Who doesn't enjoy a cold bowl of deliciously silky and rich ice cream? Dating back to ancient Rome, blocks of ice would be hauled in from surrounding mountains in order to manufacture some of the predecessors to our much loved modern frosty dessert. Even though ice cream is widely available--from the corner drug store to upscale, couture parlors--there is something special about a bowl of freshly turned out ice cream made at home with an old fashioned hand-cranked ice cream maker.
While the hand-powered frozen dessert maker has a number of disadvantages compared to its electric counterparts, these disadvantages however, do not outweigh the overall value of these older machines. For one, the hand-powered machines require the availability of lots of ice and rock salt. Often times these machines were messy and would leak melted rock salt and ice slurry all over the place. But if you find yourself going to the store to pick up the ingredients, why not also pick up some ice and rock salt? After all, these are two materials which are fairly cheap. As for the leaking, an easy remedy is to encase the machine in a larger vessel such as a bowl or basin.
Another disadvantage is of course all the extra work required to churn a six quarts of vanilla which takes between 20 or 30 minutes of work. The way to get around this is to have lots of help. Growing up, every summer, we'd make a trip to grandma's house and that always meant lots of home made treats. Grandma would prepare the custard, my little brother would sit on a towel on top of the machine, and me and my sister and cousins would take turns cranking. I have to admit, that what we turned out, was much better than anything you could get at the Dairy Queen or Braums.
Hand-cranked machines do have many advantages over the more modern contraptions as well. Hand turning the cream allows you to feel just how frozen and thick the custard is. This allows you to turn faster to add more air, as opposed to the electrical versions which operate at a set speed. Additionally, hand-cranked machines often have a larger capacity, allowing you to make larger batches as opposed to the smaller 1/2-1 quart capacity of electric versions. Hand-cranked machines also allow for a certain amount of portability, allowing you to whip up a bowl of mint chocolate chip anywhere such as while out camping, while electrical machines are confined to where electricity is available.
Old fashion machines are still widely available and can be purchased from companies such as the White Mountain Freezer Company which is now owned by Rival. Another suggestion is to visit your local yard sale or antique shop and for the truly intrepid, there's Ebay.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น