Back in Business!

So shiny!

The canister in my ice cream maker bit the dust during the first ice cream churning of the season.  It sprung leaks down the side seam.  Salty ice cream.  Ick!  My coworkers and I were so bummed out.  It was a bad omen for my summer.

I discovered that four-quart White Mountain canisters come in a variety of dimensions.  Older ice cream makers, like mine, take a taller, narrower canister than the newer models.  Repairing it turned out to be a bigger deal than I expected.  The first place I went to didn't want to touch it for fear that attempting to fix the seam would require rebuilding the canister.  He referred me to the Antique Metal Restoration Center.  This guy would have done an amazing job restoring it back to mint condition, but the cost would be about the same as replacing the whole ice cream maker!

I figured I could work a better deal and eBay came to my rescue.  After a five week search, I manged to place the winning bid on a newer-style canister of the correct dimensions.  The new canister isn't like the old one:  the metal is thinner and it doesn't have the heavy cast pivot point on the bottom.  However, the seams are smoother than the old style and it doesn't have a speck of rust on it, so I am hoping it will last for many years.

Pasteurized custard base

Ice cream making is a team effort.  I mix up the base (which is technically frozen custard, not ice cream, because it has eggs - whatever) and pasteurize it the night before our ice cream social.  Coworkers supply ice, rock salt, bowls/spoons and whatever ice cream toppings they like.  We churn at noon.  Those that churn can have a taste of the ice cream when the dashers are pulled out.

Then we wrap it all up again with more ice and salt and let the ice cream ripen for a couple of hours.  About 2:30 or so I unpack it, we make our ice cream sundaes and enjoy our hard work.  It's a great way to break up the work day.

Today's maiden voyage was a total success.  We love the new canister!  Churning was so much easier than with the old canister (to the point we weren't sure if the ice cream was freezing).  Look at that beautiful ice cream.  It was delicous. 

Added bonus:  I managed to bring home a pint of leftovers.  Yum!