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1. Churn time and temp ranges are wide because different bases freeze at different rates, different machine have different mechanisms, etc. The best advice I can give is to start checking at 15 minutes with a new recipe, expect the next round is be roughly the same total churn time. Depending on your machine and freezer, consider putting the entire machine inside your freezer. You get lower, more consistent temperature and less noise.
   
2. Ratios are very important. The basic ratios have to do with water, fat, and sugar. Without rabbit-holing too far, think of a basic base recipe that you like (say, vanilla) and think of the variations from there. As in, if you're making caramel, the sugar in the caramel you make counts towards the total sugar in the base. It gets a bit more complicated with things that change freezing temperature, like alcohol, but that's the strategy.
   
3. Water is your problem there. Most fruit is too watery and will freeze solid. Smaller pieces will just give you icy bits. Apples do well dried or cooked, so consider adjusting your recipe. Common solutions for adding fruit flavor are:
   
   1. cooking some/most of the water out of a fruit (changes the flavor)
      
   2. Steeping fruit in the cream or custard base (hot or cold, 1 - 24 hours depending)
      
   3. making a flavored fruit and sugar syrup for the base or swirl (adjusting the water and sugar accordingly)
      
   4. using freeze-dried fruits (powdered first, then added to the base - my favorite
      
4. A few things. Are you making sundaes or ice cream? That is, are the other flavors options or integral? You can certainly make wild syrups for topping more easily than integrated ripples. For ripple effects, the best results are from layering fully churned base and jam-consistency swirl repeatedly. If you add to the churning base, it will incorporate and you will not see ripples. The exception, for me, is stracciatella, which I use in place of chocolate chips for things like "mint chip" (fresh mint, good dark chocolate stracciatella works great). For that I add for the last few turns of churning.
   
   Lebovitz's book is wonderful and you should start there.
   
   
   I also like Stella Parks' BraveTart, which includes, but is not limited to, ice cream.

It's this machine: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RDF0/

Says it can make 3qts in an hour so I assume that means the amount of finished ice cream. Either way, I'll just give it a whirl with 1qt and hope I get two great pints out of it. Thx for the math help haha.

I'll definitely have to do my due diligence about churn length for the first go around. I'll be doing a lot of due diligence about everything at that.

I'll pick up a water thermometer tomorrow! Thanks for the advice. I'd wondered what the go to was as I'd seen people pointing those laser thermometers at churning ice cream before and wondered if that was the preferred method. Seems excessive.

Thanks for all the help! Super super excited!

I truly made it up as I went along, without a whole lot of precise measurements. The star of this particular endeavor was supposed to be the other half of the batch, a brown butter & brown sugar base with chickpea "cookie dough" chunks. I ended up completely infatuated with the potato underdog instead and will probably make again soon, measuring everything as I go this time.

To the best of my recollection:
I started with a half-batch of my usual cottage cheese (low sugar, low fat, stabilizer-heavy) base -- about 650 ml -- from which I omitted salt. I am sure your favorite base would do fine. I added:

• 2 tablespoons of melted, but not yet browned, butter
  
• 1 tablespoon of clear vanilla extract
  
• 1 teaspoon of clear butter extract
  
• 1.5 cups (90g - big fluffy flakes) dehydrated potato flakes, in 0.5 cups interval
  
• (unsure) 3 tablespoons of butter "sprinkles", added gradually to taste - this stuff and this stuff
  
  Checking taste and texture as I went, I could have easily stopped at 1 cup of potato flakes, at which point the base had a subtle potato taste and a noticeably different texture. I'd probably suggest that someone else stop there :P But I had to push the potato envelope and am personally glad I did. The texture was thick, stretchy, and a bit chewy -- think of when you overbeat/process mashed potatoes and they sort of turn to glue. I was also somewhat heavy-handed on the butter sprinkles, to the extent that they gave a pleasant salty-sweet flavor to the base (with a comforting "instant mashed potatoes butteriness that somehow works with the sweet, vanilla note base).
  
  It sounds gross and relies on astronaut food, but I am smitten. As you can probably tell.

I've been looking into this puppy for a very long time now. It's super expensive as far as these things go, but I think I'll spring for it.

I wanted something with a compressor and a big capacity, so that already took me up to the $300+ range. What threw me over the top is that I've really always had an interest in potentially starting an ice cream or gelato business, and I'd have to do a lot of testing at home. Very few models seem to be able to freeze anywhere close to the time it takes this, and freeze time significantly affects the final product.

What also sold me on it is that of all the other ice cream machines on Amazon and elsewhere, this one had mostly 5 and 4 star ratings with a couple 3s thrown in there but absolutely no 2s or 1s. Even though 2s and 1s are sometimes outliers anyway, if I'm spending that much on an ice cream maker, I want it to be perfect.

A more affordable option might be the Cuisinart Ice 100, which seems to have pretty good reviews.

I'm a huge huge fan of gelato, which is very hard to find in the US (mostly impossible, actually, but there are a few rare spots in NYC, one I've found in Newburyport, MA).

David Leibovitz has a lot of wonderful recipes for both ice cream and gelato. More ice cream in his book, http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Scoop-Granitas-Accompaniments-ebook/dp/B005EH3ERU/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369578203&sr=1-4&keywords=david+lebovitz, but his site has quite a few good gelato recipes. Everything I've ever made by him has been fantastico!

Also, I have both of these books and can vouch for their craft. Everything I've made from them have been delicious.

http://www.amazon.com/Ciao-Bella-Book-Gelato-Sorbetto/dp/0307464989

http://www.amazon.com/Making-Artisan-Gelato-Techniques-Flavor-Infused/dp/159253418X

Ohhh, you are in for a world of flavor then! I LOVE malt. Malt all the things! You can get malted milk powder easily at the grocery store (brands - US: Carnation, UK: Horlicks), with the downside that they typically have added sweeteners. I've been using this which has a perfect balance of malty goodness and milky sweetness without added sugar.

Haha sorry to put it that way but I'm glad you agree. I'd start by looking at your cream. 35% should be max. And whole milk should be fine if that's the case. If you're serious about learning the how and why, you should get this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-My-Name-Ice-Cream/dp/0451495373

And get a scale if you don't have one already. My go to recipe is based on this one from Alton Brown:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/vanilla-ice-cream-recipe

Happy Churning!

I use both these rectangular containers and this taller tub.

I prefer the Rubbermaid containers since they hold more (which is useful for mix-ins), they are better for limited storage space in my freezer (they are easier to stack and slide into tight places), it's an easier shape out of which to scoop, and I've noticed it protects a smidge better against freezer burn than the Tovolo.

I love using Tovolo too but I like the 1.5 quarts Glide A Scoop ones better because it's much easier to scoop from since they are so long and skinny. My only complaint is that the plastic is brittle when the bins are frozen so if you drop them from countertop height, they do crack. I continue to use my cracked one too, so it's not the worst.
https://www.amazon.ca/Tovolo-Glide---Scoop-Strawberry-Sorbet/dp/B00CBFZWHS/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1466431366&sr=1-2&keywords=tovolo

Inulin is a soluble fiber used as a bulking agent (see icecreamscience.com for details), but not a replacement for milk powder in dairy recipes. I use about 4% of my ice cream mix.

I bought Ecomil's Almond Milk Powder, Hazelnut Powder and Chestnut Powder. I have yet to test it in my ice cream because there's some residue when I make almond/hazelnut/chestnut milk. It needs to fully dissolve for me to enjoy it's texture so I'm reluctant to try.

I wouldn't try soy milk powder unless you have really strong flavors to mask the soy. I tested mine repeatedly, but while it did give good textural improvements the taste was downright horrible in any flavors that didn't overpower it (like chocolate).

There is also rice milk powder, coconut milk powder and oat milk powder but I've yet to try these.

I've used several ice cream makers, including "brine-in-a-bucket" and "frozen bowl" types and haven't been happy with either. (Bucket is loud and too prone to salt contamination when making multiple batches. Bowl requires overnight freezing between batches.)

I've had this machine by Secura for nearly a year now, and I love it. It's at the low end of the price range for self-freezing units, and it works great.

I typically make 4-6 batches of ice cream every time we have a party or family gathering, so a self-freezing machine was really the only solution for me. I can whip up a big batch of batter, separate it into smaller batches in different flavors, and have the machine running for hours, batch after batch.

As an added benefit, it makes darn good slushies, too. Just pour in a can or three of your favorite (non-diet) soda and let it turn for 30-45 minutes.

Looking in this book I have and this is what the author says the differences are.

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-My-Name-Ice-Cream/dp/0451495373/ref=sr_1_1

guar gum

Guar gum is more soluble than locust bean gum meaning it will soak up water faster. Works best below 80F so blend into your chilled ice cream base. USe guar gum at a concentration of .1% (1g|1/4 tsp per 1kg|1 quart batch)


Gelatin

Because of the strength of gelatin available on the market can vary, it will take trial and error to find the best concentration of gelatin. We tested with Knox powdered gelatin and found that a concentration of .4% (4g|1 tsp per 1kg|1 quart batch). To use powdered gelatin place the cold milk and cream called for in the recipe into a pot and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Let the gelatin bloom, allowing it to absorb water for 5 mins, then heat the milk and cream, whisking the gelatin until it's melted. Once the gelatin is melted, continue adding other ingredients.


I myself have only used commercial stabilizer which is a blend of various stabilizers including guar gum

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisine-Tech-Cremodan-Cream-Stabilizer/dp/B00348H34G/ref=sr_1_3

I realize that those paragraphs didn't describe the texture differences but that's all I could help with!

The Science of Ice Cream by Chris Clark is the ice cream makers bible, as far as I am concerned. I feel like your question is directly answered by the book. It focuses on the "why" and "how" in ice cream creation rather than giving you recipes. In fact, as I recall, there isn't a recipe to be found within the two hardcovers.

The first half of the book is very approachable from the layman's perspective. It includes a history and cultural information, and then discusses ingredients and equipment. The second half gets into the freezing process and the physics behind proper ice cream manufacturing. It gets a little technical, but I believe a high school education and a bit of Google searching will provide anyone with the faculties to comprehend everything the author is discussing.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Ice-Cream-RSC/dp/1849731276

Happy Reading!

I have this guy http://www.amazon.com/Lello-Musso-Lussino-1-5-Quart-Stainless/dp/B00004RDF0

It's an absolute tank. Reliable, beautiful and gets the job done every time. Although a lot has to do with recipe and I have still to find a better ice cream base than the cremodan gelato based one I use now.

Here is what David Lebovitz says in his book The Perfect Scoop:

> French VS. American

>There are two basic styles of ice cream: French-style, which is a cooked custard made with egg yolks, and Philadelphia-style, made with cream or a combination of cream and milk, but without eggs. French-style ice creams tend to be smoother and silkier, due to the emulsifying power of the egg yolks, which get cooked on the stovetop, requiring a bit of cooking prowess. Philadelphia-style ice creams can simply be mixed or pureed together, chilled thoroughly, and then frozen. Philadelphia-style ice creams have no egg yolks, so they tend to be a bit firmer, freeze harder, and have a somewhat chewier texture. The advantage is that they're a little lighter tasting and are easier to make.

TL;DR: Eggs in French, none in American Style.

Homemade peanut butter ice cream with chocolate straciatella! I made Jeni’s Buckeye State Ice Cream recipe, and it turned out delicious!

I'm a huge fan of Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. I have her recipe book and every recipe I've tried has turned out perfect (except for one with beets, but that's because I undercooked the beets and don't have a good food processor). She explains the basics to her recipe, her approach to aroma, flavor, texture and gives a few tips for making your own recipes using her base.

If it’s a science textbook you want https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1849731276/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525303656&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=science+of+ice+cream&dpPl=1&dpID=51l1cQciIvL&ref=plSrch

If you want to make better ice cream at home get these

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01HWKSBAG/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525303656&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=science+of+ice+cream

https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Scoop-Revised-Updated-Accompaniments-ebook/dp/B073QZ26D4/ref=pd_aw_sbs_351_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=K1EEQQ83T2TA001XYF44

I think the automod took it off, here's the original:

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Maltodextrin is known for helping give body to sorbets. Maybe try that?

https://www.amazon.com/WillPowder-Tapioca-Maltodextrin-1-Pound-Tubs/dp/B00250U9BI

You mean this one? https://www.amazon.ca/Cuisinart-ICE-21C-Frozen-Yogurt-Sorbet/dp/B0041U1CFC/ref=pd_sbs_79_15?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0041U1CFC&pd_rd_r=47087a42-36a8-4897-abde-9b75e4e718f8&pd_rd_w=cDOxh&pd_rd_wg=XT2kX&pf_rd_p=0602d3b5-e536-4dc4-9e55-dd650b3d14d4&pf_rd_r=HRXVE62WSCCWNPEZHAR5&psc=1&refRID=HRXVE62WSCCWNPEZHAR5

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What do you think the overrun is like? And how long do you think it needs to sit in the freezer?

I bought this one in case anyone wonders.