No ice cream maker? Only 2 magical ingredients do the job

The homemade ice cream sounds like a dreamer until your first spoon turns out to be granular, icy, and nothing like the pint you just finished from the store.

The culprit? Ice crystals. When they are small, they melt in their tongue and create a creamy, pudding -like mansion that is longed for. But when they grow too large, they are done in a bowl with ice taps. Fortunately, there is a way to get over them – and you don't need an ice cream maker.

In this guide, I break down the science of control of ice crystals, explains that the traditional rotated ice cream avoids ice and shows how to make a rich, velvety, non -churn version at home using only two ingredients. (SPOILER: One sweetened compressed milk and does much more than adding sweets.)

Why is Ice Crystals counting

You need ice crystals on your name to build a loyal ice cream. Here, however, the catch: these crystals must be extremely small. If they are too big, the texture goes from silky to seconds in seconds.

Commercial ice creams are usually maintained between the average crystal size between 26.3-67.1 μm (micrometers). Studies show that people start to detect granularity around 50 μm, and when the crystals approach 100 μm, the complaints will go up. So how can we stay under the threshold in a home kitchen?

How to keep the ice crystals small

There are two primary strategies to prevent the formation of large ice crystals.

Add a dissolved substance (such as sugar)

Dissolved substances, such as sugar or salt, should be loved to be attached to the water. This bond interferes with the structured bond of water molecules when they freeze into ice crystals and the resulting crystals are smaller and dispersed. Salt is too salty for the task, but sugar? Sugar works nicely. If we find out why, let's look at how different dairy products behave in the freezer:

• Milk (87% water) and evaporated milk (about 60% water): Frozen are formed solid blocks.
• Sweetened compressed milk (about 25-27% water): it remains even after freezing.

The reason for this is the higher sugar concentration of sweetened condensed milk. Condensed milk is made by boiling milk (between 43 and 60 ° C) until the water is approx. 60% is removed and a large amount of sugar is added – approx. This many dissolved sugar reduces the freezer of the milk and keeps the mixture in the freezer in the freezer, creating a smoother texture. In addition to added sucrose, condensed milk in general:

• 8-9% fat
• 20-22% non -greasy milk solids
• 10-11% lactose (natural milk sugar)
• 25-27% moisture

High levels of sugar have potential disadvantages: sugar, especially in milk, is natural lactose, its own predisposition to crystallization, which can lead to a completely different granular texture caused by crystallized sugar instead of ice. However, during condensed milk production, manufacturers include the mixture with very fine lactose crystals, which are too small to recognize, promote unwanted crystallization and ensure silky, smooth texture.

So sugar is not only for sweets, but also a structural element that can keep the ice cream smooth (if the sugar itself is smooth).

Suppress the ripening of ostwald

When I was a kid, we didn't have an ice cream maker. My mother Make a pudding base, freeze into the ice cube trays, then mix the cubes and freeze the mixture again. It was boring, but provided smooth ice cream texture without unpleasant ice crystals. This practical method works because it manually disrupts the phenomenon known as Ostwald.

This scientific expression describes how smaller ice crystals are reduced as the larger ones grow, which means “bigger” eating crystals. This is because the water tends to migrate from the tiny crystals, which are less stable to the more stable. The result is less ice cream with larger crystals and unpleasant granular textures.

Ostwald maturation can be reduced mechanically and chemically. My mother did it with a blender, and ice cream makers are doing it: they are constantly exciting the base and breaks larger ice crystals when they form. Another way to limit ostwald maturation is to provide many small nucleation sites – places where crystals begin to grow. As the crystals increase on existing ones rather than starting from scratch, the seed of countless small crystals of the mixture helps to check their size. This is the reason why the super finnish lactose is added to condensed milk: it floods the mixture with micro -sized nucleation areas, reducing the risk of developing larger granular crystals over time.

If you do not stop these processes, you will receive iced textures.

How do ice cream makers work

Modern ice cream makers use a two -phase freezing system to overcome Ostwald maturation.

Dynamic freezing section

The mixture is cooled while collapsing. The ice begins to form on the wall of the bowl and the rotating dash shifts these tiny crystals, evenly distributed on the mixture. This creates a matrix with the kernel of even micro-sized crystals, which prevents the later formation of large crystals. The smaller the crystals at the beginning, the better it is to prevent large crystals.

Static freezing section

Once the mixture reaches -5 ° C is -6 ° C (23-21.2 ° F), it is placed in a normal freezer to harden to -18 ° C (-0.4 ° F). Because the crystal size has been carefully checked during dynamic freezing, the final texture remains smooth. Without rotation and initial sowing, it will probably be a crunchy mess.

The secret of creamy ice cream without ice cream maker

The ice cream maker is a great investment in money, space and time. In addition, not everyone wants or remembers freezing a bowl for 24 hours, which is a general requirement for a lot of home cutting. Fortunately, there is a much simpler way to make a rich, creamy ice cream at home: Churn ice cream.

Instead of relying on mechanical methods, this technique uses ingredients that naturally prevent crystal growth. The key components of well -prepared, non -holding ice cream must be very little “free water”, so there is less chance of the formation of large crystals. The center of this magical trick is the hero we have already discussed: sweetened condensed milk.

Sweetened condensed milk is like a freezer inhibitory that has been tailored to ice cream. As mentioned above, as it contains both the concentration of high sugar (~ 45%) and the reduced water content, of course has a low freezing point and syrup consistency, which is resistant to the icing of the ice brick.

Unlike the usual milk or cream, which freezes in the rock boards without cutting, the condensed milk is half flowing in the freezer. This prevents large ice crystals from forming and, even after storing hours (or days), they maintain a soft, scoopable texture.

In addition, the sugar in compressed milk is not just about sweets; This is a structural tool. The dissolved sugar disturbs the formation of ice, while the small amount of water remains bonded by milk proteins and lactose. The result is minimal free water, which means minimal crystal increase.

The second basic element of No-Churn ice cream is heavy whipping cream. When the soft peaks are whipped, the cream traps are air, creating a light, spacious structure. This foam-like matrix gives a house-free ice cream to signature lightness and volume-this is a churn mechanically introduced during mixing, but the condensed milk cannot do it on its own.

More importantly, fat and air whipped cream too It interrupts ice crystal formation, creating physical obstacles that prevent water molecules from organizing in large crystals. High fat content also contributes to the oral sense, so the final product is rich and creamy instead of fragile or icy instead of creamy.

While unweater frozen cream cannot be so delicious that it has no sweets, it is resistant to form noticeable ice crystals, as fats and air physically interrupt the crystal growth. Fat and air disrupt the crystal formation, and since there is so little free water, there is primarily less frost.

Just be careful not to finish the cream: too much air leads to crumbly, ventilated textures, instead of smooth and creamy.

General step by step guide to make Churn No Frozen Cream

Okay, I talked through key characters in the Churn ice cream, here's a general breakdown on how to do this:

1. Foam the cream. Avoid two cups of cold heavy cream for soft peaks in a blender or food processor. He wants to be thick enough to hold the shape, but still smooth and flexible-not to overlook or become granular or start separating.

2. Add sweetened compressed milk. Carefully fold a 14 ounces of sweetened condensed milk until the mixture is completely combined and even. Work slowly and carefully to preserve the air whipped into the cream.

3. Taste (optional). Add all mixtures, aroma, or fruit puree at this stage to avoid the following tips to avoid introducing too much moisture, which can result in iced textures.

4. Frost. Pour the mixture into a bread pan or freezer-safety tank. Smooth the top, cover tightly with plastic packaging or cover and freeze until solid (at least six hours).

That's it. With only one bowl, a mixer and a little cold weather, it is heading towards a homemade ice cream, which is the best-to-need for the machines you need for the machines you need.

Add flavoring without ice precipitation

Now that you know the science behind the creamy, smooth, sour-surn ice cream base, you probably need to install the taste. The biggest mistake you can make at this stage is to add ingredients that have high water content, such as fresh fruits that show free water and thus ice. Instead, here are some taste suggestions that do not risk introducing icy pieces into the ice cream:

• Jam or cooked fruit pureewhere sugar is already tied to the water
• Walnuts, chocolate or alcoholsthat bring a bold taste without water
• Acidic fruitsLike mango but only if they cook with sugar

For example, the No-Curn Mango ice cream recipe boils the mango puree with sugar before I drive it to the ice cream base. It freezes the sink-like consistency and its sharp fruity taste is nicely coupled with the condensed milk base. The result is creamy, bitter and perfectly smooth.

The final spoon

The ice cream is not just a frozen dessert; It is a surprisingly elegant colloid, also known as a multi-phase food system that combines solid, liquid and gas:

• Solid: ice crystals and fat spheres
• Liquid: Sugar-dense syrup (from condensed milk)
• Gas: Air pockets driven by the whipping cream

This micro -structure is what makes the ice cream ice cream– And with just a few basic ventricular -friendly ingredients, including sweetened condensed milk and heavy whipping cream, you can create this complexity without separate tools. All you need is a blender, a hand mixer or even a food processor that can fold the cream and condensed milk.

You get a dessert that is soft, creamy, stray, and ready for all the flavors and the desires of your heart. With a little kitchen chemistry and time, you will have an ice cream that is as good as you would buy in a jar.