Why is my ice cream icy rather than creamy?

All ice cream contains ice. Whether it tastes creamy or icy comes down entirely to how big the crystals are, and every technique is aimed at keeping them small.

Step by step

1. Chill the base completely first.Overnight in the fridge, or at least four hours. A warm base takes far longer to freeze, and slow freezing is what grows large crystals. This is the most commonly skipped step.
2. Keep the fat up.Fat coats the crystals and physically keeps them apart. Low-fat mixtures freeze harder and icier. Double cream and egg yolks are doing structural work, not just adding richness.
3. Do not cut the sugar.Sugar lowers the freezing point, so more of the mixture stays unfrozen and soft. Reducing it for health reasons is the reliable way to make ice cream hard and icy.
4. Freeze the bowl properly.A machine's freezer bowl needs 24 hours at the back of the freezer, completely dry before it goes in. A partly frozen bowl churns too slowly.
5. Churn to introduce air.Air cells break up the ice structure and are why churned ice cream is softer than a frozen block. It is as important as the freezing itself.
6. Do not over-churn.Past soft-serve consistency the fat begins to churn into butter, giving a greasy texture. Stop when it holds a soft ribbon.
7. Freeze it hard quickly after churning.Into a shallow container, in the coldest part of the freezer, for a few hours. Slow hardening undoes the fine crystal structure you just created.
8. Store it airtight and full.Air in the tub causes freezer burn and surface crystals. Press greaseproof paper onto the surface, and use a shallow container rather than a deep one.
9. Never refreeze after thawing.Every partial thaw melts small crystals which then refreeze as large ones. A tub taken in and out repeatedly becomes icy no matter how good the base was.
10. Keep the freezer door shut.Temperature fluctuation is the main cause of ice cream that started well and went icy over weeks. Store it at the back, not in the door.
11. Add a little alcohol or glucose if you like.A tablespoon of vodka or a spoonful of glucose syrup lowers the freezing point and keeps it scoopable. Too much and it will not freeze at all.
12. Use the no-churn method properly.Whipped double cream folded into condensed milk works because the whipping provides the air and the condensed milk provides sugar and fat. Do not thin it with extra milk.

Tips

• Chill the base overnight. It is the single biggest difference between creamy and icy.
• Do not reduce the sugar. It is antifreeze as much as sweetener.
• Shallow container, paper pressed on the surface, back of the freezer. Storage ruins more ice cream than making does.

Common mistakes

• Churning a base that is not fully chilled — It freezes too slowly, which grows large ice crystals — exactly the thing that makes ice cream icy.
• Letting it thaw and refreezing it — Melted small crystals refreeze as large ones. Repeated cycles turn good ice cream gritty regardless of the recipe.

If it doesn't work