Hand-Crank Ice Cream for Cranks

Step 5 TLC for your hand-crank ice cream machine

This is the step AFTER everyone's favorite step, so it's easy to skip out on it. It is, however, one of the most important steps. You must dump out the ice so that the salty water doesn't corrode your beautiful wooden ice cream bucket. You should rinse all the parts well to get all that horrid salt off the metal. Then you should lovingly and devotedly grease all the parts of your machine with sewing machine oil, or butcher block oil, or baby oil (olive oil also works in a pinch, but not as well as petroleum based products).

A well-oiled machine can last a hundred years or more. We still have my grandparents hand-crank White Mountain ice cream churn in the family. Recently at a flea market my best friend and I bought a smaller ice cream churn for $30 that was in perfect condition and it was circa 1920s. So really, take good care of your equipment and it will love you for years.