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If you don't have an old ice cream maker stored in your basement, you may want to look for a motorized type at a yard sale or pick up a new state-of-the-art model at your local hardware or department store. No matter which type you choose, follow the manufacturer's directions for the best results.
Salt and Ice Needed
Most people recall the old-fashioned wooden bucket model with the inner metal canister. After crushed ice and rock salt are layered around the metal canister inside the bucket, eager helpers take their turn at the crank.
The crank rotates the canister, which has a vertical paddle called a dasher inside. As the canister is rotated, the dasher stirs the ice cream mixture, aerating it and keeping it smooth by preventing ice crystals from forming while it freezes.
While hand-cranking is a fun activity, especially for a group, it can be tiring for young arms. Some bucket models have an electric motor that sits on top to turn the crank, eliminating fatigue. More recent countertop models have a motor beneath the canister and accommodate ice cubes and table salt.
All these models need to be churned continuously, with additional ice and salt added as the ice melts.
Container Is Pre-Chilled
Another type of ice cream maker eliminates the use of ice and salt altogether. Often called a Donvier type, after the company that invented it, it relies on a double-sided cylinder with a special coolant sealed inside its walls.
Before it's used, the cylinder is placed in the freezer for several hours to chill the coolant. The ice cream mixture is poured into the cylinder and, depending on the model, the dasher is rotated by hand or an electric motor.
This type of ice cream maker does not require continuous churning, and it will freeze the ice cream more quickly than models that use ice and salt.
Refrigerated Unit
To beat the summer heat with ease, a more expensive type of maker has a built-in refrigeration unit, so it doesn't require ice and salt or a cylinder chilled ahead of time.
This countertop model has freezing coils wrapped around the canister and a motorized dasher that stirs the ice cream mixture as it freezes. Once the mixture is poured into the cylinder, you just turn on the machine and let it do all the work.
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