All icecream starts out as "soft serve," even the commercial stuff you
buy in a box. It is hardened after the initial processing by
"tempering," or freezing it after it has been run through - the
icecream machine. The machine mixes as it stirs; tempering freezes it
while still - this makes it hard.

Steve in Maryland

Ptich wrote:
If one searches on the Ebay for an Ice Cream Machine, almost all found
items will have "soft serve" in their Title fields. Does it mean that
small ice cream machines cannot produce "hard" ice cream ?

I am thinking of buying a small machine with its own freezer, but would
like to make sure first that it is capable of producing the regular ice
cream - not sorbet, not soft serve, not gelato, but the regular creamy,
hard-to-scoop stuff. Also I would appreciate any recommendation for a
specific machine.