Gelato in steel display pans: pistachio, vanilla, a caramel swirl and strawberry

Styles to try

One machine, four directions

Philadelphia styleNo eggs and no cooking, just cream, milk, sugar and flavor. The fastest start and the cleanest taste of whatever you flavor it with.

Start here

Make the no-cook vanilla base this week, chill it for at least an hour and churn it. Note how soft it is out of the machine and how firm after four hours in the freezer.

Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream

Custard (French) styleEgg yolks cooked into the base make it richer, smoother and slower to melt. It takes a thermometer and a bit more care.

Start here

Cook one custard batch with a thermometer in the pot, take it to at least 160°F, cool it in an ice bath and chill it overnight before churning.

French Vanilla Ice Cream

GelatoA custard-style base with more milk and less cream, churned and served slightly warmer, so it tastes dense and intense.

Start here

Once your custard works, make it again with about two cups of whole milk to one cup of cream, and take it out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving.

Sorbet and dairy-freeFruit, sugar and water, or coconut milk in place of dairy. It uses the same machine and is a good way to use ripe summer fruit.

Start here

Blend ripe fruit with sugar and a squeeze of lemon, chill the purée and churn it. For dairy-free ice cream, use full-fat canned coconut milk in place of the cream and milk.

Your first batch, step by step

A loaf pan of white ice cream swirled with blueberry, a metal scoop and fresh blueberries on burlap — A churned batch packed into a loaf pan to firm up

Two tested recipes to start with

What you can churn in your first month

No-cook vanilla

A Philadelphia-style base of cream, milk, sugar and vanilla that teaches you the whole churn-and-harden routine with nothing to cook.

French vanilla custard

Your first cooked base, where you temper egg yolks and take the custard to at least 160°F, then chill it overnight.

Strawberry sorbet

Puréed fresh berries, sugar and lemon juice, a dairy-free batch that shows how much sugar controls softness.

Cookies and cream

The vanilla base with crushed sandwich cookies folded in during the last minute of churning, so you learn when mix-ins go in.

Choosing and prepping your machine

Freezer-bowl machines

The cheapest and most common start. A double-walled bowl filled with coolant is frozen ahead, then a motor turns a paddle while the bowl freezes the base. You get one batch per frozen bowl.

Compressor machines

A built-in freezer chills the bowl, so you can churn on a whim and run batches back to back. They cost several times more and need counter space.

Capacity

About 1.5 to 2 quarts suits most households. Never fill the bowl more than about two-thirds, because the base swells as it churns.

Before each session

Check that your freezer is holding 0°F and shake the bowl. If you hear liquid sloshing inside its walls, it needs more time.

Food safety

Egg-based custard bases must reach 160°F on a thermometer, the temperature that makes eggs safe; most recipes go a little higher for thickness. For a no-cook base with eggs, use pasteurized eggs instead.
Cool a cooked custard fast in an ice bath, then refrigerate it below 40°F. Never leave a warm base on the counter to cool.
Do not refreeze ice cream that has melted. Scoop what you need and put the container straight back in the freezer.
Keep finished ice cream at 0°F in a covered container and wash the machine bowl and paddle after every batch.
If you share batches, note any nuts, peanut butter or other allergens you mix in, and churn allergen-free batches first.

A bowl of brown eggs, a glass jug of milk and a wire whisk on a dark counter — Eggs and milk, the start of a custard base

What trips beginners up

Homemade ice cream freezes harder than store-bought, which has stabilizers and more air. Let it sit on the counter for 5 to 10 minutes before scooping.
Icy texture is nearly always a temperature problem, not a recipe problem: a base or bowl that was not cold enough, or a batch kept in the freezer too long.
Cutting the sugar makes the ice cream freeze rock-hard, because sugar is what keeps it soft. Adjust it in small steps.
Custard scrambles if the heat is too high or you stop stirring. Use low heat and a thermometer, and strain out any cooked bits.
Mix-ins added too early sink or get pulverized. Add chunks, swirls and cookies in the last minute of churning or as you pack the container.
It is at its best within about a week or two; after that it slowly grows ice crystals and picks up freezer odors.

About the kit

Almost all the money goes on the machine; every other line is under about $45, and most are under $25. The four pantry lines are exactly what the first recipe calls for, so switch off any you already have in the cupboard. Fresh dairy and eggs come from the grocery store for each batch, roughly $6 to $8 a quart.

A bundle of dark cured vanilla beans tied with twine — Cured vanilla beans, the flavor behind the extract and the paste

Four tubs of homemade ice cream seen from above, with small tasting dishes

Stock the parlor

The machine, the pantry and a place to keep it

Every line here ships from Amazon; the dairy and eggs do not. Tap a card to put that option in the kit, and tap the card already chosen to leave that line out. The strainer starts out of the kit until you move on to custard.

Ice cream maker

Essential · Core equipment

It churns the base while it freezes, which is what makes ice cream smooth and light instead of an icy block.

budget

Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Machine, Ready in 20, 1.5 qt Freezer Bowl

4.5(43,332)

$54.99

Ice Cream Making

Styles to try

Your first batch, step by step

Choosing and prepping your machine

Food safety

What trips beginners up

About the kit

Stock the parlor

Ice cream maker

Cane sugar

Pure vanilla extract

Vanilla bean paste

Fine sea salt

Ice cream storage containers

Instant-read thermometer

Ice cream scoop

Fine-mesh strainer