Ice Bath

We cook (or pasteurize) our ice cream base in order to kill as many microorganisms as possible, making the ice cream safe to eat. But if we don’t cool our cooked base quickly—if we take the 165ºF (75ºC) base and stick it in the refrigerator, for example—the time it takes for the temperature to fall back to 40ºF to 45ºF (5ºC to 10ºC) allows for those microorganisms to multiply again. That’s why we use an ice bath to rapidly cool the base.

The easiest place to create an ice bath is in your kitchen sink. Fill the sink a quarter of the way with cold water and add a few handfuls of ice. Then gently lower the ice cream base into the ice bath. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure your base has cooled completely before churning.