Ice Cream Junk and Stuff #5

I’ve got some more ice cream related topics to talk about...

Fairlife Whole Milk

I discussed in the first part of my “Low Carb Whole Milk Replacement for Ice Cream” series that lactose-free milk does not mean the lactose is removed. They don’t take the lactose out; they add lactase enzyme in. That’s how it works for most lactose-free products. You’re still going to find 12 g of sugar comprised of glucose and galactose in each cup of milk. However, there is a company called Fairlife that claims to filter out all of the components of milk and reformulates them to whatever combination of water, lactose, vitamins/minerals, protein and fat is desired.

The amount of sugar is half of regular whole milk and includes more protein.

They also add lactase enzyme to break down the lactose that remains, so everyone should have an easy time digesting this milk. I tried using their whole milk in place of almond milk and the ice cream obviously comes out much better. The only adjustment to the recipe is to half the milk powders. The only downside is the price, but I feel that it’s worth it.

Unscoopable Ice Cream

I introduced instructions for using a blender in my previous junk and stuff blog entry. What I discovered is that the blender I own is quite powerful and whips a lot more air than a hand mixer ever could. Around the same time, I was contacted by a reader of this blog inquiring why his ice cream froze too hard and was difficult to scoop. I went down the list of possibilities and the only variable I could see was the brand of whey and casein he used was different. I assumed that had to be it. However, I began to notice my ice cream wasn’t freezing as well. It took a while, but I began to realize that it probably had to do with the blender. I experimented by blending for only a short burst of time by counting to ten and then stopping. No longer was their as much air in the mix, but the ice cream was easier to scoop. I also began adding the glycerin at the end right before the final blend. I think this may also help keep things scoopable. Maybe the effect of the glycerine is hampered by the vigorous blend? It couldn’t hurt. I have already updated the instructions, but keep in mind that different blenders produce different results. My blender is as powerful as a VitaMix or Blendtec. I only use it at it’s lowest speed setting. Other blenders will yield different results.

Ice Cream Scooper

It’s hard to believe, but I never discussed ice cream scoops on this blog! I used to use a large curved blade type. That’s why my older recipe pictures show a large monolithic scoop of ice cream. I later experimented with a couple “regular” scoops. Most professional ice cream shops recommend Zeroll scoops. They come in many different sizes, but I settled on the 1010ZT model with the Hardcoat Anodized surface. I purchased mine on Amazon.

Ice Cream Maker Reviews

I found a relatively recent review of ice cream makers that did a great job comparing the models under real-world conditions. The Whynter ICM-15LS Ice Cream Maker offered the best bang-for-the-buck with the Lello 4080 Musso Lussino 1.5-Quart Ice Cream Maker coming out on top assuming money is no object.

The Whynter churned out creamy ice cream in 33 minutes, falling into second place in freezing time after the Musso Lussino. Our runner-up, the Breville Smart Scoop, made ice cream in 35 minutes, and the longest freeze time went to the Cuisinart ICE-100 at 42 minutes.

It seems the faster the freeze, the smoother the ice cream. This makes sense since ice crystal size is smaller if the mix is frozen quicker. Will my ice cream come out smoother if I buy a $700 ice cream maker? Probably not. Why do I say this? Because I don’t rely on the ice cream maker to do the majority of the hardening. I purchased a mini-freezer a while back that can can get as cold as -30 °C (-22 °F). I transfer it while it’s soft into the subzero temperature freezer. The freezer does most of the work to finish hardening the ice cream and does it quicker than the ice cream maker.

Scharffen Berger Chocolate

I’m always looking for new or better ingredients to try. I’ve heard a lot of positive things about Scharffen Berger. I used their chocolate when making Low Carb Chocolate Brownies and the results were stunning. The texture of the brownies are flaky on the outside and moist and gooey on the inside. I tried making chocolate ice cream with their chocolate and cocoa, too. It came out really good, but I think I’d give the edge to Ghirardelli for ice cream.