Reddit reviews Secura Ice Cream Maker with Self-Refrigerating Compressor

First, get a decent machine. The type of machine you want will be determined by how much ice cream you plan to make (and how much you want to spend).

There are basically three types of ice cream makers:

1: Ice bucket. The most common type, consisting of a large bucket for ice and salt, an inner canister for the ice cream batter, and a motor or hand crank to turn the dasher. Pros: Cheap, large capacity, can make multiple batches a day. Cons: Loud, prone to salt contamination.

2: Frozen bowl. Consisting of a bowl with a brine solution sealed in the walls, and a bade unit with the motorized dasher. (The stand mixer attachment is also this type, with the mixer turning the dasher.) Pros: Easy to use, quieter than ice bucket, no chance of salt contamination. Cons: Small capacity, bowl must be frozen at least 12 hours between each batch.

3: Self-freezing. The most convenient of the lot, but the most expensive, as well. Consisting of a base unit with a built-in refrigeration unit, an interior canister, and a motorized dasher. Pros: Extremely easy to use, no chance of salt contamination, makes multiple batches quickly, no prep required. Cons: Small capacity, price.

I have used all three types of machine, having made hundreds of batches of ice cream. I always found the ice bucket to be a hassle, especially when making multiple batches. The delay for re-freezing made the frozen bowl impractical. The self-freezing machine is damn near perfect for my needs. Since I generally make 3-5 batches of ice cream whenever we have a party or family event, it's tremendously beneficial to be able to start a new batch immediately after the previous one has gone into the freezer. I do wish the capacity were larger, but at 1.5qt, it's not much smaller than my usual 2qt batch, and since I can start a new batch right away, it's not really that big a deal. With this machine, I find myself far more likely to experiment than before.

Once you have a machine, you need a recipe.

I started with pre-packaged mixes. They're generally crap. I graduated to Alton Brown's recipes from Good Eats. They make fantastic ice cream, but are very time-consuming. I use them only for special occasions now. These days, I use the base recipes in the Ben & Jerry's recipe book, and modify from there. The ice cream is not quite as good as Alton Brown's recipe, but the batter takes ten minutes to prepare, versus 12 hours. (And frankly, I think I'm the only one who notices the difference.)

EDIT: Link to my current —and favorite— machine: Secura L-150.

I'm about 1/2 the price of HD / Ben&Jerrys and (I think) just as good. I've elicited a few eye rolls upon sampling. But at this point I'm just tooting my own horn.

At first I ripped off a recipe from America's Test Kitchen, but have made some modifications. Plus I've made it more efficient to accommodate flavors. Now I make a batch that portions into 4 units of base. Then I add in a "flavor pack" to make a complete ice cream. It keeps things consistent and I can make up to 4 flavors with one batch of base.

Firstly, you need an ice cream maker. I bought a www.amazon.com/dp/B004MK8434/ out of the US because at the time it was something like $160 and we were par. You don't have to invest in a compressor based model, however if you plan on making a lot of ice cream I would recommend it, especially if it's also under $200. But to start off you can get a canister model that you pop in the freezer. The downfall is that you can only turn one batch before having to refreeze.

Now that you have the hardware, you need the software: Eggs, cream, milk, sugar, corn syrup, milk powder, salt. How much of each depends on how much you plan on making. For me, it's 18 egg yolks, 1L cream. 1/2L milk, 250g sugar, 200g corn syrup, 60g powdered milk, 1/2 tsp salt. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar while heating everything else. When it comes up to 150F, temper in some of the dairy to the yolks. Bring the whole thing up to 185F slowly while whisking. Strain and chill.

In the mean time, make a flavor pack. This is where you decide what kind of ice cream you actually want.

Here's a dead easy strawberry:
250g sugar and 500g frozen strawberries that have been thawed and mostly drained and roughly chopped. Mix both together and leave in fridge until ready. You can use fresh berries if in season, but Costco sells a giant bag of hulled berries for dirt. I'm lazy so I go this route. Scoop out 250g of strawberries with a slotted spoon as to not get a ton of syrup. You want a little but not a lot. Mix with 1/4 (or about 500g) of the base above. Toss into ice cream maker and come back in about 30 minutes depending on your machine.

Here's an eye rollingly good chocolate:
21g Cocoa Powder, 140g Semi Sweet, 250g cream
Heat and whisk the whole shebang until dissolved and melted. Chill.
Again, add the whole thing into a unit of base and churn as per manufacturer.
After churning you can either just put into a 1L container and freeze or layer in stuff like peanut butter cups, brownies, fudge swirl, white chocolate, raspberry coulis, etc.

Dead simple vanilla:
100g Sugar, 250g Cream, Vanilla beans (I use 4 crumbled because mine are dried out. I have a few under vacuum pack that I could split properly and probably get away with 1-2).
Heat, chill, add to 1 unit of base. Churn then freeze.

I use a Cuisinart and love it. I have a large freezer, so I just keep the bowl in the freezer 24/7.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004MK8434/ref=mp_s_a_1?pi=SL75&qid=1347916320&sr=8-1