Make sure you have pre-frozen your ice cream maker’s mixing bowl and the container you plan to store it in.
Make ice cream custard base
Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and place that medium bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice.
In a heavy saucepot, combine milk, cream, ⅓ cup sugar and kosher salt.
Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean in half and scrap out all the seeds. You can also use previously scraped pods. Add the seeds and pod directly into the cream mixture.
Heat the milk mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to dissolve the sugar. Continue to heat just until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk the egg yolks with all the remaining sugar until lightened to a pale yellow. Once the cream mixture begins steaming, I add the sugar to the yolks and them whisk them together.
Once the cream comes to a boil, slowly pour it into the eggs while whisking constantly. Pour back into the pot.
Return the pot to the stove and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a silicone, until the mixture has thickened and will coat the back of a wooden spoon. The base will reach until the base reaches 85°C or 180°F on an instant read thermometer.
Pour through the sieve into the bowl nestled in ice. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and cool at least 3 hours or overnight for the thickest, richest ice cream.
Churn the ice cream
Pour into your ice cream machine per the manufacturer’s specifications. You always want to add the base with the machine already running to avoid it freezing on the sides.
Continue churning until the volume increase by about 1/3 and the ice cream pulls away from the sizes and holds its shape when scooped out. In my Cuisinart this takes a solid 25 minutes.
Place in 1 quart container and cover in plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic is touching the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming or absorbing any flavors from the freezer. Refrigerate at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.
Video
Notes
Substitutions - You can also use 3 cups of half and half in place of all the cream and milk, or use 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract in place of the bean.Storage - Store up to 1 month, tightly covered, in the freezer.Yield: 1 Quart churned ice cream