I can imagine it must be a lot easier with an ice cream machine; Even without one it's simple enough, but having to stir it every 15 minutes for the first couple of hours is rather tedious.

Still, it beats store-bought by miles, so it's worth doing every so often... (Try lemon juice and finely chopped basil; it's delicious, if somewhat surprising.)

Our ice cream maker cost less than £20- or so Ailz tells me.

Lemon juice and basil does sound interesting.

I can't resist making custard and using that as a base for ice cream.

Some of my earliest memories are of homemade ice cream at my grandmother's. It was always in winter. When the little brook that flowed past her house froze, my uncles would use a sledgehammer to break enough ice for the freezer. I remember the motor overheating and one of them holding ice on either side of the housing to keep it cool. Odd the little details one remembers.

I'd like to lay my paws on such a gadget sometime - I'd really enjoy experimenting with flavors, and of course, knowing it's just those simple ingredients, rather than half a food technologist's lab rack as well. Though I'll concede complicated creations like Chubby Hubby would be a bit of a pain to make from scratch. ^_^