This is the second time asking the question...I purchased a Kitchen
Aid attachment to the mixer...And the ice cream is icey....So I am
looking for a solution...I realize now that freezing it quickly
helps...But there are other factors...Such as scalding the milk before
hand that I don't understand...Why would heating the milk before
freezing it prevent ice crystals???  Does less fat make it creamy or
more creamier...How about sugar or egg yolks or corn starch???Please
search the other answer under williamstern ice cream and comments so
you can add to the disscusion, instead of simply reposting...

Researchers -- see prior question.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=754405

Hi williamstern,

Here are a few thoughts from someone who has made ice cream back in
the days when we used real ice to freeze it, to today using a Donvier
(I love my Donvier!). I've consulted my two books ("Old Uncle
Gaylord's Ice Cream Book" and "Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Dessert Book")
and here is what I can tell you.

1. I realize now that freezing it quickly helps
Yes, plus it is better to take it out of the ice cream freezer as soon
as it is ready and store it in a plastic container with a tight
fitting lid (if there is any left!). If you store some, bring it out
of the freezer a bit early to allow the ice crystals to melt a bit
(about 15 min) before eating it.
From Ben & Jerry's book:
"No matter how you freeze your ice cream, there will always be ice
crystals in it. The idea is to make them so small that they will not
be detectable on the tongue. The faster you freeze your mix, the
smaller the ice crystals will be and the smoother and creamier the ice
cream will taste."
2. Why would heating the milk before freezing it prevent ice crystals?
Haven't a clue except perhaps heating it evaporates some of the water
out of the milk.
3. Does less fat make it creamy or more creamier
The higher the butterfat the creamier the ice cream will be. 10% is ok
if you are going to eat it right away, but for storage it should be at
least 15% (for every quart of half and half you use, add a half pint
of whipping cream).
4. How about sugar
Pure Cane Sugar or Dark Brown Cane Sugar or Honey is best. 
5. egg yolks 
Eggs are the stabilizer which hold it all together (like meat loaf!).
You should use one egg for every two guarts of finished ice cream. Use
both yolk and whites and whip them well with the sugar before adding
them to the cream.
6. corn starch
Yes, any kind of "powder-like" substance will help. You can even add
some dry milk powder or soy milk powder to soak up some of the water
and I like to add cocoa powder. I don't fuss much anymore and now I
mostly make ice milk (needs cocoa or milk powder) or frozen yogourt.
Actually, if you like yogourt, you may find it easier to make (it
already is naturally thick and is less likely to ice up). Just add
alittle sugar and a little extra flavoring, no eggs are necessary.

I think making ice cream is one of those things that you just have to
get a "feel" for (sort of like making butter). Just keep making it,
adjusting as you go, and you 'will' succeed.

I hope this helps! 
hummer

Why water freezes faster after heating

    * 03 June 2006
    * NewScientist.com news service
    * Marcus Chown


A common chemical process may explain a bizarre property of water that
has been a mystery since the time of Aristotle - how hot water can
freeze more quickly than cold.

This strange and counter-intuitive effect was first observed by the
ancient Greek philosopher and was made famous in recent times by a
Tanzanian school student called Erasto Mpemba. He noticed that the
sugared milk he was using to make ice cream froze more quickly if it
started out hot. But what is behind the so-called "Mpemba effect"?

According to Jonathan Katz of the Washington University in St Louis,
it's all to do with solutes. "You have to ask yourself: what does
heating do to water that makes it easier to freeze?" he says. "The
answer is that it precipitates out solutes."

The solutes Katz has in mind are calcium and magnesium bicarbonate,
which make most drinking water "hard". When the water is heated, these
precipitate out to form the solid scale that "furs" up the inside of a
kettle.

Water that has never been heated still contains these solutes. As it
freezes, ice crystals form, and the concentration of solutes in the
remaining water becomes ever higher - up to 50 times as high as
normal. This lowers the freezing point of the water, just like salt
sprinkled on a road in winter. "The water therefore has to cool
further before it freezes," says Katz.

There is a second, related effect that hampers the freezing of water
that has never been heated. The lowering of the freezing point reduces
the temperature difference between the liquid and its freezing
surroundings. "Since the rate at which heat is lost from the water
depends on this temperature difference, water that has not been heated
has greater difficulty losing heat," Katz says.

Katz claims that the two effects combined can perfectly explain why
water that has been heated freezes more quickly than water that
hasn't. And he makes a prediction that experiments should be able to
verify: that the Mpemba effect should be more marked the "harder" the
water. "This may explain why not everyone sees it," he says. "Some
people are using soft water."

"Katz's analysis of the Mpemba effect is deeper and more rigorous than
anything else on the subject," says Richard Muller of the University
of California at Berkeley. "He has come up with a simple yet - I
believe - correct way to look at a complex phenomenon."
?The effect was made famous by a school student who noticed that ice
cream froze more quickly if it started out hot?

Katz, who worked out the details of the Mpemba effect while
adjudicating a student exam, is waiting for someone to do the
experiment to test his theory. "It's not difficult but it's not
trivial either," he says. "I think it would take a couple of months to
do it right."

From issue 2554 of New Scientist magazine, 03 June 2006, page 10

I have to admit that I'm prejudiced and I don't like Cold Stone
Creamery ice cream at all. I think the mouth feel is "plasticky" and
it's way too sweet for my taste. If you look at the ingredient list
you will see that the texture comes from a lot of emulsifiers and
stabilizers and it is loaded with corn syrup. Your home made ice cream
will never compare unless you load it up with similar ingredients.
Yuck! Don't!

Here is some information about what goes into their ice cream.

http://cheese.joyousliving.com/LinkList.aspx
Cold Stone Creamery
Ice Cream, Yogurt, and Sorbet Ingredient Statements

Example: FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM  
SWEET CREAM ICE CREAM  
(Cream, Nonfat Milk, Milk, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Guar Gum, Cellulose Gum,
Carrageenan, Mono & Diglycerides, Polysorbate 80, and Annatto
Extract), FLAVOR (Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Egg Yolks,
Sugar, Water, Natural Flavor, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate
(preservatives), Annatto and Turmeric Extracts (for color))

==

http://web.mit.edu/johnston/www/things-i-hate/cold-stone-creamery.html
stone cold grimmery
why cold stone creamery sucks

Let's take a look at the ingredients that make Cold Stone's ice cream
base so special.

Condensed Skim Milk  	   	
A source of non-fat milk solids (aka "serum solids") used to maintain
an ice cream-like texture despite high "overrun." Low-quality ice
cream manufacturers introduce air into the ice cream to increase its
volume. Frozen ice cream with 100% overrun (the maximum legal amount)
has twice the volume of the original ingredients. Cold Stone does not
declare its overrun, but you can take a guess since this one is high
on the ingredients list.

Corn Syrup 	  	
A low-cost sweetener to reduce the need for sugar. Probably also used
to depress the freezing point for "creamier" ice cream.

Guar Gum
Carageenan 	  	
Freeze/thaw stabilizers used to retard the growth of ice crystals in
shipping, during which the ice cream ("freshly made," according to the
signs) is subjected to changes in temperature. Guar gum, a vegetable
derivative, is non-digestible. Carageenan, an extract of red seaweed,
also acts as a tasteless thickener.

Cellulose Gum
A non-digestible thickener/stabilizer.

Mono- and Di-glycerides
Polysorbate 80 	  	
Emulsifiers. In real ice cream, the emulsion is held together by the
lecithin and protein from eggs. Since Cold Stone does not use eggs,
they have to add these chemicals. Glycerides are produced from
low-cost high-fat hydrogenated oils. Polysorbate 80 is derived from
sorbitol and is also used as a chewing gum plasticizer.

Annatto Extract 	  	
Yellow colorant. Is ice cream supposed to be yellow?

==

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-B00001-01c22DZ.html
Cold Stone Creamery dessert: Ice Cream, French Vanilla

==

http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/images/news/REF006_050806_Nutrition_Info_IceCream_445.pdf
Ice Cream Nutritional Information 

==

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-06-09-ice-cream-usat_x.htm
Ice cream shops thaw sales with scoops of fun

Cold Stone doesn't just sell sundaes and sorbet, it sells sizzle.
"It's like Starbucks for kids," says George Carey, president of Just
Kid, a consulting firm.

Its most vital expansion ? of its list of flavors ? begins in its top
secret test lab. R&D chief Ray Karam (aka Senior Tastemaster)
spoon-feeds a reporter some French Toast ice cream ? part of a future
line of breakfast flavors that also includes Cinnabon and Blueberry
Muffin. Also in the works: Twinkie ice cream and Pop-Tart ice cream
sandwiches.

In reference to czh's comment about stabilizers and emulsifiers, cooks
illustrated seems to have a different opinion about them,
surprisingly.  They did a taste test of vanilla ice cream, 20
different kinds, in May.  The winner of the test was Turkey Hill
Vanilla Bean, which achieves its texture through stablizers and
emulsifiers like carageenan.  It beat out many all natural brands. 
Cook's Illustrated is also the force behind America's Test Kitchen and
I respect their opinion of this stuff immensely given their rigorous,
scientific approach.  Unfortunately I can't give a link because the
site is subscription based, but I think giving a quote is fair use:

"So where did we come out? Turns out it is possible to pull one over
on Mother Nature--and, when it comes to vanilla ice cream, some
strategic engineering is actually a desirable thing. Our tasters liked
both French-style ice creams with stabilizers and regular (yolkless)
ice creams with stabilizers and emulsifiers"
www.cooksillustrated.com

turns out the cooksillustrated article is free for the time being:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tasting.asp?tastingid=388&bdc=4656&position=3&type=homepagefeature

frankcorrao-ga,

That's a terrific article about the ice cream taste test. It clearly
illustrates that more than just flavor goes into the ice cream eating
experience and that what tastes and feel "just right" depends on
individual preferences. I simply don't like the gummy mouth feel of
Cold Stone and other similar ice creams. Clearly, lots of other people
do.

Thanks for the article.

~ czh ~

Certaily czh, the gummy, ultrasmooth taste is not for everyone.  But
it looks like if that is consistency you're going for, you better
break out your chemistry set :)

or at least invest in some store bought stabilizers and emulsifiers.

Ice cream made with liquid nitrogen has a ultra smooth texture 
because of small ice crystals due to super rapid freezing.

It's worth a try just for the novelty.

http://www.dansherman.com/2004/05/liquid-nitrogen-ice-cream-maker.html
has hints on where to get the liquid nitrogen.

http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/Henry/Icecream/Icecream.html

http://education.jlab.org/beamsactivity/other/ln2icecream/ln2icecream.pdf

http://www.chymist.com/Liquid%20N2%20ice%20cream.pdf

://www.google.com/search?q=nitrogen+ice+cream