High School Students Get a Kitchen Science Lesson with Homemade Ice Cream

Students taking a culinary class at Springs Valley High School in French Lick, Indiana experimented using our Sick Science! Homemade Ice Cream recipe in class last week. They were studying the different ways to make ice cream. They first made ice cream using a churn and then tried our way using a Zip-Loc bag and a lot of ice.

A high school student makes ice cream in a science lab.

The students and their instructor Lisa Wray, enjoyed all of their hard work. Their school building also includes a preschool and the class plans on making more ice cream and sharing it with their tiny counterparts.

 

Students show off their homemade ice cream in their science lab

You can also make homemade ice cream with some materials and ingredients found in your kitchen, although you may need to take a trip to the store for rock salt.

What You Will Need: 

  • Large (1 gallon) plastic jar (a coffee can works, too)
  • 2 quart-size zipper-lock bags
  • Half & Half
  • Crushed ice (or snow in the winter!)
  • Rock salt
  • Vanilla
  • Sugar
  • Towel (or winter gloves)

Prep Time: 

  • About 10 minutes to pull together the ingredients and supplies.

Time the Activity Will Take: 

  • Ice cream will take about 20 minutes to make. 

 

Let’s Do It! 

  • Fill the plastic jar about half full with crushed ice.
  • Add about 6 tablespoons of rock salt to the ice. Seal the plastic jar and shake the ice and salt for about five minutes. You’ll need to wear your gloves when you’re handling the jar. If you’re curious as to why you have to wear gloves, measure the temperature of the mixture with a thermometer. The rock salt and ice mixture gets down to about 14 degrees F (-10 degrees C)!
  • Use one quart-size zipper-lock bag to mix the following ingredients:
    • 1/2 cup of Half & Half
    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Play and Freeze Ice Cream MakerSeal tightly, allowing as little air to remain in the bag as possible. Too much air left inside may force the bag open during shaking.
  • Place this bag inside the other quart-size bag, again leaving as little air inside as possible and sealing well. By double-bagging, the risk of salt and ice leaking into the ice cream is minimized.
  • Place the two bags inside the jar with the ice and seal the bag. Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on. Shake, rock, roll, and mix that can! Your ice cream should be ready after about 15-20 minutes.
  • Once mixed, remove the inner bags from the jar and rinse them well with water. You don’t want any salt water accidentally getting into your ice cream.

Vanilla doesn’t have to be the only flavor. Add chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, fresh fruit or nuts to experiment with flavor.

With a classroom of kids, use small snack baggies to make individual servings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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