Old Fashioned Ice Cream Maker

I don't know if you have ever made homemade ice cream; but it's really a fun family activity and the ice cream is far better than anything you will ever find at the supermarket. Just the other day I was looking at ice cream makers and an old fashioned ice cream maker caught my eye. Allow me to show you three models that I like and explain why I would choose them.

But first, let me share a special memory from my teenage years. I'm sure you can relate once you read about one of my fondest memories.

It was a hot day in early June 1988 and I had just taken a job at a summer camp for retarded children and adults. Actually my brother, who was majoring in special education, got me the job. But his girlfriend missed him so much she convinced him to quit only a few days after we started work. So there I was, all alone in a strange town, with strange people, and afraid of my own shadow back then.

As part of orientation, the camp leaders organized daily get-together and group activities to help us all get to know each other. But with me being so shy, it wasn't working too well for me. That is until the day the old fashioned ice cream maker came out. This antique looked older than dirt.

We were all teenagers, most of us just out of high school, and none of us had ever made ice cream before. It was hilarious watching us all fumble around with that old antique ice cream maker. We managed to get all the ingredients into the steel bucket. I laughed at some of the girls because they didn't even know how to measure sugar. Then they laughed at me when I spilled half the ice on the ground when I picked up an open bag of ice by the bottom. My face must have turned 50 shades of red.

I swear we laughed and kidded around for hours while we churned the ice cream by hand. In reality it was more like 40 to 45 minutes. But it was a pivotal time in my life. That one event helped me overcome much of my shyness and prepare me for college in the fall. And let's not forget the ice cream. It was the best strawberry ice cream I've ever had!

Now, let's see what's so special about the three old fashioned ice cream makers that I recommend.

Hand Crank Old Fashioned Ice Cream Maker

All ice cream making takes the same basic ingredients. You will need at least sugar, milk, eggs, and some sort of flavoring. Plus to keep the ice cream at the optimal 10 degrees Fahrenheit, you will also need salt and ice. If you want an authentic experience of making homemade ice cream, then the hand cranked old fashioned ice cream maker is the way to go.

Hand cranking provides for a hands-on approach to making ice cream. It can be very fun for kids of any age as they take turns churning the ice cream. But be forewarned, you will be cranking for at least 40 minutes. And hand churned ice cream is of a stiffer consistency than that produced by a motorized machine.

For the true old fashioned look and feel, you should buy an ice cream maker with a real, hand crafted wooden bucket. Some of the wooden buckets will have a plastic liner to prevent leaking and for easy cleanup. I find this feature to much better than the old fashioned wood bucket without a liner where the melted ice and salt leaks out all over the table.

I found one particular model that features both a hand crank and an electric motor, real pine wooden bucket, heavy duty aluminum freezer can, and all parts are removable for easy cleaning. Customers highly recommend this model with nearly half of them giving it a five-star rating. Click here to see the Maxi-Matic Elite 6-Quart Gourmet Old Fashioned Pine-Bucket Electric/Manual Ice Cream Maker.

Electric Old Fashioned Ice Cream Maker

For people who don't want to hand crank their ice cream, then I recommend using an electric ice cream maker. Being that we want an old fashioned look to our ice cream maker, there is still no lack of choices in an all electric model.

As with a hand crank model, I suggest buying your electric ice cream maker with some of the same features. You should look for a model with a real wooden bucket, platic bucker liner to hold the ice and salt, aluminum or stainless steel ice cream canister, and removeable parts for easy cleaning.

For best performance and enjoyment for years to come, look for an electric ice cream maker which has a strong, roboust electric motor with metal gears that mesh well together. Loose fitting gears can lead to frequent slippage and binding. And speaking of binding, your electric ice cream maker motor must have thermal shutoff protection just in case the motor overheats due to long use or gears jamming.

Considering all those points, I would choose Nostalgia Electric's 4-quart Wooden Bucket Ice Cream Maker. All these features don't have to add up to an expensive machine either. At less than $50, this ice cream maker comes highly praised by at least 80% of the customer who have purchased one for themselves. Click here to see the lowest price I could find on Amazon.com.

Old Fashioned Ice Cream Freezer

While looking at ice cream makers the other day, I ran across the term “ice cream freezer.” I never heard of an ice cream maker being called an ice cream freezer. When I think of freezer, I think of a place to freeze and store something at subfreezing temperatures. Well, I guess that's partially true for an ice cream freezer since it freezes the ice cream as it churns.

You will find that many hand crank and electric ice cream makers have a freezer can with lid that allows the leftover ice cream to be placed into the freezer. Well, that's assuming there is any leftover ice cream to freeze for later. But not all ice cream makers with this feature are called ice cream freezers. So I speculate it is more of a choice in words than a distinction among features.

Keeping in line with the old fashioned ice cream maker theme, I would recommend the White Mountain (now Rival) 4-Quart Hand Crank Ice Cream Freezer. When you buy this particular model, you will get a stainless steel ice cream can and dasher (stirring paddle), a wooden bucket, and a truly old fashioned look. In fact this ice cream freezer looks very similar to that old antique ice cream maker my friends and I used back in the summer of 1988. See what I mean about the look by clicking here.

Remember, an old fashioned ice cream maker can make more than just homemade ice cream. It's just as easy to churn out sorbet, gelato, frozen yogart, and other frozen delights. All of it made by you and your family with wholesome ingrediants and no harmful preservatives. Take some time to learn more about the models I have recommended here and create some great tasting ice cream and long-lasting memories.