How to make a homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker?

Step One

Simply follow the recipe to prepare the mixture, then sample it and adjust the ingredients to your own taste. Any recipe for making ice cream can be used. Grandma's old-time ice cream recipes are perfect for this.

Step Two

When you are satisfied with the taste, and the mixture is ready to freeze, pour it into a freezer container and seal it with the container's lid. If the container doesn't have a lid, then carefully seal the container tightly with aluminum foil.

After making homemade ice cream for a while, you'll find that shallow freezer containers or cake pans work best as they allow the mixture to freeze quickly. Here are some tips on how to use them:

• If the mixture contains whipped ingredients, then immediately place the sealed container into the freezer
• If the mixture contains ingredients that are not whipped, first place the sealed container in the refrigerator compartment for 20 minutes or so to chill, and then place it in the freezer to freeze
• If the mixture has been cooked, it may need to sit in the refrigerator for several hours to chill thoroughly before placing it in the freezer to freeze

Step Three

After the mixture has been sitting in the freezer for 20 minutes or so, take it out, and if it has been in there long enough you should notice a thick layer of ice crystals coating the inside of the container. Unseal the container and using a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape the ice crystals that have formed on the sides into the center, and then beat the mixture thoroughly to prevent the further formation of ice crystals and to lighten it with air.

The tiny pockets of air beaten into the ice cream make it smooth and easy to scoop. Ice cream without beating is similar to bread that has not risen. Therefore, to be creamy smooth, ice cream requires beating.

Try to not let the semi-frozen mixture melt too much while beating. An electric hand-held beater can be used to great advantage and it will make this step much easier.

Reseal the container and return it to the freezer. Leave it for another 30 minutes or so and then repeat the scraping and beating process. If the mixture freezes too hard, simply place it in the refrigerator compartment until it is again just soft enough to beat. This is common practice when you make your own ices.

Depending on the ingredients used and the temperature of your freezer, you may have to repeat this step up to three or four times until the mixture is creamy smooth in texture, but firmly frozen.

After the last beating, you may pack the ice cream in molds for freezing or simply reseal the container and return it to the freezer.