Amish, Making Ice Cream

Winter had just begun and it was the first year I was making my weekly trip to buy milk and eggs from my Amish friends.  The weather had turned bitter cold the night before and as I walked past their back door, there was an old, rusted wheelbarrow full of large pieces of flat ice.  Out the kitchen door flew the smaller children, all rosy cheeked and flushed with excitement.  They were talking so fast I could hardly understand a word.  It had gotten so cold the night before that all the mud puddles were frozen and this was the cause of the gaiety.  I saw no importance to this information, but I listened patiently as they explained.

It was their family's tradition on the morning after the first bitter cold night, they would bundle up and rush out to gather chunks of ice from the top of all the puddles around the house.  I thought, oh my, runoff water from the hog pen, horse barn, cattle stalls...oh my.  Their mom would boil the ice cream, set it out on the porch to cool while they collected the ice.  It would be poured into the hand-crank ice cream maker; of course, the ice never touched the cream since the container would be sealed, but, oh my.  Each child was looking forward to having their turn cranking the machine.  I smiled as my mind raced.  No electricity. Oh, my. 

I also make homemade ice cream but my method is quite different.  I use an electric Cuisinart with a freezer bowl.  The bowl is frozen overnight which chills the milk.

RECIPE

2 eggs beaten (more or less)
3/4 cup sugar (more or less)
1/4 cup cocoa (more or less)
1 cup cream and 3 cups milk (ratio of cream to milk can vary)

This recipe makes 4 1/2 cups of liquid which freezes to about 5 cups of ice cream.  It is really hard to mess up ice cream.  All that matters is that the volume be no more than 4 1/2 cups or it will spill over the top of the ice cream maker, which might not matter if there are people in the family who like to lick the bowls and spoons.  A word of caution:  Don't lick the frozen freezer bowl;  it is like sticking your tongue to the schoolyard flagpole in January.

DIRECTIONS

Beat two eggs using a hand ELECTRIC mixer.

Add sugar, cocoa, milk and mix with the electric mixer until blended.

Put the mixture into the electric microwave to scald.  For me, it takes about 7 minutes.

Remove the mixture and put it in an electric refrigerator to cool down.

Remove the freezer bowl from the electric freezer (the internal liquid must be frozen solid).

Put the freezer bowl into the electric ice cream maker and pour in the cooled mixture.

Insert the paddle, put the lid on top, turn on the electric switch and watch the electric clock for about 20 minutes until it is ready.

Almost ready...

Remove the paddle, scoop out the ice cream, put the dirty containers into the electric dishwasher.  Put the freezer bowl back into the electric freezer so it will be ready to use again later.

PRICE COMPARISON
                               AMISH                                     ME
2 eggs                    $.00 (They own chickens)       $.35 ($2 dozen= $.17 per egg x 2 = $.35)
4 cups milk             $.00 (They have a cow)          $.60 ($2 gallon= 16 cups = $.13 per cup x 4 = $.60)
3/4 cup sugar         $.20 per cup                            $.20 ($1.80 4lbs= 9 cups = $.20 for one cup)
1/4 cup cocoa        $.25?                                        $.25?
Electricity used      0 (They have child labor)         $.05?
Convenience         0 (Free labor)                           10 minutes of actual work
Total                      $.45                                          $1.45

CONCLUSION

1. Flavor - tie - We use the same milk and eggs since I purchase mine from them.  We both must buy our sugar and cocoa from the grocery store.
2. Cost - I lost - I am not willing to milk a cow at sunrise every morning.
3. Convenience - tie - I use electric labor-saving devices, but they use free child labor.
4. Appreciation - I lost again - My sons will come running when the ice cream is ready but will they churn it themselves?  No.  Will I churn it by hand?  No.

Since I hate to lose at any competition, I am going to change the contest.  I decided to compare my ice cream to Breyer's All Natural store-bought brand.  I consider it similar, although inferior to mine.  It sells for $5.99 for 1.41 liters or 1.5 quarts.  A serving (a scoop) of ice cream is ½ cup. Who only eats ½ cup?  Nevermind, we are doing the math here. There are 6 cups (3 pints) in 1.5 quarts of ice cream. So $5.99 divided by 6 cups equals $.99 per cup.

I made 5 cups for $1.45 but we need to compare 6 cups to 6 cups, so my cost for 6 cups would be $1.74 ($1.45 = $.29 per cup x 6 cups = $1.74)  That means I saved $4.25 for 10 minutes of work ($5.99 - $1.74 = $4.25).  If I decided to take a job making $4.25 for every ten minutes of work, I would make $25.50 per hour (6 x $4.25).  I could make ice cream all day long for $25.50 per hour.

Homemade ice cream is unbelievably delicious, healthier and less expensive than grocery store brands.  It is a rarity for the Amish children to get ice cream and so that makes it more valuable to them.  They are willing and eager to work for it.  For my family it is common, and, therefore, devalued.  We are not willing to work for it.  So even though the Amish ice cream cost less than mine and store-bought brands, it is far more valuable.

Additional Links

Amish, Education

Amish Community in Springtime