Technique, explained
Guides
Short, practical answers to the questions that come up once you start making ice cream at home.
How to make ice cream without a machine
Four ways to freeze a batch with no ice cream maker, and which one suits the evening you are having.
Custard or Philadelphia: choosing a base
Eggs or no eggs? What each base does to flavour, texture and how long a batch keeps.
Why ice cream turns icy, and how to stop it
The commonest disappointment in home ice cream, its six causes, and the fix for each.
Sugar, fat and air: the three levers
The three things that decide whether a batch is silky or disappointing, and how to adjust each one.
Which ice cream maker should you buy?
Freezer bowl, compressor or hand crank: three kinds, and how to tell which one is yours.
Mix-ins, ripples and flecks: what to add, and when
Chunks, ripples and the chocolate-fleck pour: the right moment for each, and the traps.
Storing, scooping and serving
Shallow tubs, parchment on the surface, and the warm-scoop trick. Small things that matter.
Now go and make something
Every guide points at the recipes that use it. If something here is unclear, or you want a guide on a subject we have not covered, say so and it will get written.