For a good while, all my homemade ice cream was becoming pretty icy after a couple days in the freezer. It wasn’t until I happened to switch from using a glass storage container to a thicker plastic container that the icing stopped. I’ve been using my plastic icy-free container ever since. I’m sure there’s a science behind this, but my theory—the glass froze to a colder temperature more quickly than the ice cream, creating the imbalance. How do you store your homemade ice cream?
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I noticed that when I poured the ice cream into the glass container, it would melt a little, since the glass was room temp. If I freeze the container beforehand, then there is no melting. and no ice buildup. As another commenter mentioned, putting plastic wrap on it right away helps too.
When I know I’ll be making ice cream, I place my glass storage container in the freezer so it will be cold when I put ice cream in it. Then none of the ice cream melts when it touches the glass. Maybe that’s part of it?
What a great tip. So happy to see this! I just made a batch of ice cream last week, stored it in a glass container and a day/two later it started getting icy. I haven’t had an issue with this in the past. Will definitely try using a plastic container next time!
Hi Melissa, Happy 25 weeks! Oh my, I always store ours in a steel container…never gets crystals, but it’s gone in a day or two so perhaps it would it if stayed around longer? I also think it matters whether you use a cream vs custard base…for the icing issue? Imen xx
Ohhh, I really want to get a steel container. Maybe even for looks alone. My husband’s grandma always stored hers in a steel container and the texture was perfect every time!
Good to know. I use a special ice cream container I bought on Amazon, but was considering getting the glass ones I see people use. I had no idea it would cause icing. Thanks for saving me the money!
My husband and I have recently become obsessed with Talenti brand gelato- the leftover plastic containers are perfect to store homemade icecream (and granola and nuts and whatever else you fancy) we’ve amassed quite a collection now 🙂
Ooh, what a great idea! I used a recipe from Jeni’s ice cream recently but didn’t have any issues with the glass container causing ice as long as I put plastic wrap directly over top of the ice cream before freezing and then snapping the lid on. The plastic vs. glass temperature difference definitely makes sense though! Never would have thought of that.
I always store my homemade ice cream in a plastic Oxo freezer safe container, and I put a piece of parchment paper against the surface of the ice cream. This seems to do the trick! I read about it in one of my ice cream cookbooks.
I noticed that when I poured the ice cream into the glass container, it would melt a little, since the glass was room temp. If I freeze the container beforehand, then there is no melting. and no ice buildup. As another commenter mentioned, putting plastic wrap on it right away helps too.
Definitely trying this on the next batch of ice cream. Thanks for the tip!
When I know I’ll be making ice cream, I place my glass storage container in the freezer so it will be cold when I put ice cream in it. Then none of the ice cream melts when it touches the glass. Maybe that’s part of it?
What a great tip. So happy to see this! I just made a batch of ice cream last week, stored it in a glass container and a day/two later it started getting icy. I haven’t had an issue with this in the past. Will definitely try using a plastic container next time!
Hi Melissa,
Happy 25 weeks!
Oh my, I always store ours in a steel container…never gets crystals, but it’s gone in a day or two so perhaps it would it if stayed around longer? I also think it matters whether you use a cream vs custard base…for the icing issue?
Imen xx
Ohhh, I really want to get a steel container. Maybe even for looks alone. My husband’s grandma always stored hers in a steel container and the texture was perfect every time!
Good to know. I use a special ice cream container I bought on Amazon, but was considering getting the glass ones I see people use. I had no idea it would cause icing. Thanks for saving me the money!
My husband and I have recently become obsessed with Talenti brand gelato- the leftover plastic containers are perfect to store homemade icecream (and granola and nuts and whatever else you fancy) we’ve amassed quite a collection now 🙂
Genius! I use glass as well and have the same problem… can’t wait to make the switch! Thank you!
I always use the plastic containers from previous ice cream purchases.
Ooh, what a great idea! I used a recipe from Jeni’s ice cream recently but didn’t have any issues with the glass container causing ice as long as I put plastic wrap directly over top of the ice cream before freezing and then snapping the lid on. The plastic vs. glass temperature difference definitely makes sense though! Never would have thought of that.
I use glass container and I faced the same issue. Have to try the plastic and see how it works!
Great tip ! After taking the time actually make homemade ice cream, it’s always a bummer to have the left-overs “ice up”!
This is great info, however who has leftover homemade ice cream? 🙂
Thanks for the tip, and wishing you and yours a nice June weekend.
I always store my homemade ice cream in a plastic Oxo freezer safe container, and I put a piece of parchment paper against the surface of the ice cream. This seems to do the trick! I read about it in one of my ice cream cookbooks.
Thank you!! I always store my ice cream in glass and it gets ice all over it! I can not wait to try this!
Interesting! Can you elaborate on “thicker plastic”?
That was kinda vague, huh? I use this rubbermaid 7 cup container. It’s thicker as opposed to the plastic semi-disposable containers.
Got it! Thanks 🙂