Cooling Off with DIY Ice Cream

Homemade ice cream can be a great way to cool off in the summer heat, and making it yourself means endless flavor possibilities.

But the costs will definitely add up. Here’s a breakdown of how much you should expect to spend to make plain vanilla ice cream at home, as well as a few good recipe options for more decadent and creative flavors.

There are a few different machines you can buy to make ice cream, which is why prices can vary so widely. The recipe we’re using comes along with the user manual for a basic Cuisinart ice cream maker that costs $49.95 (not too shabby considering some ice cream makers cost upwards of $300).

Different machines also employ different procedures. Some ice cream makers require you to freeze a canister for nearly a day, then plug it into a base and fill it with ingredients for ice cream that’s ready in minutes. Then there’s the compressor ice cream machine, which is more like an ice cream maker you might find at an ice cream shop, with built-in refrigeration so you don’t need to use your freezer at all. Not surprisingly, these are the more expensive machines.

You can make your own ice cream “machine” at home as well, which we’ll explain later. Now for the ice cream itself. Let’s take a look at the ingredients.

1 Pint Heavy Cream

Heavy cream, of course, is the most important ingredient in real ice cream. Unfortunately, a pint of it can cost you almost as much as you’d spend on a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. But making your own at home gives you control over just how much of each ingredient you’ll be eating.

Price: About $3.29 a pint