Ice Cream and Sorbet Bases

A custard ice cream base should be cooked to 175°F in order to yield a good-textured ice cream. This also ensures that the eggs are cooked enough to prevent salmonella.

Cool a hot ice cream base in an ice bath: Put 2 to 3 cups of ice cubes in a bowl and add water to cover. Put the ice cream base in a smaller bowl and set it in the ice bath. This chills the base faster and improves the texture. Ice cream bases should then be refrigerated for at least 4 hours, and sorbet bases should be chilled for at least 2 hours. They can be refrigerated as long as 2 days. Colder bases freeze faster, which improves their texture.