The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1897-06-09
The Better Way to Freeze Creams
and Water Ices.

The season of ice cream naturally
opens with the season Of strawberries.
This is one of the most wholesome, rs
well as one of the easiest deserts, which
can be made at home. 1t is a simple
matter to prepare the cream for freez-
ing but many people fail in freezing it
to the proper consistency. The best
creams are made of a rich custard,
simply heated to the boiling point, and
the sarae quantity of fresh cream with
fruit pulps of ilavoring. Some cooks
scald the cream. 1t Is not necessary
to beat the cream to stiff froth, nor is
there any gain in doing 81, unless one
cream.
Most amateur cooks freeze cream too
hard or unevenly. 1t is not desirable
to freeze cream too rapidly. A freezer
which is arranged to freeze cream in
less than ten minutes produces coarse,
rough-grained ice cream, which is vast
creams of the best French shops. The
freezing of ice cream may be fastened
by using large quantity of salt in pro-
portion to the ice. This also produces
coarse cream.
Never allow over three pints of rock
salt to gallon pail of ice crushed fine.
Crush the ice with a heavy mallet,
such as is used by masons. Excellent
mallets of ignum vitae may be purchas-
ed, at shops where workmen buy their
tools for 80 cents. An ordinary sized
bag, such as salt is delivered in when
sold at wholesale, is the best thing to
crush ice in. 1t is softer than the ordi-
nary canvas bag sold for the purpose,
and il costs considerable less. One
good salt bag, such as grocer will sell
for 10 cents, will make one large, square
ice bag and two smaller ones ofabout
half the size. These bags are as strong
as canvas and are more easily washed.
The smaller bags are useful when a
for lemonade or for table service. With
good mallet of heavy wood and
strong bag of this kind gallon pail of
ice may be crushed as fine as desirable
with very little exertion.
Pack the freezer as firmly as possible,
first quitting "A layer of ice and then a
layer of salt, and packing the layers
down securely with wooden spoon or
any small stick of hard wood with a
square end. Divide the three pints of
salt and pail of ice allowed for a gallon
freezer evenly, so that the last layer of
salt is about an inch below the rim of
the can. When the packing reaches
this point put the cream in the can and
put on the cover. Arrange the dasher
and crank in position and fill the
freezer pail as high as you can with
crushed ice. Now pack in paper
newspaper will do. The paper keeps
the air from the ice aud thus material
ly assists in the work. Cover the free
ger with piece of old carpet to keep
out the air aud turn the crank for about
three minutes. Lift the carpet and
open the can of the freezer and remove
the dasher. With long-bladed kitch-
en- knife scrape the thin layer of frozen
cream which has collected on the sides
of the can, and with an iron spoon
scrape the bottom. Mix this frozen
cream with the liquid cream in the
centre, working the cream thoroughly
with the spoon to make it light and
even. Close the freezer and turn the
crank three or four minutes longer.
Open the can again and scrape it, and
work the cream thoroughly again. After
three minutes more, meantime turning
the dasher rapidly, repeat the scraping.
After this last beating of the cream it
will usually be frozen enough to pack
away. Turn the crank rapidly now for
a moment or two, then remove it with
the dasher. Scrape the sides and bot
tom of the freezer for the final packing
and work the cream thoroughly pres
sing it down firmly in the can. Smooth
the top. Lay a ground of tea paper
over the cream. Replace the cover of
the freezer. Cork up the hole by the
dasher. Fill up the freezing pail with
crushed ice. Pack the ice in closely.
Pack in newspapers over the ice and
tie heavy newspaper Oser the freezer.
Cover the freezing pail finally with a
piece of carpet to exclude the air and
light. Let the cream rest for three or
four hours. 1t may resi- for six or
eight hours or longer without injury,
if it is in a cool cellar.-New York
Tribune.
Ill