Last updated on May 2, 2023
We are Italians and on our website All Italian we share many recipes that wemake at home. Here we show how to make gelato with the ice cream maker, compressor or with freezer bowl.
Each ice cream maker is sold with an handbook: pour the ice cream mixture, turn on the ice cream maker, wait 50 minutes. It sounds very simple.
So why are so many looking for tips on how to use an ice cream maker?
Maybe you bought an ice cream maker, followed the instructions carefully, but the first ice creams didn't work out. It happens often.
The most common problems are: the mixture remains liquid; or the mixing paddle stops before the ice cream is ready.
At this time, many think that the ice machine is not working properly. But it's not like that: because a big difference is how you use it, besides the ingredients of the recipes.
On All Italian we have successfully made many ice cream recipes. On this page we give all the tips for using an ice cream maker, for a delicious ice cream that it's perfect every time.
👉 The preparation applies to both compressor and freezer bowl ice cream makers.
On this page
The Italian words gelatiera and gelateria are very similar, but they mean very different things.
The Italian words of this page:
| 🔊 Gelatiera | Ice cream maker |
| 🔊 Gelateria | Ice cream shop |
The ice cream maker for home use is a device that has a specific task: to mix the ice cream mixture in a cold container.
In Italian we call this 🔊 mantecazione.
If the mixture you pour contains the correct ratio of ingredients, it will begin to collect air after about 15 minutes and gradually become a soft ice cream.
Freezer bowl ice cream maker: the simplest, most compact and cost-effective type. This ice cream maker does not cool, it only mixes the ice cream mixture.
The ice cream bowl is removable and should remain in the freezer for several hours before you can make ice cream. Once it is well frozen, put the freezer bowl back in the ice cream maker and pour the mixture.
The biggest drawback of this type of machine is that you can only make one ice cream per day.
Compressor ice cream makers mix and also cool the ice cream. This type of machine is a bit bulkier and costs a bit more, but it does contain a compressor that generates cold - like the one in your fridge or freezer.
In exchange, this type of machines is ready to use and you can make multiple times ice cream in one day. In a few days we made about ten recipes for our ice cream recipe book.
The amount of ingredients in the ice cream recipe is important for ice cream: we often write that on the ice cream pages of All Italian.
The ingredients you pour into the ice cream maker must have two characteristics:
The recipe must have a balanced ratio of sugars and fats, otherwise the mixture will remain liquid; this is always the case with our recipes, because we use software to calculate the ingredients.
The mixture you pour into the ice cream maker must be cold.
With a freezer bowl or compressor, the ice cream maker too must be very cold when you pour the mixture.
If you use a freezer bowl ice cream maker, the bowl must have been well frozen in the freezer for several hours.
If using a compressor ice cream maker, turn it on a few minutes before pouring in the ice cream mixture to prepare it cold.
👉 To make ice cream, the ice cream maker must reach a temperature of about -7.6 °F (-22 °C). But not all ice cream machines indicate the temperature.
We have a lot of experience with two ice cream makers, a 1.5 L Domo and a 2 L Springlane (the one in the photos). The smaller ice cream maker takes 10 minutes to cool down; the 2 L, with the larger container, takesa about 15 minutes.
When you turn on the ice cream maker, the countdown starts, usually at 60 minutes. This means we'll pour the mixture when the countdown reads about 45 minutes.
While the ice cream maker is cooling down, we will mix the ingredients.
The ice cream mixture that you pour into the ice cream maker must be very smooth: this way the small pieces of ingredients do not block the mixing paddle of the ice cream maker.
We mix the ingredients for a long while with the immersion mixer, until they are dissolved: for example sugar, nuts, biscuits and fruit.
There is another to that no one ever writes, neither in the manual of the ice cream maker nor in the online recipes: the ingredients you add must be cold.
Otherwise the ice cream maker takes a lot of effort to bring the mixture to the right temperature for it to change from liquid to gelato.
Our advice is therefore to mix the already cold ingredients well or to let the mixture cool in the fridge before pouring it into the ice cream maker.
At this point the icemaker is cold, ideally at least -7.6 -22 °F / -22 °C. The user manual often tells you to open the ice cream maker and pour the mixture: but this way the cold escapes from the ice cream maker.
All ice cream makers have an opening in the lid, not just for adding chocolate chips; we also use this opening to pour the actual ice cream mixture.
We pour the mixture through the opening on the lid of the ice cream maker while the mixing paddle is moving.
👉 If we skip this step, the ice cream does not always result: the mixing paddle of our Domo ice cream machine would often get stuck before the ice cream is ready. It never happens when we pour the mixture through the opening on the lid.
If the ice cream maker is properly cooled, our gelato will be ready in about 30 minutes. It also depends on the amount of ice cream, and on the ingredients: the fruit sorbet, less creamy than an actual ice cream, is ready even sooner.
After about 15 minutes, the mixture should begin to collect air and look softer, with the look and texture of Italian gelato.
👉 Tip: Do not fill the ice cream maker bowl completely: preparing a smaller amount is easier, especially in the beginning.
The ice cream is ready in about 40 minutes. Sometimes the mixing paddle stops slowly when the ice cream is ready: because the ice cream has become creamy and the paddle can no longer mix it.
However, it depends on the power of the motor of the ice cream maker, on the amount of ice cream and on the creaminess of the ingredients.
👉 We recommend leaving the ice cream in the ice cream maker a little longer so that it becomes firm. Freshly made ice cream is less firm than that from the ice cream parlour. We suggest to keep it in the freezer for at least an hour before serving.
It often happens when you make your first homemade ice creams: the mixture remains liquid. This is usually for two reasons:
Or maybe the amount of fat and sugar in the recipe is wrong. When we make our ice cream recipes, we calculate the right percentage of each ingredient to ensure that the mixture really becomes a gelato.
We regularly update our pages on Italian gelato with recipes we make at home with the ice cream maker.