How to make a milkshake properly.

Updated on July 4, 2020

It's summer time and that means ice cream and ice cream means milkshakes. I have made thousands of them. And, if I say so myself, they are the best you can get.

You're not going to find a lot of 1/2 cup this, 2/3 cup that, in these instructions because -- making a milkshake ain't that difficult. A milkshake is milk and ice cream and sometimes some fruit. If you can't figure out the ice cream-to-milk ratio you probably ought to stay away from the blender. If it's too runny add some ice cream, if it's too thick add some milk. 

A good milkshake is the following:

• Whole Milk
• Real Ice cream (frozen hard)
• in a glass container (chilled)

Possible add-ins: fresh peaches, raspberries, strawberries, banana, real chocolate

That being said do this to get the best milkshake possible:

1. Always use glass for a milkshake. Always.
2. Put the milkshake glass in freezer first. It is summer time and that means that everything in the house is a little warmer than in the winter. Milkshakes need cold, so cool off the blender glass with water and ice cubes (if indeed you use a blender, I prefer them hand-stirred) and either keep a few glasses in the freezer or splash them with water and put them in the freezer a couple of minutes before you start.
3. Put ice cream in blender first. Pour whole milk on top and let it sit for a minute. I hope that I don't need to tell you that using 2% milk is not going to make this a diet drink, so please use whole milk. The ice cream crystallizes some of the milk and gives it a little different texture.
4. True chocolate milkshake lovers choose quality chocolate ice cream for their chocolate milkshakes. Grocery store chocolate syrup has little or no chocolate in it and has an artificial taste. No syrups allowed.
5. My preference is hand-stirred. The difference is in the final texture. Blenders produce an airier milkshake, hand blending, a more crystallized and inconsistent texture. Air bubbles on the top of your milkshake is a bad thing in my opinion.
6. No attempt should be made to trick up the milk shake. It is a simple pleasure. Keep it that way. No whipped cream, or worse, whipped cream with a maraschino cherry. Bad things happen to people who put maraschino cherry's on top of their milkshake.
7. In the summer I put an ice cube in the blender with the other ingredients. In the winter it is not necessary.
8. I do like to put a hard pretzel with the milkshake. The crunchy texture and salt are good contrasts.
9. A one-piece, heavy, ice cream scoop is a good investment. No moving parts but built for hard ice cream scooping. It may seem like no big deal but if you're making a lot of milkshakes a good scoop helps.The no-freeze metal keeps the ice cream from sticking to the scoop and the fact that it's one piece means it never breaks. The reason you need a scoop is because to get a good milkshake you need hard, that is frozen hard, ice cream and a normal tablespoon just doesn't have the mass to scoop hard ice cream easily. 
10. You can not get a good milkshake from soft ice cream. If your freezer does not make the ice cream hard enough so it takes some effort to scoop it you will not make good milkshakes.
11. If you are hand-stirring, and if you're just making one or two milk shakes I encourage you to try it, let the milk and ice cream sit for a minute in the glass and then it will be easier to stir. If you are using a blender, just pulsate it so that the milk and ice cream don't melt from the friction.

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My favorite milkshake is the following:

Chocolate Banana Milkshake:
* Chocolate ice cream. 3 big scoops in a big glass.
* Whole milk. 3/4 - 1 cup.
* Soft, ripe banana (preferably cold) or fruit of choice that goes with chocolate, like strawberries and raspberries. Frozen fruits are perfect for milkshakes.

Another good combination: if peaches are in season, use vanilla ice cream and fresh peaches. Not the yellow, custard-type vanilla, but the vanilla-bean type. That's one of my favorites. Make sure the peaches are cold when they go in the blender.
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Here's the ice cream scoop I use: