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I am making ice cream with an inexpensive electric machine that uses a dasher. For a test I put 2 quarts of water in the inner pot. Then I added 8 trays of ice to the space between the inner and outer pots. I am figuring 5 part ice to 1 part rock salt. How do I combine the ice and rock salt for the most uniform cooling?

I tried combining the ice and salt before putting the mix in the machine but that did not work.

Anastasia Zendaya
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Mike
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    Are there instructions for your machine? What is the brand and model? – James McLeod Jun 04 '21 at 17:02
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    I am somewhat confused about what your question is. The one sentence that is formulated as a question is "how do I combine the ice and rock salt for the most uniform cooling". What options are there besides "pour both into the outer pot"? How did it "not work" when you combined them before putting them into the machine? – rumtscho Jun 04 '21 at 17:23
  • From what you say the salt and ice mix together as the inner-pot spins? – Mike Jun 05 '21 at 00:24
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    I think the concept I was missing is "packing the pot". Such layering creates "salt water slush". This make sense to me because it distributes the salt and ice to achieve the needed temperature reduction. I found this page very helpful: https://www.texascooking.com/features/june2004icecreamfreezers.htm – Mike Jun 05 '21 at 03:46
  • I have come to understand that "packing the pot" (dispersing the rock salt) is analogous to throwing rock salt on an icy sidewalk. Each rock salt pellet individually melts a small piece of ice and that produces the needed the necessary freezing point depression. – Mike Jun 05 '21 at 13:35
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    Mike, if you figured out the solution, you can help others with the same issue by posting an answer to your own question. – csk Jun 06 '21 at 17:02
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    Water is not a good test of an ice cream machine. Pure water freezes very differently from ice cream custard. If you're going to test with anything, use whole milk. – FuzzyChef Jun 06 '21 at 18:56

1 Answers1

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Ice and Salt Chart

Here is the chart that was included in the instructions in Mike's link. It suggested layering the ice to 3-4 inches deep and then adding 5oz of rock salt or 3oz of table salt and repeating until the bucket is full to the brim. Adding a cup of cold water at the halfway mark and again when the tub is full is recommended to help the ice settled and keep the motor from binding.

Keith Fletcher
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