Last summer, a reader took the opportunity to excoriate me for my perceived show-offery when a sorbet recipe I posted mentioned the use of an ice cream maker. Well, for one, a goodly percentage of ice cream, sherbet and sorbet recipes conclude with the mandate to "freeze according to ice cream maker's directions" and for another, it was a goshdarned wedding gift!
Perhaps some small accord could be struck, or perhaps even kicked with the use of the UCO Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker. Ice and rock salt are added to one chamber and edible ingredients to another. The whole unit is then hand-tightened together and the merrymaking/ice cream churning commences. The ball can be tossed, shaken, passed and generally frolicked about with, then opened and stirred, resealed and agitated again until the mixture reaches a pleasing consistency, and co-churners have worn out all "Have a ball!" related puns.
Still, should the $16.50 expenditure (via Amazon) still seem a tad schmancy, I included a coffee can agitation method in a post on Soul-Saving Sweet Tea Sherbet a while back.
UCO's Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-25-2008 @ 11:17PM
jsled said...
There is very little "play", "merry" or "frolicking" with this device. You are basically throwing a 10 pound plastic weight filled with ice cubes and rock salt. It makes a lot of noise, and is not even really a good forearm workout. It needs to keep moving for ~10 continuous minutes. The rather narrow tube makes "scraping down the sides" a chore. The fire-and-forget convenience of a motorized ice-cream maker is probably worth the amortized cost.
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8-26-2008 @ 9:39AM
cmhclaudia said...
We bought one of those for my niece and nephew last Christmas. They LOVED it. The ice cream was surprisingly good. I'd definitely recommend it as a fun gift. It keeps the kids busy and they are excited making their own ice cream.
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8-26-2008 @ 11:32AM
Chai said...
nothing like burning a bunch of calories...only eat them all over again.
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8-26-2008 @ 7:15PM
Robb said...
Obviously I'm the only one thinking of 'blue balls' rather than 'have a ball' related puns. OK, back to work.
http://www.xperiencedays.com/Culinary_Experiences.html
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8-28-2008 @ 5:27PM
Randall said...
My grandmother used this exact same method with two different-sized coffee cans. Fill the smaller one with ice cream fixin's, put it inside the bigger one and fill with rock salt and ice, seal it up, and then give it to your grand kids to kick around for ten or fifteen minutes. It was a great treat for just a little work...and is why I'll never buy one of these blue balls.
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