How do you make ice cream without an ice cream maker? Is it possible? We noticed that this method has been popping up frequently in blog links this summer and so we decided to try it for ourselves and report back on how well it worked.
We were admittedly skeptical; supposedly easy DIY projects like this don't always work for us. But we were rather shocked by how well it went. The resulting ice cream was creamy and soft - rather like soft-serve, but with much less air.
Read on for step-by-step instructions and an easy, quick way into delicious summer ice cream!
This project calls for ice, kosher salt, quart or pint-sized Ziploc bags, and one gallon-sized Ziploc bag. We made a few additions too. We wrapped the gallon-sized Ziploc bag in a couple of plastic grocery store bags, since it had a tendency to leak. You also want a towel to hold the very cold bag as you shake the ice cream.
We really recommend doing this outside - maybe we're just sloppy, but somehow we ended up with shards of melting ice all over our kitchen floor! It's an outside activity, we think.
1. Make and chill the ice cream base - Make sure your ice cream mix is well-chilled - preferably overnight.
2. Bag up ice cream mix, plus ice and salt - Put no more than 2 cups of the ice cream mix in a quart baggie and seal securely. Fill a gallon-sized bag halfway up with ice, then pour in about 1/2 cup kosher salt. Mix it around, then put in the quart size bag. Make sure the smaller bag is covered with ice.
3. Shake, shake, shake - Seal the larger bag securely and place it in a couple layers of plastic shopping bags. Shake or rotate the bag for at least five minutes - preferably 10.
4. Open and check - Open carefully to avoid getting salt in the inner bag. The ice cream should be in a soft mass by now - if not, close up again, add some ice and shake some more.
We were so shocked to actually see ice cream in the little bag! Another few minutes of shaking and it would have been quite firm.
Tip: Turn the little bag inside out into a large bowl, carefully, to get all the ice cream out.
Some Favorite Ice Cream Recipes
• Thomas Jefferson's Vanilla Ice Cream
• Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
• Grapefruit Chocolate Chunk
• Coffee Chip Ice Cream
So, I don't have to buy/make room for a new appliance, I can get some exercise and probably entertain barbecue guests, and at the end of it all, I get to eat some ice cream without carrageenan or mono and diglycerides (or something else impossibly hard to spell) in it.
Yay!...I really really hope this method works for me!
view k2's profile
This method totally works! I used to do it as a kid using rice milk.
view chiffonade's profile
Wow! I still plan on buying an ice cream maker, but this looks like a handy method to employ while I'm saving up the scratch. Thanks!
view Jim of ChewOnThat's profile
What about the method that you put the cooled prepared ice cream liquid in the freezer and mix it every 20 minutes. I used to make it before I had an ice cream maker and it worked perfectly. This method seems a bit too much work... All the ice cream recipe books quote this method as the easiest to make ice cream or sorbettis...
view Anusha73's profile
you can also do this using 2 coffee cans, one 1 lb and the other 3lb. i did this in science class in middle school!
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/kickcan.html?trnstl=1
view peaceofwestphila's profile
I like the coffee can idea! I remember doing this exact project in high school chemistry, and some of the more, uhh, "vigorous" shakers ended up with saltwater in their ice cream.
view erin in indy's profile
i got excited about this and then realized i am too dang lazy to shake for that long.
view ung's profile
If anyone else tries this, do send us a photo and/or report! Coffee can pics would be great too...
ung - that's when you recruit - uh, make up a game for - a few small yet boundlessly energetic children.
view faith's profile
Enjoyed this idea when presented last month on AT:
http://nursery.apartmenttherapy.com/nursery/how-to/how-to-making-ice-cream-in-a-bag-024340
view nuni's profile