Storing Homemade Low Fat ICE CREAM?

[keepquiet]

so whenever i make low fat+low sugar ice cream ( done w/o ice cream maker, i use the freeze and stir method), it basically turns to ice the following day. thus, i was thinking of doing thisto store the ice cream:

ice cream in ice cream container, then placing the ice cream container in a bag of salt before placing it in the freezer

my rationale is that the salt will lower the freezing point of the ice cream, so it should prevent the ice cream from turning into ice too easily.is this a good idea?,

iwas also thinking about lining the contaner with wax paper, wouls this help?

or does anyone have any solution wrt to storing low fat+low sugar ice cream?...thanks guys!

[raneyday]

If you like the taste you might consider pouring it into popsicle molds and eating it on a stick instead. I do this with leftover smoothies.

[acgold7]

So going back to the original issue, you have three problems here: Low fat, Low sugar, and no ice cream machine (not enough air). All three are causing your ice issues. You're basically doing everything possible to ensure a rock hard product.

The salt is a non-issue -- it would only help anything if it were IN your mix.

You could use lots of chemical stabilizers and emulsifiers if you wanted your non-ice-cream to stay smooth and scoopable in its frozen state. Sugar, in addition to adding sweetness, also adds its physical properties to the mix and helps prevent it from freezing hard and rocklike. A fat component that will whip can do the same. Avoiding either makes it very difficult.

Add to that, you are not using a machine to churn any air into the mix and you're pretty much doomed.

So it looks like whipped egg whites or a trip to a chemical distributor may be in order. If there were something like a non-fat, no-sugar Cool-Whip or something like that, you could try using that as a base.

Maybe if you tell us what the nutritional goals are here we can suggest a compromise recipe. Or at least a good ice cream maker.

[keepquiet]

ic, ok, this was what i used:
recipe 1: almond milk, skim milk, xanthan gum, stevia, vanilla extract
recipe 2: almond milk, skim milk, soy milk, agar agar, stevia

pics for recipe 1 below
---as you can see, the ice cream was fine if i ate in immediately w/o the intention of storing. but i want to make them ahead on the weekends to eat during the week.

nutritionally, i want to keep them low fat and as low kcal as possible.
like wat u and others have said, pretty impossible to make low fat+low sugar ice cream( or they would be all over the market!)

anyway, i made a semifreddo w pumpkin, egg whites, stevia, cinnamon and cardamon w great success. i guess this is the closest i can get to the ice cream

[beanodc]

I recently made a similar ice cream to your recipe # 1. It was almond milk, skim milk, some stevia, some agave syrup, pureed fresh peaches, and vanilla. I made it in an ice cream maker and it was pretty good. Maybe not as good as full fat cream and real sugar but... The problem was that once I put the leftovers in the freezer, it froze rock hard. Next time I will try the same recipe with bourbon or rum added. I'll let you know.

[mcf]

You should use sugar instead of agave, too. It won't raise your triglycerides as much and may improve the rock hard texture.

[keepquiet]

seems like we had the same problem!,

yes, would love to hear how yr expriment went, thanks!

[acgold7]

I think you're doing the best that can be done, given the limitations you're facing. A machine would certainly help.

What about a sort of souffle, using a couple of whole eggs, using maybe one or two yolks to make a custard with the fake milks and adding some corn starch to stabilize like a gelato, and once the custard is made, folding in the whipped egg whites to give it some lightness?

Is there a reason you don't want to use an ice cream maker? Too expensive? Donviers are cheap and they work great and you don't even need to plug them in. Just freeze the canister overnight if you have a chest freezer that can get really cold (0F).

You might also see if you can find some carrageenan and guar gum, which are stabilizers that commercial ice cream makers use and which are all natural as well. They are typically found in whipping cream.

Much more discusssion on this here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/608931

[mcf]

Sugar plays a huge role in preventing the iciness, that's why no sugar added ice creams, especially those with Splenda, are so hard. I read up on this and found that in order to make low carb ice cream (but mine had LOTS of fat!), I had to add polydextrose to prevent crystal formation.
The alternative might be xylitol, which seems to have some humectant and texture properties similar to sugar, but not as much.

From my experience and from all I've read, you have a formulation problem, not a storage issue.

[ipsedixit]

From my experience and from all I've read, you have a formulation problem, not a storage issue.
_______________________

Yup.

Aside from additional sugar, try adding some alcohol to your ice cream base.

And letting the ice cream rest on your kitchen counter top for 5-10 minutes before serving will help with the iciness as well.

[mcf]

that's right; I'd forgotten that the addition of vodka also helps with the icing issue... not something I've tried.

[ipsedixit]

It's not just vodka, although vodka is fine if you want a neutral alcohol additive.

But things like rum, port, wine, brandy and even beer are all great things to consider if you want to soften up your ice cream and/or create a unique flavor element.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Ginger ice cream with a splash or two of bourbon mixed in is amazing and the bourbon keeps it from freezing into a block (although mine also had both fat and sugar).

I also have a recipe for fruit sorbet that is little more than pureed fruit and simple syrup. Right before freezing, you add a tsp of beaten raw egg white to help make it fluffy. I once accidentally dumped in more egg white than was called for (probably about a tablespoon) and the sorbet turned into this wonderfully light, frothy dessert that never froze hard.

I was using an ice cream maker, which probably helped to whip up the egg white, but I think you can whip egg whites and then fold them in and it would have a similar effect using your method. As long as you're cool eating raw egg whites, that is. I've heard of people making machineless ice cream with whipped cream, but that would sort of ruin the low fat thing...

[mcf]

The OP seems to need help with no sugar added ice cream, or low sugar, though.
Very different result.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

I don't have any experience whipping egg white with any of the various sugar substitutes out there, so I'm sure about that. I don't know how much sugar is in the particular low-sugar ice creams the OP is making, either. If they are making a fruit-based ice cream (the example I gave was basically just fruit puree) and adding a bit of sugar, I could see the egg white helping to fluff things out. After all, the fluffiness doesn't have to hold for days, it just has to hold long enough to freeze and trap the air bubbles. But I don't really know. It would be fun to experiment.

In any case, alcohol would work with any recipe because it doesn't freeze through.

[mcf]

Fruit puree is extremely high in sugar, so I'd guess no, but you're right, we don't know what someone else's standard for "low" is.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Yes. It seems like to a lot of people low sugar simply means it doesn't have a lot of refined sugar in it, or that it doesn't have any added sugar, or it has less sugar in it than it usually does.

But I suspect that, sugar content aside, adding a couple teaspoons of egg white to a milk or cream-based ice cream wouldn't do much. It pretty much has to be the fruit puree type of sorbet. Although if you're going for overall healthiness instead of simply low-calorie, it doesn't get much better than a bowl of pureed fresh fruit (especially if you take it easy on the simple syrup).

[mcf]

Not true; a bowl of pureed fruit is still a sugar bomb. As a diabetic, I need fat and protein and not a lot of fructose, which promotes metabolic disorder.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

I'm not disagreeing about about the sugar content in fruit. Just saying that if sugar content is not your only concern, pureed fruit has a lot of healthy things going for it as well.

I assumed that because the OP was talking about low fat and low sugar that they were aiming for low-calorie ice cream, not necessarily ice cream appropriate for a diabetic. Although I could be wrong.

Individual health concerns aside, I don't think that something being low calorie automatically makes it healthy.

[mcf]

ITA about low calorie; I eat plenty of fat and protein and it's done wonders to reverse diabetic issues without any meds for over a decade now.