Ice Cream–Making Equipment

Ice Cream Makers

Ice and Rock-Salt Machines

• Hand-crank machines: Though manual-crank machines are much more tiring to use, they allow you to control the churning speed and thus how much air is whipped into your ice cream. Many ice cream enthusiasts swear by hand-crank machines because of the control it gives them over the consistency of their ice cream.
   
  
• Motorized machines: These machines are much easier to use, as you don’t have to do all of the crank­ing yourself. They tend to be very noisy, however, and are difficult to open midcycle to add mix-ins like chocolate, fruit, or nuts.

Freezer-Insert Machines

Self-Refrigerating Machines

Other Essential Tools

• Baking dish: If you’ll be making granita, you’ll need a shallow baking dish made of a nonreactive material such as stainless steel, plastic, or porcelain. Select a size that fits in your freezer, and make sure that it’s at least 2" deep so that your granita mixture doesn’t spill when you stir and agitate it with your fork.
• Blender: A blender is necessary for making fruit sorbet, sherbet, or granita, as it allows you to puree fruit quickly and uniformly. Hand blenders and food processors work equally well with fruit.
• Containers: Heavy-duty plastic containers with tight-sealing lids are critical for storing ice cream. Keeping it in inferior containers with loose or faulty lids will cause your ice cream to absorb odors from your freezer. Plastic containers come in a range of shapes and sizes at kitchen and restaurant supply stores.
• Mixing bowls and measuring cups: If you don’t already own mixing bowls and measuring utensils, you’ll need both to make most frozen dessert recipes. Many custard-based ice cream recipes call for tempering eggs, which requires that you pour and whisk at the same time. Bowls with rubber bottoms will prevent slipping and wobbling while both your hands are occupied. Wrapping a damp dish towel around a bowl will also help stabilize it when tempering eggs. (For more on tempering eggs, see How to Make an Ice Cream Base.)
• Saucepans: Custard ice cream bases benefit greatly from being cooked in heavy-bottomed saucepans, because such saucepans distribute heat evenly and make it less likely that you’ll overcook the eggs in the mixture. Fruit mixtures for sorbets, sherbets, and granitas are high in acid and should be heated in nonreactive pots made of stainless steel, anodized aluminum, or heatproof glass.
• Scoops: Ice cream scoops come in three basic styles.
  • Solid scoops: These use a thin leading edge to help you push through firm ice cream. Many have handles filled with an anti-freezing fluid that keeps the scoop warmer than the ice cream you’re scoop­ing (which melts it, making it easier to scoop).
  • Spring-loaded scoops (dishers): These have a strip of metal or plastic that sweeps across the inner surface of the scoop, helping to ease the ice cream out of the scoop. Some models have a button on the back that pushes the ice cream straight out of the scoop.
  • Spades: These are ideal if you’ll be working with your ice cream on a flat surface and folding ingredients into it. A spade is useless if you need to scoop ice cream out of small containers, though.
     
    
• Plastic spatulas: Heatproof plastic spatulas are handy for scraping the bottoms of pans to ensure that your custards don’t scorch and the eggs don’t scramble. They also are good for scraping churned ice cream out of canisters or bowls without damaging their surfaces. Many recipes call for testing the doneness of your ice cream base by checking its ability to coat the back of your wooden spoon or spatula—keep in mind that heatproof plastic spatulas are slicker than wooden spoons, so custards won’t coat them until they’re overthickened and already starting to scorch.
• Strainers: Fine and medium mesh strainers are used for straining seeds or pulp from fruit purees and cooked egg from custard bases. Strainers made with stainless steel screens are best, since they’re sturdy enough to withstand the repeated pressure from a spoon or ladle that’s required to strain thicker purees.
• Thermometer: If you’re new to making ice cream, you’ll find an instant-read thermometer helpful for judging when to take your custard bases off the stove (since many recipes come with temperature guidelines). Digital-read thermometers tend to be faster and more accurate than old-fashioned models.
• Whisk: When making custard bases, you’ll need a flexible wire whisk for incorporating egg yolks into warmed dairy mixtures. Buy a whisk that’s appropriate for the size of the batches you’ll be making.
• Zester: Many fruit sorbet and sherbet recipes call for citrus zest. Rasp-style zesters make quick work of fruits and allow you to easily remove the peel and its essential oils without the bitter pith underneath it.