Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Okay, so I'm making the ice cream sandwiches from the CI recipe. Of course, being heavy into the ice cream end of things, I make the ice cream too. First couple of times we made the sandwiches, I froze the ice cream in a sheet pan and use the same cutter to cut the ice cream out as we used to cut the cookies out. But its kind of messy and usurps a fair amount of freezer room. So I was thinking, why not just pour the ice cream after churning into an appropriate size pipe that is capped on both ends. When frozen the next day, we remove the caps, put an appropriate sized plunger on one end and push the ice cream out, one inch or whatever the size we need is, at a time and chop. Next sandwich please.

Only a couple of possible failure points that I see. The ice cream may not want to plunge out, so maybe a bit of food spray prior to adding the custard, though a press with enough pneumatic force should convince the ice cream to budge regardless of how shy it is.

Second is PVC contamination. Would PVC be acceptable for storing food for 12 to 24 hours or so? No hot temperatures involved; it will sit in the freezer until time to slice the ice cream for the sandwiches. Alternative is to find either appropriate aluminum or stainless tubing. Aluminum is possible, stainless is harder to find.

My cookie cutters are 3 inch, 2 1/2 inch (we used this one), and 2 inch (which I will try next time for an appetizer sized ice cream sandwich).

To consider...most potable water pipe is pvc, couldn't be too toxic.

It's them microwaves ya gotta watch...

If you line the pipe with acetate sheeting, not only will you not have to worry about contamination, but the tube of ice cream will slide right out.
If acetate is hard to get you could try lining the pipe with plastic wrap, but I'm not sure just how to do it.
However, PVC is safe to use as a container for chilled/frozen foods.

From what I understand clear PVC is best (some of it even FDA approved for food use under 140 degrees F), white is OK (white tinty is allegedly from calcium chloride), colored ones are iffy (colorant can leach/potentially toxic).

If you can find HDPE it is even better/safer, but I wouldn't be afraid of PVC.

Becky, where's the best place to buy acetate sheeting?

You can buy it on Amazon, but they only sell it in large amounts. You can supposedly get it at craft stores, but I couldn't find it in rolls. Luckily a friend helped me out with some!

I only use PVC for assembly...I NEVER heat it.

You can buy acetate from Kerekes. But, unless you use a lot, the quantities can be overkill. However, it's much cheaper in quantity.

Amy

Thanks for the info and ideas! I will ask around about the various types of pipe available here. Acetate should be available. I think hardening the ice cream in a tube will be handy and make ice cream sandwich production a snap. I rather like the cookies from CI's recipe. Not too sweet and go well with vanilla we make.

From other threads:

Ice Cream: Vanilla beans are turning out great and my wife who was very so-so about vanilla ice cream loves it when we make with a mixture of Madagascar and Tahitian beans.

Segue to Extract: We are awash in vanilla beans and extract. I have a couple of liters worth of vodka with Madagascar as the base, a liter of 12 year-old-rhum with madagascar too. Then the Indonesian beans arrived, very nice and moist, not quite as dark as the Mads or Tahitians, but doing both vodka extract and 12 year-old-rhum for the Indonesian as well.

As another idea, could you do the ice cream like cookie dough? By this I mean freeze it until it is firm enough to hold shape, but soft enough to be shaped, put it into plastic wrap or parchment, and roll that into logs? (use the old twist the ends first technique and then log roll it?).

Yes, I think could be done. But it would mean we need to monitor the ice cream as it hardens. I am tending toward the PVC (or better material if available) because it is a "make and forget" sort of solution. I can leave the ice cream in for 8 hours or 1 day or whatever, maybe longer if I want to before I make sandwiches. And it won't hog the freezer quite so much the way a sheet pan or two does now. Easier to store, I guess is my point. A plunger that will push it out, slice in 3/4 or 1 inch thick disks, slap a cookie on each side and we have a nice little treat.

I am going to try the 2 inch round, a bit small, but a couple of bites worth of flavor. I may use acetate to make a separator in the tube and fill half with vanilla and half with strawberry or mango, then pull the acetate out and let the ice cream set. That would make a unique ice cream sandwich.

Because plastics are so much better for the environment...

(spam Pete is replying to was removed)