We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
the motorized base for 30 minutes.

We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.

We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
as a rock!

Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.

So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.

Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?

" wrote:

> We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
> where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
> to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
> the motorized base for 30 minutes.
>
> We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.
>
> We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
> as a rock!
>
> Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
> minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
> couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.
>
> So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
> later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.
>
> Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
> freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?

How long did you have the freezer bucket in the freezer before freezing
your yoghurt base? The machine time is an approximation. You really need
to keep an eye on it and keep it running until you get a reasonable ice
cream type consistency and then take it out of the machine and put it in
the freezer. I find that it takes a full two days in the deep freeze to
get my freezer bowl ready to do a batch of ice cream. A higher
temperature of the base or a larger batch will take longer to process.
The ice cream (or frozen yoghurt) base has to be well cooled before
putting it into the machine. It helps to set it into an ice bath or into
the freezer for a while before it goes into the machine.

> wrote in message
...
> We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
> where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
> to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
> the motorized base for 30 minutes.
>
> We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.
>
> We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
> as a rock!
>
> Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
> minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
> couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.
>
> So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
> later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.
>
> Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
> freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?

After it is ready, take it out of the container it was made in and put it in
something else. It will thaw faster.


--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths page at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

>How long did you have the freezer bucket in the freezer before freezing
>your yoghurt base?

Many weeks. Also, we took the frozen yogurt out of the machine and
put it into a tupperware before freezing.

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
. com...
> > wrote in message
> ...
>> We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
>> where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
>> to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
>> the motorized base for 30 minutes.
>>
>> We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.
>>
>> We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
>> as a rock!
>>
>> Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
>> minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
>> couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.
>>
>> So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
>> later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.
>>
>> Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
>> freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?
>
> After it is ready, take it out of the container it was made in and put it
> in something else. It will thaw faster.
> --
> Peter Aitken

I will revamp that sentence and ask you if this is what you mean, Peter.
"After it is ready, take it out of the metal container it was made in, put
it in
something else (like a plastic container), then put the 'plastic container
in the freezer. When you take the plastic container out of your freezer, it
will thaw faster."

I sympathize for anyone making yogurt/ice cream in these type of ice cream
makers. (However, I'm thinking of buying the electric one - I had the
hand-crank kind - glutton for punishment). I could never get my ice cream
or yogurt to the consistency I was happy with. I've done what the OP did
before because it wouldn't get hard, I just put it back in the metal
container. Disaster.
Dee Dee

> wrote in message
...
> We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
> where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
> to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
> the motorized base for 30 minutes.
>
> We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.
>
> We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
> as a rock!
>
> Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
> minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
> couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.
>
> So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
> later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.
>
> Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
> freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?


First you should have transferred it to another container.
Second, I suspect your yogurt was not-or low fat - correct?

The lower the fat the more solid your finished product will become. It is not
so much the fat per se but the ability of the final mixture to hold air.

Remember the container you are using is designed to hold enough cold to freeze
the new mixture into a frozen product.

Dimitri

> wrote in message
...
>
>>How long did you have the freezer bucket in the freezer before freezing
>>your yoghurt base?
>
> Many weeks. Also, we took the frozen yogurt out of the machine and
> put it into a tupperware before freezing.

I'm ashamed to ask -- but did you take the temperature of your freezer?
Dee Dee

Dee Randall wrote:

>
>
> I will revamp that sentence and ask you if this is what you mean, Peter.
> "After it is ready, take it out of the metal container it was made in, put
> it in
> something else (like a plastic container), then put the 'plastic container
> in the freezer. When you take the plastic container out of your freezer, it
> will thaw faster."
>
> I sympathize for anyone making yogurt/ice cream in these type of ice cream
> makers. (However, I'm thinking of buying the electric one - I had the
> hand-crank kind - glutton for punishment). I could never get my ice cream
> or yogurt to the consistency I was happy with. I've done what the OP did
> before because it wouldn't get hard, I just put it back in the metal
> container. Disaster.
>

The instructions are very clear about not putting your finished ice cream in
the freezer in the freezer bowl.

I have better luck with some batches than others. Using the recipe book that
came with my Cuisinart machine, the chocolate has always turned out
beautifully, while the vanilla seems to be more temperamental. The first few
batches of Gelato that I tried turned out beautifully. I made a batch last week
with a different recipe and it ended up hard as a rock.

The secret for ice cream is to get a good thick custard, let it cool over
night, chill it before freezing, and make sure the freezer bowl has had a full
two days in the freezer.

BTW... after about 25-30 minutes the freezer bowl is pretty well out of cold
and
further turning is not going to help much.

On Mon 01 Aug 2005 12:50:50p, Dee Randall wrote in rec.food.cooking:

>
> > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>>>How long did you have the freezer bucket in the freezer before freezing
>>>your yoghurt base?
>>
>> Many weeks. Also, we took the frozen yogurt out of the machine and put
>> it into a tupperware before freezing.
>
> I'm ashamed to ask -- but did you take the temperature of your freezer?
> Dee Dee

Where do you stick the thermometer, Dee? :-)


--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon 01 Aug 2005 12:50:50p, Dee Randall wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>>
>> > wrote in message
>> ...
>>>
>>>>How long did you have the freezer bucket in the freezer before
>>>>freezing
>>>>your yoghurt base?
>>>
>>> Many weeks. Also, we took the frozen yogurt out of the machine and
>>> put
>>> it into a tupperware before freezing.
>>
>> I'm ashamed to ask -- but did you take the temperature of your
>> freezer?
>> Dee Dee
>
> Where do you stick the thermometer, Dee? :-)

ROFL

On Mon, 01 Aug 2005 18:45:52 GMT,
" <> wrote:

> We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
> where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
> to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
> the motorized base for 30 minutes.
>
> We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.
>
> We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
> as a rock!
>
> Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
> minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
> couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.
>
> So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
> later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.
>
> Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
> freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?

LOL! Are you actually saying that you left your ice cream in the
freezer bowl to put it into the freezer? Try transferring your ice
cream or frozen yogurt into a different container to "ripen" next
time. With that method, you will also have the bowl free to make
another batch when the mood hits.

Other than *that*, how do you like it? I almost bought one last week,
except my freezer is always so full - I'm not sure I'd have adequate
room to pre-freeze the freezer bowl. Maybe procrastination will pay
off and they'll be on sale the next time I look at them covetously.

>First you should have transferred it to another container.

I did! I said that when the yogurt was finished (a soft-serve
consistency), I put it in a tupperware, and put the tupperware in the
freezer.

But, yes, we did use fat-free yogurt.

On Mon, 01 Aug 2005 13:52:06 -0700, sf > wrote:

>LOL! Are you actually saying that you left your ice cream in the
>freezer bowl to put it into the freezer?


*Sigh*

"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 01 Aug 2005 18:45:52 GMT,
> " <> wrote:
>
>> We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
>> where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
>> to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
>> the motorized base for 30 minutes.
>>
>> We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.
>>
>> We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
>> as a rock!
>>
>> Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
>> minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
>> couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.
>>
>> So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
>> later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.
>>
>> Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
>> freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?
>
> LOL! Are you actually saying that you left your ice cream in the
> freezer bowl to put it into the freezer? Try transferring your ice
> cream or frozen yogurt into a different container to "ripen" next
> time. With that method, you will also have the bowl free to make
> another batch when the mood hits.
>
> Other than *that*, how do you like it? I almost bought one last week,
> except my freezer is always so full - I'm not sure I'd have adequate
> room to pre-freeze the freezer bowl. Maybe procrastination will pay
> off and they'll be on sale the next time I look at them covetously.
>
Yep, I'm waiting for it to come down to under $39.95. Do you think I stand
a chance?
Dee Dee

> wrote in message
...
>
>>First you should have transferred it to another container.
>
> I did! I said that when the yogurt was finished (a soft-serve
> consistency), I put it in a tupperware, and put the tupperware in the
> freezer.
>
> But, yes, we did use fat-free yogurt.

Stonyfield Farm has the most beautiful & tasty full/whole fat yogurt.
http://www.stonyfield.com/
Dee Dee

On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 17:09:18 -0400, Dee Randall wrote:

> Yep, I'm waiting for it to come down to under $39.95. Do you think I stand
> a chance?

I'll race you to it!

On Mon, 01 Aug 2005 18:45:52 GMT,
" <> wrote:

>We have a Cuisinart frozen yogurt / ice cream maker. It's the kind
>where you leave the container in the freezer, then when you're ready
>to use it, you load the ingredients into the container and place it on
>the motorized base for 30 minutes.
>
>We made frozen yogurt using fresh blueberries the other night.
>
>We put it into the freezer for a couple of hours, and it froze solid
>as a rock!
>
>Last night we took it out and figured we would let it sit for 10
>minutes or so. Well, after an hour it was still rock solid! You
>couldn't even dig into it with a spoon.
>
>So this morning, my wife took it out after breakfast. Six hours
>later, we can barely get a few spoonfuls off of the top.
>
>Is there something that could have been added to keep it soft in the
>freezer? Or should we just have eaten it all at the time it was made?

Not enough sugar. Sugar lowers the freezing point.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!