Ice Cream Ball Part 2

Bowling with the Mega Ice Cream Ball

As promised here's our second shot at trying our the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker. The first time was a dud but I wasn't involved so this time I had to try it out for myself.

I have to start by saying that my camera died only a few shots in so the pics I have to post may not seem appropriate since kids and alcohol are both involved but I promise the two never mixed! We had so much fun with this ice cream ball on an end of summer camping trip. Five couples each with a couple kids makes for many people to keep this thing rolling and tumbling which is exactly what we needed. Wow..this is not the ice cream ball. It's the "Mega" ice cream ball. So it makes a quart of ice cream instead of a pint or so and with that said it means its heavy when all ingredients are in place so it was amusing seeing 3 and 4 year olds trying to get this thing moving.

I have to say again...this was SO much fun and the kids were so anxious to eat homemade ice cream around the campfire. So first we added all the ingredients..heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla and sealed it shut. Opened the other end, added ice and rock salt then sealed it shut. Then the fun began. As I mentioned it was quite heavy so it was a little challenging but then the brilliant idea of bowling came about. Beer bottles + ball = ice cream ball bowling! OMG...hysterical and fun. I must say...kids don't try this at home....it could get dangerous as again, this thing is heavy! The ball itself took a little bit of a beating during our bowling tournament but nothing that harmed the final product so it all went just fine.

Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker

It did take awhile to make. You had to keep it going for 20 minutes then add more ice and rock salt and go another 20 minutes. You can probably imagine how many times we heard from the kids..."Are we almost done yet?"..."When are we going to have ice cream?" Well when we were finally done we had soft serve consistency ice cream and a good amount of it because each kid got a half cup and then enough for us adults to taste test. It was super creamy. The end closest to the ice came out somewhat hard and then the other end was a little soupy but when mixed it was perfect. Sorry for the lack of photos of the actual ice cream since my camera died on me. Definitely a fun thing to bring along camping or on a picnic or your back yard. Everyone was so into it and anxious to see if this ball thing would actually produce real ice cream. It was a success and super fun....definitely recommend!

Part One - The Ice Cream Mega Ball Experiment

I first have to thank my awesome co-blogger for this fun gift, Ice Cream Revolution's Mega Ice Cream Ball. I swear every time I see this in a store I think about how fun it would be but its one of those things you just wouldn't buy for yourself so when Bethany surprised me on my birthday with this I was so excited! Basically its this ball that you add cream, sugar, and flavoring in the middle. Then add rock salt and ice in the freezing compartment and shake, roll, throw, rotate and do whatever you have to in order to self churn the ingredients to make soft serve ice cream on the spot. No electric, no eggs...just fun!


 
So why the two parts? Well basically because I can't say I took part in the first attempt at making ice cream with the ball so when I go camping next weekend I hope to bring you Part Two of my own personal experience of making ice cream in the woods.

So yesterday while at work I received a text from my summer sitter asking if it was okay to use that "ball thing" to make ice cream with the kids. Absolutely! It's fun for everyone. I was truly bummed that I couldn't be the first to test it out but I was excited to get home to see how it went. So I anxiously ran home and the first thing I asked was how'd it go? Hmmm....she said she vigorously shaked the thing for the 15 minutes it called for and when she opened it it had slightly frozen on the edges so she closed it and kept at it. One suggestion I had after checking out the Mega Ball's web site was to go on the trampline with it. It was a sure way to keep it rolling and shaking. So they kept rolling and shaking and when she went to open it back up she had closed it so tight they couldn't get it back open. My poor daugheter was so excited to try the vanilla ice cream they made so I went in and tried, and tried, and tried, and tried to get it open. Ugh..I now had to wait 3 hours for the husband to come home. And I was sooooo curious I went back in the freezer and tried more than once during those few hours as I was determined to see what was inside asap. No luck!

So finally....hours later its open and my husband comes in with a spoon and says "Now this is the kind of ice cream I like! It's icy and just reminds me of ice cream from when I was a kid (those years before premium ice cream was discovered by Sir Ben & Jerry)!" It is hard to truly give my opinion as we tried it after hours of the ball being in my freezer and the reality is you are supposed to eat it 20 minutes after shaking it yourself to get it to freeze. It should be a soft serve consistency but was slightly hardened when we got to it so I will wait to give you my true review when I can experience it as it should be.

I can't tell you how excited I am to be able to make this while camping. The kids are going to love it as will the adults I am sure. Stay tuned for Part Two...The Mega Ball goes Camping.