Help!! The Perfect Milkshake

OK...so I just purchased a vintage Hamilton Beach Model 30 Milk Shake maker off Ebay. It runs great. But the shake I tried to make didn't work out quite right. It tasted fine, but it didn't have the right shake consistency, like you get at an Ice Cream Parlor. Can someone give me a recipe and/or instruction on how to make the perfect shake? I'm trying to make chocolate shakes(using vanilla ice cream of course), an old Hamilton Beach blendor with the big stainless steel silver cup.
Thanks for your help!!

I remember making shakes all the time back at Baskin Robbins in my teen years. I was taught to put pieces of ice cream, not scoops, into the cup. I would say the cup was a 15 to 16 ounce cup. The reason for the pieces or chips of ice cream is that it was easier for the machine to blend the ingredients into a shake. Using scoops made it harder to mix.

I would say it was about 8 to 9 ounces of ice cream, then 1 ounce of syrup, and one and a half ounces of milk. Mix together and you have a shake. The proportions are approximate. But experimenting is half the fun.

I use to make a mocha shake which was 2/3rds coffee ice cream, 1/3 chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup and milk. Man, those were good!

John

I'm another 31 Flavors alumni, and yes the use of smaller ice cream pieces will definitely extend the life of your mixer. The syrup is the most important ingredient, and most people seem to forget it at home. If you don’t have flavored syrups you can make a “simple syrup” using equal parts of sugar and warm water. A good trick is to put the milk in the freezer, long enough to get chunky, this will keep the shakes from getting too thin.

Two of my favorites were half Vanilla and half Orange Sherbet, tastes like the old 50/50 bars, and the other was to add a half of a banana (diced) to a strawberry shake.

Man, I'm such a pack-rat! I just went and dug up my old training manuals, and I’ve got the exact measurements for you. I should have been able to remember these without the books, I was at Baskin Robbins for ten freakin’ years after all, but here they are:

7 ½ ounces ice cream
5 ounces milk
1 ounce syrup

or if you’d like the large shake

10 ounces ice cream
7 ounces milk
1 1/2 ounces syrup

quote:

Originally posted by davesgrill

Man, I'm such a pack-rat! I just went and dug up my old training manuals, and I’ve got the exact measurements for you. I should have been able to remember these without the books, I was at Baskin Robbins for ten freakin’ years after all, but here they are:

7 ½ ounces ice cream
5 ounces milk
1 ounce syrup

or if you’d like the large shake

10 ounces ice cream
7 ounces milk
1 1/2 ounces syrup

You got a training manner? I guess I worked for Baskin Robbins before the printed word. Just kidding, now I am dating myself as I truly do not remember getting a manual.

John

quote:

Originally posted by RibDog

quote:

Originally posted by davesgrill

Man, I'm such a pack-rat! I just went and dug up my old training manuals, and I’ve got the exact measurements for you. I should have been able to remember these without the books, I was at Baskin Robbins for ten freakin’ years after all, but here they are:

7 ½ ounces ice cream
5 ounces milk
1 ounce syrup

or if you’d like the large shake

10 ounces ice cream
7 ounces milk
1 1/2 ounces syrup

You got a training manner? I guess I worked for Baskin Robbins before the printed word. Just kidding, now I am dating myself as I truly do not remember getting a manual.

John

Dang, now I can't even spell correctly. Manual, not manner.

John

I think Ribdog and Davesgrill have covered it all. But if you're making a chocolate milkshake, what's wrong with chocolate ice cream? Try it!... if you dare.

BTW, Baskin Robbins was my first job! I hated being an otherwise skinny, dainty girl with a Popeye forearm. And oh, when I was still new, I hated it when someone ordered a milkshake. There's a special trick to getting that metal canister off the machine while the little blades are still spinning, and if you don't master it, you end up with milkshake splattered left-to-right across your chest. People always ordered chocolate, it left the most obvious mark of my inexperience!

Try a little vanilla extract. It is necessary in my opinion when doing vanilla ice cream, and orange juice. This was my favorite next to a chocolate shake. It is relatively expensive, and that is probably why it wasn't used by parlors. Also, you don't need but a few drops to a cap full.

Ice cream in a milk shake? Horrors.

I think it's a Hamilton Beach Frappe Maker.

Seriously, I think part of the difficulty in getting the right consistency at home is that home freezers keep the ice cream too cold. The grainy texture we all get at home is from the milk freezing from the cold ice cream. Just let the ice cream warm up a bit, until it is scoopable like at an ice cream store, and you'll get a smoother shake.

Fox's U-Bet makes a great vanilla syrup that's perfect for milkshakes. Around here, a chocolate milkshake made with vanilla ice cream is called a Black and White.

As mentioned earlier, don't put the ice cream in all at once, bit by bit works well. I, too, have an HB milkshake mixer. I have always placed the metal cup in the freezer for about a half hour before mixing. Seems to end up great. I usually make malts, however. Perhaps the grainy texture mixes it better?

OK...great. I'll give all these suggestions a shot...thanks for the help.

BTW, with respect to the U-Bet Vanilla...that is artifically flavored vanilla. Does that matter?

Not really. Most of the flavor that you can taste will be produced by the ice cream you use.

32 years ice cream store operator.
Known innovator.

Want to make a great milkshke?
For chocolate shake the best tasting comes using a very cold good chocolate milk with vanilla ice cream.
strawberry? use thawed but cold frozen strawberries for best flavor
for vanilla 2 ways make simple syrup cup sugar(CANE) cup water.
ABOUT TEASPOON VANILLA EXTRACT. taste it can be bitter
1 - 11/2 once syrup.
Most hand dipped milkshakes are made with 6% lite ice cream
I think it taste best Use whole milk if using full milkfat ice cream or premium use 2% milk.

milk in cup first, mixer on low have ice cream slightly softened
and b4 someone starts telling me about hand dipped.
WHY IS THE VANILLA FOR THE SHAKE OR MALT ALWAYS OUT OF THE BACK
CABINET.
p.S. MILKSHAKES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THIN BUT TRY AND TELL YOUR CUSTOMERS THAT.
My milkshakes about 15 fluid once weighed 13.5 once
MacDonalds weigh 10
thats why you get that air in your stomach.
If you own an Ice cream store and struggling contact me.

ooh, add malt,please!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

Ice cream in a milk shake? Horrors.

True: but if the topic was "the perfect cabinet" or the "optimal velvet," we'd get seamstresses and This Old House fans responding.

Mess with the milk some

Chink's in Philadelphia freezes the milk to a semi slurry on the theory that the colder the milk is the better the blend.

I've tried making milkshakes with half and half and with light cream. Works for me - especially with light cream. One of the days I'll work up the brass to try heavy cream.

Next time you make a vanilla milkshake at the end add an entire Mcdonalds Apple pie sliced into 6 equal pieces. Put it in at the end when the shake is at the correct consistency. Also using one of these will help.

...Russ

In lieu of chocolate syrup, I use coffee time coffee syrup. YUM!!