Gelatin Is Key To Making Homemade Ice Cream With A Luxurious Texture

Preparing ice cream at home is the closest some of us get to making actual magic. But even if you've explored every way you can make ice cream (even without a machine), you may still wish your scoops were creamier — because no matter how delicious the flavor, ice cream can be ruined by an unpleasantly grainy texture. Ice cream should be luxurious like the stuff from the scoop shop, but the truth is there's a secret to the commercial stuff.

Many mass produced ice creams rely on ingredients you may not find in homemade recipes — in particular, stabilizers and emulsifiers. This is in part because as ice cream moves between cold freezers and warmer temperatures in transit, the ice crystals that are so critical to ice cream's smooth mouthfeel will grow (this is one result of a phenomenon known as heat shock). When these crystals become so large that the human tongue can detect them, we perceive the ice cream as gritty. Home machines are at a disadvantage from the start, as they lack the speed to create crystals as small as their commercial counterparts, but you can take a page from the professional playbook.

Big brands use these added ingredients to help develop and maintain optimal creaminess, which you may find on the label in the form of locust bean, xanthan, or guar gums (among others). And while you may not have these less common ingredients on hand, there is another option that's perhaps a bit more familiar — gelatin.

Gelatin is one of those secret weapons that can keep those crystals from growing, and it's a snap to incorporate into your favorite homemade ice cream recipe. We're not talking about the flavored, sweetened packages you may know and love to enjoy with a little whipped cream, but rather unflavored packets or sheets that can be used for culinary purposes.

To implement this trick, you'll need to bloom your gelatin before using, which you can do a few different ways: in boiling water, in cold water, or directly into your ice cream mix. The important thing is to make sure it softens enough to mix well throughout your ice cream base. About ¼ cup of water should do the trick to bloom 1 envelope of gelatin (about 2½ teaspoons), and once well-integrated into your mix you can proceed with your standard ice cream making process, banking on a creamier finished product.

Thanks to this quick and easy step, you can focus on the fun part — enjoying your ice cream. Transform your chocolate scoops with one seriously bold topping for example, or if you've been in the market for the upgrade you need for thick, creamy milkshakes, this reliably rich and smooth starting point will help you make that dream come true. So next time you round up your ice cream ingredients, don't sleep on this simple addition.