I bought this after reading a lot of reviews. My choice was based on a number of factors. I have owned a hand-crank, ice-and-salt ice cream maker in the past - it made great ice cream but was messy; I didn't want yet another...
See more »
I bought this after reading a lot of reviews. My choice was based on a number of factors. I have owned a hand-crank, ice-and-salt ice cream maker in the past - it made great ice cream but was messy; I didn't want yet another appliance that I had to find where to store; and I have owned and liked my KitchenAid stand mixer for a number of years. This is basically a double-walled, sealed mixing bowl, with the space inside the walls filled with some liquid (presumably like the refreezable ice packs). It comes with plastic paddle. The basic steps are: 1 Freeze the bowl (I keep mine in the freezer) 2 Make and cool an ice cream custard, or a fruit mix for sorbet 3 Assemble the frozen bowl and the plastic paddle on the stand mixer 4 Switch the mixer on lowest speed, add the custard 5 Let the mixer stir the mix until it freezes (to a "soft serve" consistency) 6 Transfer the ice cream to a bowl with a lid, and freeze until firm Here are my comments: First, take a black marker and obliterate all the nutritional information about the recipes in the instruction book. We know that ice cream is full of fat and sugar -- that's why we like it! We don't need reminding. * Try a dry run to assemble the bowl and paddle. This is designed to fit many models of KitchenAid mixers, and it's not obvious. You don't want to be figuring this out when you are ready to make your first batch. * Freeze the bowl for longer than the suggested 18 hours * MAKE HALF QUANTITIES: the two-quart recipes fill the bowl, and I had a couple of overflows as the ice cream expands as it cools. * Also, filling the bowl means that the ice cream takes longer to freeze. The first time I tried this, it didn't freeze as the bowl had not been frozen long enough to handle the two quarts. * Get a good recipe to use up the egg whites. I make meringue from the New York Times Cook Book. I guess an omelet would be good too. * There's mistake in the instruction book. In one place it suggests adding the fruit, nuts etc half way through the freezing process, and in another place it suggests adding these ingredients at the end of the mixing cycle. * Use enough mix (custard or fruit puree) to at least fill half of the bowl -- this way the paddle will mix the entire batch. * Remember that freezing enhances the sweet taste -- so do not over sweeten the mix before you freeze, otherwise the ice cream or sorbet will be too sweet. * If you're making a fruit puree for sorbet, a blender makes a *MUCH* smoother puree than a food processor. I think this makes a difference in the texture of the final sorbet. * After preparation, you need to cool the custard or puree in the fridge for a few hours. Use a jug that has a decent pouring lip: this will make it much easier to pour into the freezer bowl than if you just use a regular mixing bowl. * Getting the semi-frozen desert out of the bowl can be messy - there is no handle on the bowl and it has smooth, slippery sides. * Use a container for the final freezing that has a little air space after you fill with the semi-frozen ice cream -- this allows for additional expansion of the desert, and prevents the need to squash the final product into the bowl. * I've used recipes from The New York Times Cookbook and Fine Cooking magazine -- all delicious, better than store bought, and slightly different than the regular recipes for vanilla, cookies and cream, etc. Comment | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)
See less »
Kaboodle will send you a newsletter and updates from your friends. You can unsubscribe at any time. Kaboodle does not sell or share your email address or personal information with anyone.
Kaboodle requires all users to provide their real date of birth as both a safety precaution and as a means
of preserving the integrity of the site. You will be able to hide this information from your profile if you wish.
Added by 10 people
See all »