Ice Cream Primer: Breaking Down the Perfect Scoop. WTF - Ep. 301

If you thought vanilla ice cream was a simple affair, think again. We take a deep dive on everything ice cream, covering American, French, and frozen custard style ice cream. We look at everything from cook method, to stabilizers, to churn method, and even scoop-ability. Follow Scott and Janie on this ice cream journey on this week’s episode of WTF.

Chapters:
0:00 Intros
1:13 What are the different types of ice cream bases?
2:55 What is an American/No Cook base, a French base, and a Frozen Custard Base?
6:17 How do you cook an ice cream base? What are the differences between no cook, double-boiler, and sous vide?
9:31 What is the role of an ice cream stabilizer? How does it improve the ice cream?
11:21 How does equipment affect the ice cream during and after the churn?
14:01 Taste Test: Comparing American, French, and Custard style ice creams churned in different types of ice cream makers.
18:58 How does storage and temperature affect ice cream?
20:07 What is the difference between Perfect Ice Cream and Perfect Sorbet?
25:22 How does too much sugar affect ice cream?
26:52 What is overrun and how does it affect ice cream?

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Product Links:
Perfect Ice Cream

Perfect Sorbet

Vanilla Beans

Recipe Links:
American, French, and Frozen Custard Style Vanilla Ice Cream

References and Other Links you Might Like!
WTF - Perfect Ice Cream

WTF - Perfect Sorbet

WTF - Perfect Gelato

WTF - Ice Cream Stabilizers

WTF - Pacojet

WTF - Ninja Creami vs Pacojet

[soly.]

Thank you for the video. How does adding alcohol like whiskey or wine affect the ice cream making?

[jn]

Excellent video. Ice cream is challenging to make at home without noticeable ice crystals. To completely eliminate ice crystals, try pudding! No freezing, so no ice crystals. I've been experimenting with your modified starches and the modified tapioca starches work great! They are the most flavor neutral thickener I've found, and I can make are really smooth thick pudding that's far better than the store bought instant mixes. Plus, allulose and other non-sugar sweeteners works great for a healthier dessert.

[meatloafhead]

Too bad I still do not know what a STABILIZER where do I get it? What’s the name?

[spuddaddy]

Thanks for posting such Informational videos!

[michaeljensen]

Very informative episode, and I love the immersion circulator technique, but I might need to try a no churn ice cream because my family is not going to let me buy one more kitchen appliance 🤷🏼‍♂️😬😆

[wisperone-ems]

I liked the video. It was well explained. I always wondered about the differences. I had an aunt who loved ice milk based desserts. Now that you explained ice crystals..makes sense.

[ginalt]

This is my favorite video you guys have made....maybe because I LOVE ice cream? Anyways, I love all the tips and plan on experimenting but one thing I have struggled with is adding fruits. I tried to make a strawberry ripple, so making a jam and then stirring it in the ice cream, so it was like ripples in it. Worked when serving right away, but after frozen it was like an ice block in your ice cream. Any ideas of how to solve?

[virtuevelour]

Thank you for making this video! Do you have any tips about working with a coconut cream base instead of dairy?

[oceanfrog]

Thank you for this video. I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker and usually make gelato, but I am definitely trying the French ice cream method.

[JulieButler-rf]

Thank you for all the info! Would you please discuss how ultra pasteurized cream vs regular pasteurized milk and cream affects ice cream consistency. Plus other creams such as sour cream, creme fraiche or even mascarpone or cream cheese.

[christianmall]

As always, such a great episode!! I learned a lot of interesting things. I have one question: In the book "Heston Blumenthal at home", he blitzes the vanilla ice cream with a hand blender (for 10 seconds) after it was in the ice cream machine for about 30 minutes and then returns it to the ice cream machine for 10 more minutes. According to him, it helps getting less ice crystals. What do you think about this technique?

[chrisd]

Best day ever to get to taste test ice cream

[tommihommi]

The Smart Scoop is a bit of a bad representative for churning ice cream machines. The cuisinart freezer bowl machines make much better results since they freeze the ice cream faster, but of course they have a convenience disadvantage

Why not go for the CMC+Guar+Lambda combo for sorbet, or Iota+Guar+Locust gum for ice cream. Those 3 way bangers that are better than any 2 or 1 on their own

[MM-ocsb]

What a helpful overview! I need to use alternative sweetners for health reasons, which sweeteners change the smoothness during freezing? I've found allulose with heavy whipping cream works well - which stabilizer would you recommend? Thank you for all your helpful insights!

[BS-whlh]

What is a good base for nondairy ice cream? Both without eggs and with eggs?

[tmcaleer]

Thanks for another great video. Ice cream is my absolute downfall. I did purchase the Ninja Creami after your video revue and love using it. Would love recipes using coconut milk and allulose.

[cdg]

I just bought a condenser IC maker, and made a few batches of strawberry.. so good. Questions: what sugar alternatives work well for IC, I used very little sugar 1 TSP and 1TSP of allulose. Would monkfruit work as well?

[stinde]

What is the best way for a home cook to calculate the correct fat and sugar content of the recipe? What are the best values to look for?

[cwfenn]

I have the ice cream maker in the video and it works great. Breville stuff is generally quite solid.

[BS-whlh]

How do you add alcohol to ice cream which affects how it freezes without ruining the texture? Is there some ratio of alcohol to sugar that can be used to make it freeze the same while maintaining it's texture?