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I'm lactose intolerant and have been experimenting with homemade ice cream recipes. I've been making my ice cream using a vanilla custard recipe - substituting the milk/cream with almond milk and adding guar gum to it. I make a recipe that yields a 2 quart batch of ice cream. However, I cannot get the guar gum amount right. Too little and the ice cream becomes as hard as a brick when freezing. Too much and it is so slimy, I might as well add vanilla to raw egg whites and slurp it down.

Is there an additive or method to make my non-dairy ice cream that will give it as close a consistency to normal ice cream (scoopable after freezing, but not soft serve) as possible?

I want to make some for my daughter's birthday party coming up and would rather make it ahead of time to save myself some stress. I want to be able to freeze it and bring it out when guests arrive, rather than letting it thaw out for hours previous and it be half-melted and the consistency off. BTW, I use an ice cream machine, if that helps any.

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  • We can help you fix your recipes if you can be more specific about how much guar gum is "too little" and how much is "too much" but we don't give recipe recommendations. Consider telling us your full recipe so that we can try to help.
    – Catija
    Jul 5, 2016 at 20:14
  • Considering that 30% sugar will make scoop-able sorbet from juice/water (yes, i made vanilla sorbet once just for kicks) I'm going to have to suspect that a complete lack of (from what you mentioned) or not enough sugar is your main problem.
    – Ecnerwal
    Jul 5, 2016 at 21:12
  • And, dumb question, what if you use an amount between too little and too much? Or does it go straight from hard to slimy, with no happy medium?
    – Cascabel ♦
    Jul 5, 2016 at 22:24
  • I haven't tried the recipe, but Ciao Bella makes an excellent coconut sorbet, and the recipe is in their cookbook : amazon.com/Ciao-Bella-Book-Gelato-Sorbetto/dp/0307464989
    – Joe
    Jul 5, 2016 at 23:59
  • I haven't been measuring out the guar gum when making it. I know I should....I've tried finding American measures to use for it, but can't. I don't use kgs, mls, etc... I need teaspoons/tablespoons. I've been just eye-balling how much I put in: barely a pinch and then a teaspoon. I guess I will have to start measuring bit by bit. I was just hoping someone could give me a good measuring guide and perhaps a good tried-and-true recipe. I do use sugar, I want to say I put a cup of it in my custard, 10 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 gallon of almond milk.
    – user47865
    Jul 6, 2016 at 20:56

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You can't do kitchen chemistry without measuring. Most "US measures" include a 1/4 teaspoon measure, and some include a 1/8 teaspoon.

At the roughest quick look from your list, I'd say that 1/2 gallon of almond milk plus 17-25 fl ounces of eggs (depends on the size of the eggs) would call for more like 3 cups of sugar for a reliable frozen dessert texture.

I prefer text to video; the video is easy to find if you prefer that. Alton Brown's "Churn, Baby, Churn" episodes of Good Eats are a frozen dessert experimentation primer.

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/season1/churn/churntranscript.htm

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/season9/ice_cream/churn_baby_churn_ii.htm

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