
No, popular usage here is 100% on track. Ice cream doesn’t need all those ersatz ingredients. I don’t claim they are bad or unhealthy, they just aren’t necessary and don’t improve the finished product. Cream, (milk) sugar, egg yolks, flavorings. That’s it. Sort of like a Reinheitsgebot, only for ice cream.
It also doesn’t need egg yolks. (I’ve never once used them, and neither did my grandmother before me.) (And that counts for both ice cream made in a churn and ice cream made from snow.)
Right, but eggs at least aren’t fake food. You should try them, I experimented both with and without, and they definitely improve the finished product. Surprisingly, at least for me, found the batch I made last week with only half & half seemed a little cleaner tasting than the batch made with a 2 to 1 ratio of cream. It’s all about ratios, the eggs give it less of an icy, more smooth consistency.