1. Equipment

The most important piece of equipment is an ice-cream maker. You've got a couple of options:

• Bucket freezer: (left) Yields the best results because salt lowers temperature to freeze the ice cream below 22 degrees (soft-serve consistency) so ice cream is firm. These are especially good for light ice creams, which tend to have a lower freezing point because of their higher sugar content.
• Countertop machine: (right) Convenient (requires no salt or ice) and good for small batches. If you have space, keep the freezer bowl stashed in the freezer so you can make ice cream any time.