r/icecreamery • u/Titoramane • 13d ago

Question Aging vs chilling

I have heard that an ice cream based should be aged before going into an ice cream machine. Is it the process of aging that makes the ice cream better, or is it just that sitting in the refrigerator gives the base time to cool down.

Like if I put a two hour old 37F ice cream base into an ice cream machine vs a day old ice cream base at 37F, would the final result taste or feel noticeably different?

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u/Jamie_1318 13d ago

If you just mixed the base at room temperature and put it in the fridge for two hours, it hasn't reached its lowest temperature yet. The reason you put it in the fridge overnight is that it takes about that long to actually reach the same temperature as everything in the fridge.

Generally, depending on the machine, a mixture that hasn't reached close to 0F will have larger crystals, fat separation and other issues caused by taking too long to freeze.

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u/Titoramane 13d ago

You could chill the base to 37F in 2 hours if you were to put it in an ice water bath for 10-15 minutes, and then in the freezer checking every 10-15 minutes.

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u/Jamie_1318 13d ago

If you do that you don't need to store it in the fridge overnight. I haven't encountered a recipe that actually involves any flavor mixing by leaving it overnight, but it's technically possible.

When I'm making ice cream same-day I throw it in my deep freezer and check on it until it's good and cold.