Time for Ice Cream!

About two summers ago, I acquired a White Mountain 6 Quart Hand Crank Ice Cream Maker from the Blue Ridge Mountain Ice Cream Maker Store's website; it is owned and operated by Red Hill General Store. I absolutely love the freezer! It makes delicious ice cream every single time and my whole family loves it too. (I tote it around with me to all our cookouts in the spring and summer). We all get together and make the ice cream and devour it. In case you want to know how the ice cream is made the book tells, but I will tell you what it says now "Ice cream is made by freezing-while stirring- a pasteurized, homogenized mixture of cream, milk, sugar, and other ingredients and flavoring to produce a countless variety of ice cream creations." It's really a simple process.

All of the ice cream makers come with a little instruction booklet on how to use it and it includes recipes for different ice creams, it also has some helpful hints such as: "The Old-Fashioned method to harden the ice cream: It is best to make a cooked recipe the night before, so it has plenty of time to chill.  

Step 1: Leave the ice cream in the canister. 

Step 2: Place a sheet of waxed paper across the top of the can, place the canister cover over the waxed paper.

Step 3: Drain water and repack freezer with 5 parts of ice and 1 part of salt.  Do this until entire canister and lid are covered with the ice and salt mixture. 

Step 4: Cover with a burlap bag or some suitable material for insulation. Let stand until frozen hard."

The ice cream maker booklet also gives a little history of the White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer Company, important safeguards (number 1. is "Read all instructions."), the features of the ice cream maker/freezer, how to make the ice cream, and some recipes such as: 

Maple walnut ice cream in the 6 quart Ice Cream Maker:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups pure maple syrup
• 3 cups whole milk
• 6 cups heavy cream
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups chopped walnuts

Mix syrup in a heavy saucepan over moderately high heat until reduced by 1/4 (5 to 10 minutes). Stir in cream and milk and bring to a boil. Mix eggs in a large bowl and slowly add the hot cream mixture to sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture is slightly thickened or temp reaches 170 degrees F. Do not boil.  Chill mixture at least 3 hours. Begin to freeze, add walnuts in the last 5-10 minutes of freezing.  (Egg substitutes can be used in place of real eggs.)  For the four quart recipe it is 2 cups pure maple syrup, 2 cups whole milk, 4 cups heavy cream, 4 eggs, and 1 cup chopped walnuts.

Just in case you are forgetful or unorganized like I am you can visit the Blue Ridge Mountain Ice Cream Maker Store at www.brm-icecream.com and download another copy of the instruction and recipe book (its only 8 pages if you need to print it). I know I just love the White Mountain Ice Cream Makers.