Homemade / Handmade Ice Cream

Wyn was going through her emails looking for something else, but came across this. I thought it was definitely something worthy to add to family history.

From: D Henry Leavitt
Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 4:34 PM
Subject: blog ... on ice cream

Family,
If possible, I would like to recreate the ice-cream making by hand at our reunion.
No electric motors, just the old fashioned cranking. Could we find or borrow somewhere from
someone.. I would so like my grandkids to do a reinactment, if possible.

My blog on the web (chirocode.com): [though I don't know where all this postings now are - LaMont? Dave? where did they get put? or were they zapped?]

"Most of what I learned of life and work was in our Leavitt home and farm in Idaho. My brother Leon is the founding publisher of the famous Progressive Dairyman magazine. In this month's issue they published a story by my sister Elaine (Analaine) about "homemade ice cream". It brought back many memories that I would like to share, especially counting the number of cranks turns)to 100. "

In my teenage years at home, one of our family treats was making homemade ice cream. My dad milked a few cows, about 20 or so as I remember. Ice cream making took some advance planning. Early in the morning, before the milk truck came to pick up the 10-gallon cans of milk, my mother would send me out to the metal tank where the cans were kept in cold water, cooling from the milking the night before. It was my job to dip into the cans and scoop up at least 3 or 4 cups of cream from each can. (I've often wondered how the butterfat content tested, if the creamery in Caldwell took a sampling every day).

We had a 6-quart White Mountain Ice Cream Freezer, one that had to be turned by hand, and we had plenty of hands available. There was no place in our little town where we could get a block of ice, so someone had to make the trip to Greenleaf, about 10 miles away to get the ice from a cold storage unit. The ice was put in a gunnysack, and my 4 brothers took turns bashing it into small pieces with the backside of an ax.

We made ice cream often during the summer. When the fruit was on, Mother would put in fresh peaches, cherries, or berries. Sometimes she splurged and bought bananas or pineapple. She had 2 different recipes that she used. For one she made custard with lots of eggs, but after she discovered Junket Rennet Tablets, that became her favorite.

Once the milk and cream mixture was poured into the inside metal can for freezing, ice was packed around it, covered with handfuls of rock salt to help it freeze, and the job of turning the crank began. Everybody took a turn at that. We had to turn the crank 100 times before we could stop and let the next person have at it. Of course, someone had to sit on top of the freezer to keep it steady. That was my little sister's job.

We knew the ice cream was done when you could not move the crank at all. We could not wait 2 hours for it to harden up like the recipe suggested! Nowadays, many people have electric freezers. So, for Dairy Month, what better way to celebrate than with a heaping dish of this old-fashioned treat!

Homemade Ice Cream (1 Gallon)

Dissolve 6 Rennet tablets in 1/4 cup cold water. Set aside.

Combine the following in a saucepan:
2 quarts milk (whole milk makes it creamier)
2 2/3 cups heavy cream
2 2/3 cups sugar
2 Tblsp. plus 2 tsp. vanilla

Heat while stirring to lukewarm (110 degrees). Stir in the dissolved Rennet tablets and quickly pour into the freezing container of the ice cream maker. Let stand UNDISTURBED for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature (or you can put it in the refrigerator). Follow the freezing procedure recommended by the manufacturer of your ice cream maker. Don't forget the ice and the rock salt.