Silky Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Recipe: Old Fashioned Homemade!

Instructions:

1. In the saucepan, combine heavy cream, milk, vanilla bean pod and seeds, sugar, and salt. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until steaming but not boiling. Remove from heat. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes to 1 hour to fully infuse the vanilla flavor.
2. In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until pale yellow. Slowly drizzle a small amount of the warm cream mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly to temper them (this prevents them from scrambling). Repeat this process, gradually adding more and more of the warm cream until the yolks are warmed through.
3. Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula or wooden spoon, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent sticking. Cook until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon – a finger drawn across the back of the spoon should leave a clear line. This takes patience!
4. Immediately remove the custard from the heat and strain it through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl. This removes any bits of cooked egg and ensures a smooth texture. If using vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean, stir it in now. Place the bowl of custard into the ice bath to rapidly cool it down. Stir occasionally.
5. Once the custard is cool to the touch, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight, to allow the flavors to meld and the custard to fully chill.
6. Pour the chilled custard into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. This usually takes about 20-30 minutes.
7. For a firmer ice cream, transfer the churned ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for another 1-2 hours to harden further.