Family Time Fun with Ice Cream Makers

Cooking equipment does not have to be boring or mundane. You can involve children of all ages in the kitchen with the proper small appliances.Little ones can turn over a bowl of ingredients into the mix, while older kids can gain a thorough understanding of the process of where their food comes from by creating it themselves. 

If  you ask any kid what the number one fun food is, somewhere in the top two or three will be ice cream. Cookies usually rank up there pretty high too. Although there’s no denying that making cookies from scratch is a lot of fun, it will always take a back seat to making your own ice cream.

I recall turning that crank on the old fashioned ice cream maker as a kid with brothers, sisters, cousins and at birthday parties. I also recall it took a lot of kid power to keep cranking that handle for what seemed like hours. Good thing there were lots of kids around to do the job.

Homemade ice cream is both wonderful to eat and a really fun, party activity, to make. The home ice cream maker is obviously central to this activity. But what maker should you buy? There are probably two factors other than price, to consider here, does it work well and how much volume will it make.

There are quite a few smaller machines which will make one pint to one quart. That’s two or maybe four servings if you stretch it. But that’s no where nearly enough for a kids party or family activity. Who wants to watch the others eat the first batch while they have to wait for the second batch.

For a larger volume there are ice cream makers which yield four to six quarts. Some of those designs haven’t changed in over a hundred and fifty years, except for the addition of an electric motor. They have a real old fashioned, nostalgic look, but what eight year old cares about that. It will take ten pounds of ice, pounds of salt and close to an hour until it’s ready. Can you hear the kids asking, “Are we there yet?”

There are some machines out there that will give you a reasonable volume in about 20 minutes, with far less mess and work.

The first type uses a mixing/freezing bowl surrounded by a gel liner. Freeze the bowl and it’s gel overnight, no ice required, put in the ice cream mixture and in around 20 minutes it’s done.

Another more convenient and more expensive design uses a mini refrigerant compressor, like your refrig and freezer. These machines are ready when you are. Drop in your mixture, push start, add nuts, fruit or candy and in fifteen or twenty minutes it’s ready. These models cost more than the freeze the bowl type, but not much more than the electric, old fashioned looking models.

Even though the preparation is shorter and easier, there’s no labor involved in mixing and the cleanup is a snap, the ice cream tastes every bit as good, maybe even better.
Brands of ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturers include Cuisinart, Donvier, and others.

When it comes to your homemade frost delights, consider both staying with the classics and trying new flavors. Some flavors that ice cream makers can excel at include:

- Bananas and Cream

- Walnut and Black Cherry

- Cherry and Cheesecake

- Toffee and Pecan

- Cashew and Almond

- Maple Syrup and Orange Zest

- Coffee Mocha

- Strawberry

- Vanilla

- Chocolate

- Marshmallows and Cream

- Cookie Chocolate Chips and Cream

One way to whip up a quick recipe is to chill yogurt into a frozen yogurt or yogurt slushie. Yummy!

Whatever flavor or base recipe you end up picking, you are sure to enjoy it! Whether you use electric ice cream makers, or prefer to crank up a sweat, homemade ice cream is a memorable treat. It’s your own creation from your own home kitchen.