A question for those of you who make homemade ice cream...

[praisefor3]

I grew up in the days when you never heard of cooking the eggs for the ice cream...unless you were making a specialty custard type. I admit that I still am not all that finicky about cooking eggs (ok I still let my kids sample cookie dough)...but I would never serve non-cooked eggs to company so...I now cook the eggs that go into my passed-down-from-my-mother homemade ice cream recipe. But how in the world do you keep them from beginning to cook before you get them heated? And how hot do you cook them? I usually throw them into a pan with some milk, mix them up and heat but inevitably they start to cook before I think they're hot enough. Any words of wisdom?

[Heather in OK]

I heat the mix until it's too hot to dip my finger into it.

 

I've never had the problem of the eggs cooking before I was done. In my mix I have sugar, eggs, flour, and milk so maybe having more ingredients in there has something to do with it??

[Sharon in SC]

I heat the mix until it's too hot to dip my finger into it.

 

I've never had the problem of the eggs cooking before I was done. In my mix I have sugar, eggs, flour, and milk so maybe having more ingredients in there has something to do with it??

 

 

This sounds very much like the recipe we tried today for the first time (Rival's recipe). The eggs went in before the mixture was hot enough to be a problem in terms of causing the eggs to scramble. We've all RAVED that this is the best homemade ice cream we've ever had!!

[Holly in FL]

I don't use eggs in my ice cream. But, I'm wondering if you could use pasteurized eggs so you wouldn't have to cook them. ??

 

Just a thought.

 

~Holly

[HollyDay]

I use egg beaters - they are pasteurized.

[Holly in FL]

AH!! Both Holly's think alike!!

 

Smiles!

~Holly

[Gretchen in NJ]

I grew up in the days when you never heard of cooking the eggs for the ice cream...unless you were making a specialty custard type. I admit that I still am not all that finicky about cooking eggs (ok I still let my kids sample cookie dough)...but I would never serve non-cooked eggs to company so...I now cook the eggs that go into my passed-down-from-my-mother homemade ice cream recipe. But how in the world do you keep them from beginning to cook before you get them heated? And how hot do you cook them? I usually throw them into a pan with some milk, mix them up and heat but inevitably they start to cook before I think they're hot enough. Any words of wisdom?

 

We don't cook our eggs when we use them in ice cream, but then we drink raw milk also.

 

If you want to cook your eggs, you do not need to put them on the stove. First, heat your milk/cream and set aside. Wisk your eggs in a heat proof bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add warm milk/cream to the eggs while wisking. That is enough to 'cook' the eggs.

[AngelaC]

I make a custard style ice cream and I have had my eggs NOT mix in before. bleck.

 

I went and read my recipe before I made it today . ..

 

The recipe has me heating the milk and sugar and in a SEPARATE bowl, whisk the eggs WELL. When the milk mixture is simmering (this recipe also calls for a little flour as a thickener) and gets thick, slowly add about one cup of this to the whisked eggs. Stir in quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking. After the cup of milk and eggs were well mixed, I added another cup for good measure THEN added this to the main cooking pot. Mix well.

 

The ice cream was delicious and NO cooked egg pieces. Take it from me, eating chunks of frozen egg pieces is an experience I'll skip.

[Lakeside]

We don't cook our eggs when we use them in ice cream, but then we drink raw milk also.

We do too! Gretchen, can I ask you where you get your milk?

 

If you want to cook your eggs, you do not need to put them on the stove. First, heat your milk/cream and set aside. Wisk your eggs in a heat proof bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly add warm milk/cream to the eggs while wisking. That is enough to 'cook' the eggs.

 

This is what I was going to suggest. The macaroni and cheese recipe I use called for tempering the egg before adding it to the milk mixture. Having no idea what that meant I googled it and found these instructions. It has worked every time.

[Gretchen in NJ]

We do too! Gretchen, can I ask you where you get your milk?

 

This is what I was going to suggest. The macaroni and cheese recipe I use called for tempering the egg before adding it to the milk mixture. Having no idea what that meant I googled it and found these instructions. It has worked every time.

 

 

Birchwood Dairy in PA

http://www.birchwoodfarmdairy.com/

[Melissa in Australia]

I use a double saucepan, and stir all the time. I only cook the yolk. it is more like a egg custard, then I fold in the egg whites after it cools.