Simple Tips for Choosing the Right Ice Cream Maker
Posted: Monday, July 27, 2009
by Theresa Kruger
http://honestinfomercialreviews.com
Ice cream makers are great if you want control of the flavors, ingredients and quality of your ice cream. You'll actually save 60% of the cost of store bought gourmet ice cream. That's reason enough reason for any family to consider buying an ice cream maker of their own.
How Much Do They Cost - They range in price from $40 to $100 and some are over $400. Generally the less expensive ones are the cylinder freezers and the more expensive ones are self-contained. Think of how often you'll be using it and use that as a guide to how much you want to spend.
What's Out On the Market - All ice cream makers work in the same way. First a paddle, called a dasher introduces air into a liquid custard mixture and at the same time freezes the custard. The custard can include ingredients such as eggs, cream and milk and any flavoring ingredients. The main difference between the types of ice cream makers is the cooling power.
Bucket Freezers - In the early days before we had freezers, ice cream makers required lots of crushed ice and rock salt be placed in the cavity between the two buckets. You'd place the custard in the smaller inner bucket. The ice and rock salt kept the inner bucket cold enough in order to freeze the custard while the dasher turned the custard mixture. This method is still used in some ice cream makers. Obviously, having to add large quantities of ice and salt is a little more labour intensive.
Cylinder Freezers - Ice cream maker technology took a giant leap forward in the early 1980s. Donvier invented the first sealed-in coolant machine also called a cylinder freezer. Due to their ease of use and compact size, these quickly became more popular than the old bucket models . They use a liquid coolant that is sealed inside a thick, double wall of the canister.
These ice cream makers are generally quite affordable. The only downside to the cylinder freezers are that you need to pre-freeze the cylinder bowl for up to 24 hours before you make ice cream. Also, you'll need to have freezer space available to hold the large cylinder.
Self Cooling Models - We all know how much Italians love their ice cream and that's exactly where these machines were first made. They're small scale versions of the types used in professional factories and kitchens. It uses compression to cool the ice cream maker bowl which makes it very simple to use. After about 5-10 minutes of brief pre-cooling time you simply press a button and pour the custard in. It is very convenient but the down side is that they are rather expensive, quite large and bulky, and awkward to clean.
Ice Cream Makers are a refreshing alternative to the expensive, store bought gourmet ice cream. By the way, if you're looking for ways to make ice cream at home without an ice cream maker, there are fun ways to make it AND get the kids involved. If you don't mind using rock salt and ice, ice cream can be made in 10 minutes or less.
Find out how you can make ice cream by simply using two coffee cans or two ziploc bags. There's also ice cream recipes and a review of an infomercial product called the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker at my blog HonestInfomercialReviews.com.
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