Hand Crank Ice Cream Maker

Hand Crank Ice Cream Maker-The Stuff of Kids Dreams

There are few things in life that bring back childhood summer memories then a hand crack ice cream maker. If you weren’t fortunate enough to have parents that loved you enough to get one then listen to some childhood memories. My parents had a summer cabin in Minnesota and we had it for over 40 years and the most vivid memories are those of my youth as we unpacked the station wagon and opened the cabin for the season.

It seemed like a lifetime before everything, for a family of six, was unpacked, power turned on, pump turned on and clear well water flowing, oil burner stove ignited top take the chill of an empty cabin out of the air and to warm the beds of 4 children…We would start a birch fire in the fireplace to get the cabin warm enough before the furnace caught up, and pack the groceries away before we hit the sack for the night. One of the summer rituals was always making home made ice cream, and this summer would be no exception. Off to bed for 4 restless kids and visions of fresh ice cream and lake water fights to greet us in the morning..

Morning came none to soon and we hopped out of bed inhaling our hearty Midwestern breakfast with the promise of an active day ahead. We had brought everything we needed for the ice cream, and as we dusted off our hand crank ice cream maker, I can still remember its light blue fiberglass bucket. A good wash and it was good as new. The old freezer was rattling trying to catch up with the demands of the ice need to chill our cream and we made plans to go to the local farmer down the road to get a few quarts of fresh dairy cream.

None of this store bought drivel for us, the fresh cream, and straight from the cow was the key ingredient to the best ice cream in the world. We drove down to the old farmer and made the customary social interchange, as I waited by the car wondering what in the world was taking so long and we made the 5 minute journey back tot he cabin.

There are of course electric ice cream makers for those that lack the dedication to the true experience but we would have none of that, we poured the fresh cream in the center and closed it up, surrounded the outside of the canister with rock salt and all the ice the old girl could produce in the short time we had been there and then the fight began to see who got to crank the ice cream. For an adult the cranking is nothing to speak of but for a 9 year old the continuous motion of cranking the canister around some rough rock salt laden ice was a chore indeed, but one worthy of accomplishment knowing what lay on the other end.

After 30 minutes of what seemed like endless cranking we opened that canister to check the consistency and determined based on our vast years of experiences that we had another 15 minutes to go. At this point the other kids had assembled and started to crowd the area, making life just that much more difficult, for once that canister was opened it would be every man for himself and the ice cream would be gone in minutes.

The time had come as the cranking became harder and harder indicating the hardening of the ice cream, the Old hand crank ice cream maker had once again doe it’s job to perfection, albeit with the help of a 9 year olds sweat. We used a heavy spatula and carefully spooned out the creamy ethereal substance into equal bowls, perhaps a bit more for he that sweat the most and ran off to the beach to feel the warm waves on our feet as we once again partook of the culinary excellence that was produced by our hand crank ice cream maker….truly the stuff of childhood memories.