I remember being about seven or eight years old and my Dad pulled out the giant (well, it was giant to me at the time) wooden bucket. He went into the kitchen and filled this tall metal cylinder with cream, sugar, egg, vanilla and some white powder stuff which I later learned was Arrow Root. He then slid a paddle into the cylinder and set the tube into the center of the wooden bucket. Grabbing a five gallon pail he went out onto the front porch and packed it full of snow. When he returned, we all packed layers of snow and rock salt around the cylinder until the wooden bucket was full. Dad locked the turning mechanism on top of the wooden bucket and had us kids take turns turning the big crank handle.
I remember feeling like my arms would simply fall off before the ice cream would be ready. I’d try to talk my brother into another turn, but he was three years younger and didn’t want to crank the handle any more… after what seemed like HOURS.. DAYS… finally – the ice cream would be ready and it tasted so much better than the stuff in the thin cardboard box at the store!
When we saw this item available for the store, we had to order some in. I love rustic look of the wooden bucket and the fact that it’s electric and not a crank handle makes it even better!!! My son now knows the joys of home made ice cream and can’t complain about the jello arm to his friends! You can click on the photo for more information on the product.