Unfortunately, the camping trip last weekend was a wash-out with heavy rain and 50-degree weather (camping in June in Maine is always tricky business) so the kids were more about hot cocoa and soup than making a frozen treat. But we've made several batches of ice cream in the Play & Freeze in our backyard in warmer weather and it really does work great.
G. was our family's primary tester. She used a quart-sized "Mega" Play & Freeze (the company makes a smaller pint size as well) and followed the basic vanilla ice cream recipe. The recipe calls for light cream or half and half but highlights that the more fat content, the more success you'll have with a thicker final product. We happened to have light cream in the house so she filled the metal tube in the ball with that along with some sugar and vanilla. She filled the other end of the ball with ice cubes and kosher salt (we didn't have rock salt on-hand as suggested but found the coarse kosher salt worked OK). Once both ends of the ball were twisted securely shut she took to the ball outside and started kicking it around the yard.
After some time kicking in her flip flops, she had the brainstorm to roll it down a small hill. It really was a genius idea because within 10 minutes the ice cream inside was getting firm after all the fast rolling hill action.
The directions indicate this to be a two-step process. After 10 minutes of rolling/agitation, she opened the ice end and drained some of the water from melted ice cubes, added a few more ice cubes and salt. She also opened the cream end and stirred the mixture. Then she resumed kicking the ball around for another 10 minutes (for a total of 20 minutes).
And voila! The ice cream was done.
The vanilla ice cream recipe. Note that the cream tends to stick to the sides of the aluminum cylinder because that's the coldest area. There is a softer center but the sides are very firm and take a minute to scrape off. That's where you'll see the most commercial-like ice cream consistency. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the ice cream off the sides. A metal spoon will leave scratches in the cylinder.
Another day G. tried to make an orange juice-flavored ice cream. She used a 1/2 pint of orange juice and a 1/2 pint of half and half. After 25 minutes of kicking the ball around the mixture was still only slush-like. She said that was OK because it made a tasty, creamsicle slush.
Another attempt using half and half with the basic vanilla recipe offered a bit softer ice cream than G. preferred. She said light cream definitely made the best consistency in the shortest amount of time.
My husband very much enjoyed being the taste tester for G. and commented that we've had an electric ice cream maker that doesn't work as well as the Play & Freeze (truth be told, our electric maker is more than a decade old). We've made more than a half dozen batches of ice cream in the Play & Freeze so far with great success when using light cream.
The Play & Freeze came with a booklet of recipes as well as a link with more suggestions online. Our favorites were the vanilla and the cinnamon recipes. The cinnamon flavored ice cream reminded us of horchata, a traditional Mexican rice milk drink we love. G. has plans to try an apple pie ice cream sometime soon. She hasn't tried any chocolate chips or other mix-ins so a few small apple chunks will be her first addition. But she wants to try the pie spices of cinnamon and nutmeg to see how they taste in her ice cream.
I realized that not only did this ice cream maker work well outdoors, but it ensures my kids eat an all-natural (albeit high fat) ice cream with only a few simple ingredients this summer. I also love the fact that it requires some running around to complete the ice cream making task so the kids are burning some calories before they indulge in their higher fat ice cream treat.
The ball is made of a durable copolyester (hard plastic) but all of my kids' rolling of the Play & Freeze has been on grass. I thought grass a good surface to prolong the use of the Play & Freeze and avoid damage. The ball seems like a durable shell but I would guess a few hard drops on a paved or packed gravel surface would likely cause a crack or two. I have seen that happen with a similar product.
Things We Liked
* Using light cream works best for getting the harder ice cream consistency for your final product.
* The instructions with the ball said it could take 25-35 minutes to get the ice cream consistency. But G. found when she rolled it down a small grassy hill and kept it in motion using light cream, she got the desired results in about 20 minutes.
* Kids get some good exercise making their ice cream as well as some silly fun kicking the ball around. In years past we've made ice cream by shaking containers with our arms. Kicking and rolling it was a far better way to agitate and pass the time in a fun way. Our legs didn't get nearly as tired as our arms used to.
* I highly recommend the QUART size Play & Freeze (you can buy a variety of colors on Amazon). That size was perfect for satisfying my family of four with a generous portion of ice cream when it was done. The pint size would have been too small for us.
Things To Watch
* You need to use a higher fat ingredient to get the ice cream consistency. I felt this was OK when I considered the exercise the kids get while making their ice cream.
* The ball has a hard shell and is quite heavy when filled with ice and your cream recipe. For younger kids I'd suggest a parent carry the ball to a grassy location and place it on the ground for rolling.
* Kids need to be careful kicking the ball. I suggested my teenage daughter wear sneakers when kicking the hard ball around but she insisted her flip flops were fine. She stubbed her toe a couple of times before she came up with the hill rolling option.
* Wipe the screw cover casing each time you open it. There was a bit of leakage with one of the half dozen batches of ice cream we made. G. believes she didn't fully dry off the screw casing before closing and kicking the Play & Freeze to finish off the process. Have a clean towel outside for that job to ensure a dry, clean closing after checking your ice cream's progress.
Anyone else ever tried this product, or one similar to it? Care to share your thoughts... or recipes?
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