Tool

Fix by symptom

Choose the machine and the symptom. The likely causes come out in the order to check them, each with its fix.

Short answer

Most bad batches trace back to temperature, water, sugar and fat. Re-spin a powdery Creami pint, add fat or sugar to an icy base, temper a rock hard pint for 5 to 15 minutes, and freeze a freezer bowl until nothing sloshes inside.

Choose machine and symptom

1. Your machine

2. What went wrong

Likely causes, in order: Ninja Creami, powdery

1
The pint is very cold
Press Re-spin. A block at the cold end of the range often needs one extra spin.
2
A lean base (protein, low fat or sugar-free)
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk or base to a well in the middle and Re-spin. Use Lite Ice Cream for lean bases next time.

General guidance. If a machine makes a burning smell, a grinding noise or shows an error, stop and follow the maker's manual.

Why ice cream turns icy

Smooth ice cream has many small ice crystals with fat and air between them. Crystals grow when the base freezes slowly, when there is a lot of free water, and every time the ice cream partly thaws and refreezes in storage. Sugar and fat keep some water from freezing, so lean and low sugar bases are the first to turn icy.

A fast freeze and enough sugar and fat keep crystals small. Slow freezing and free water grow large, icy ones.

Freezer bowl or compressor

A freezer bowl only has the cold stored in its walls, so it warms as it churns. A compressor keeps cooling. That is why a bowl that is not frozen through, or a warm base, matters so much more on a bowl machine.

A freezer bowl has a fixed store of cold in its walls; a compressor keeps cooling for as long as it runs.

Quick reference

Powdery (Creami)
Check firstVery cold pint, lean base
FixRe-spin; add 1 to 2 tbsp milk or base and Re-spin
Icy
Check firstWater, sugar and fat in the base
FixAdd fat, sugar or a little stabilizer; freeze faster
Too hard
Check firstLow sugar or fat, cold freezer
FixTemper 5 to 15 minutes; raise sugar next time
Too soft
Check firstExtra spins, warm freezer, high sugar
FixFewer spins; refreeze
Bowl not freezing
Check firstBowl freeze time, freezer temperature
FixFreeze 24 hours at 0 F or colder

Symptom	Check first	Fix
Powdery (Creami)	Very cold pint, lean base	Re-spin; add 1 to 2 tbsp milk or base and Re-spin
Icy	Water, sugar and fat in the base	Add fat, sugar or a little stabilizer; freeze faster
Too hard	Low sugar or fat, cold freezer	Temper 5 to 15 minutes; raise sugar next time
Too soft	Extra spins, warm freezer, high sugar	Fewer spins; refreeze
Bowl not freezing	Bowl freeze time, freezer temperature	Freeze 24 hours at 0 F or colder