Food - Drink
For Better Frozen Drinks, Resurrect Your Ice Cream Maker
By STEPHANIE FRIEDMAN
It's easy to think ice cream machines are one-hit wonders, but you can also deploy them to keep popsicles or wine cold — or to whip up tasty frozen beverages.
Ice cream makers produce minimal ice crystals while mixing in air and keeping everything as cold as possible. This means you'll get a thicker frozen drink with less watery ice.
Making frozen drinks is just as easy as whipping up ice cream. Pour your ingredients into the container, and let it churn away until it reaches the consistency you want.
Manual ice cream machines can still make frozen drinks like electric machines, but it will take much more effort to add salt to the outside rim and hand-crank everything until frozen.
There are also ice cream maker attachments for stand mixers, but this method for drink-making will work best in machines that have a canister you can pour everything into.
Most ice cream makers with canisters will ask you to freeze the container at least 12 hours ahead of time, and any alcohol you’re using should be chilled in the freezer as well.
If you normally add ice to a drink in the blender, replace it with a bit less water in the ice cream maker. Let the device do its thing until you get a thick, frozen beverage.